You may have seen lately a lot of posting on Facebook about a new charcoal called Lumber Jack. Lumber Jack contacted us and we were, of
course, intrigued by the thought of reviewing another lump charcoal from Central Europe, made from European hardwoods. You see, Lumber Jack
comes to us from Hungary. If you aren't quite sure where Hungary is located, you may refer to the map at right. The distributor of Lumber Jack
charcoal was telling us all about how wonderful his charcoal is when he happened to mention that Hungary is in the European Union and how
requirements are stricter in the EU for charcoal. To quote him, "They are tougher than in the US. In Europe, you cannot produce coal from building garbage.
Only pure wood without impurities." So, Lumber Jack charcoal is a mix of three types of European hardwood:
Oak - 60%, Alder - 20%, Birch - 20%.
That started us looking for information about EU regulations for barbecue charcoal and we found this:
- Minimum 75% fixed carbon content.
- Maximum ash content of 8%.
- Maximum moisture content of 8%.
- Minimum bulk density of 130 kg/m³.
- No pieces may exceed 5.9 inches, no more than 10% of pieces may exceed 3.15 inches, at least 80% must exceed 0.8 inches, no more than 7% may be less than 0.4 inches.
Interesting, eh? No huge logs are allowed, which is what we have always felt is a good idea. We shouldn't have to bust up those logs for use in our
cookers. In any event, let's see how well Lumber Jack
charcoal does in light of the fact it has these strict requirements to follow.
As usual, we sorted the bag into large, medium, small pieces as well as chips and dust. While sorting the charcoal,
we found absolutely no scrap, no dirt, no junk. It was 100% charcoal.
As you can see in the following table, the size
distribution is excellent with the amount of chips and dust being very low compared to other brands. When you consider that the charcoal is
processed and bagged in Hungary before being shipped to Atlanta, it shows that charcoal can be transported without smashing it into bits. What is
more likely is that manufacturers aren't screening out the little stuff.
| Large |
1.7 pounds |
10.5% |
| Medium |
10.2 pounds |
63.6% |
| Small |
3.6 pounds |
22.4% |
| Chips/Dust |
0.6 pounds |
3.5% |
|
|
|
| Total |
16.1 pounds |
|
|
So on to our next test, the lighting test. Lumber Jack is insanely easy to light. We haven't seen
charcoal this easy to light in some time. It took only 2.5 sheets of newspaper in our chimney starter
to get this charcoal going. When we used a MAP/Pro torch to light the charcoal for the burntime test,
it lit easily and spread rapidly. There was no sparking or popping while the charcoal was being started
in the chimney and the smell of the smoke is very mild. So, Lumber Jack charcoal is much easier to
start than most other brands of charcoals.
And let's expand on the smell of the smoke for a moment. The smoke was indeed very mild. We don't
usually cook meat for a charcoal review, but since the smoke was so mild, we decided to cook some
chicken breasts with Lumber Jack. The taste of the smoke on the chicken was extremely mild. One
of the questions we often get from readers is which charcoal is the least smoky. Usually, some
members of the family object to the smoky flavor. Well, Lumber Jack is certainly a great charcoal
for someone who doesn't want smoke or for cooks where smoke is undesirable. The rest of you can
add smoking wood chunks to get the smoke you want.
In our maximum temperature test, Lumber Jack burned at 1,065°F which is very high compared to
most lump charcoals we have tested. And during this test, the fire spread about as rapidly as
anything we have seen. This is definitely a great charcoal for folks who want to get to grilling
temperatures a fast as possible.
As we stated earlier, we use a MAP/Pro torch to start the fire for our burntime test. While doing
so there was no popping and almost no sparking. Of course, when using any type of torch to start
lump charcoal, exercise care to avoid injury from sparks and flying embers.
Finally, in our burn time test, this charcoal burned a very long time. In fact, it was the fourth
longest burning charcoal of all the brands we have ever tested. The ash produced was extremely low,
in the top 10 of all brands tested.
So, where does this put Lumber Jack in our ratings? Well, you have probably noticed that at the
top of every review, we assign 1 to 5 stars for each of the 5 main tests that we do. Hence, it
is possible for a really lousy charcoal to get only 5 stars, while the very best charcoal could get
25 stars. Lumber Jack charcoal is the first charcoal we have ever tested to receive 25 stars.
It gets 5 stars for the amount of unusable charcoal, 5 stars for ease of lighting, 5 stars for
burning hot, 5 stars for burning long and 5 stars for producing very little ash. That's 25 stars,
something never accomplished before. While it is an expensive brand of the charcoal, if you look at the
price per hour of burn time, it falls right in line with most other brands. Needless to say, we give Lumber Jack charcoal our
Highly Recommended rating.
