The good folks at B&B charcoal were kind enough to provide us with a bag of their Texas Size XL Lump
Charcoal for review. This charcoal comes to us from Argentina and is made from a wood that should now be familiar to many of you,
Quebracho Blanco. We have provided you with a map showing the location of Argentina to the right. To the left, we have a photo of
the end grain of a log of Quebracho Blanco. We're also fairly confident most of you by now know that quebracho means "ax breaker"
in Spanish and refers to the hardness of this dense wood. Allegedly, lump charcoal made from this wood burns longer than other lump
charcoals due
to its hardness. Obviously, we'll be testing that in our review.
In any event, this charcoal is billed by B&B as being made up of large pieces, as evidenced by the clearly visible "Texas Size XL"
on the front of the bag. Large pieces of charcoal are something many cooks look for in their lump charcoal, so this may be an
answer to their wishes.
While we don't agree that monster logs are desirable, having a good mix of medium and large pieces is a good thing in our book. Hence
we were eager to see if B&B's Texas Size XL lump measures up. So let's get on with the review and find out.
When we dumped the bag out on the ground, we were pleasantly surprised to find the mix was composed of mostly medium and large sized
pieces. As you can see in the table below, nearly 83% of the bag was made up of medium and large pieces.
You can also see for yourself in these photos. There were no monster
logs. There was also no scrap or things that don't belong in a bag of lump. Also, the 9% of chips and dust was Low compared
to other brands, so we have to say that charcoal certainly lives up to its billing.
| Large |
11.7 pounds |
47.5% |
| Medium |
8.6 pounds |
35.2% |
| Small |
2.0 pounds |
8.3% |
| Chips/Dust |
2.2 pounds |
9.0% |
|
|
|
| Total |
24.5 pounds |
|
|
As a side note, all those large pieces of charcoal could play havoc with a traditional paper bag, so it is good to see
that this charcoal comes packaged in a very sturdy bag made from woven plastic strips. But we digress....
Another pleasant surprise was the ease with which this charcoal lights. You might expect dense heavy charcoal to
take a lot of effort to get going, but in our chimney starter test, B&B Texas Size XL charcoal only took 3.5 sheets
of newspaper to get a sustained fire going. This is Low compared to other brands. In addition, there was no sparking
or popping while lighting in the chimney. Also, the smoke from lighting was a mild, pleasant smoke with a sort of perfume-like
character to it.
On to the maximum temperature test. The burning charcoal from the chimney starting test is dumped into a cooker and more
charcoal is added to make a sizeable fire. Again, there was no sparking or popping while the fire was building, and the
fire spread fairly slowly. Eventually the fire reacedh 894°F which is High compared to all other brands.
And now for the much-awaited burn time test. There was very little sparking and popping while lighting the fire with a MAP/Pro
torch, but as we always caution, exercise care when starting any lump charcoal fire with a torch. When all was said and done,
the B&B Texas Size XL lump charcoal only burned an Average length of time when compared with all other brands. And finally,
the amount of ash produced by this charcoal was again Average compared to all other brands.
So, as for giving a rating, B&B Texas XL Lump Charcoal is fairly easy to light and burns at a fairly high temperature. While
the burn time and ash production were both only average, the size distribution of the charcoal is what sets this charcoal apart.
How refreshing to find a bag of charcoal that is advertised as containing large pieces that actually delivers on that promise big time.
We give this brand our Recommended rating.
