It's been 8 years since we first reviewed this charcoal, and since it so popular and readily available now,
we thought it was time to update our review.
The wood it is made from (a Central American evergreen Oak species) comes from El Salvador, and the charcoal is made in El Salvador as well. We have
thoughtfully provided you with a map to the right. Click on the thumbnail to view a larger sized image.
The charcoal comes in 17.6-pound bags and 35-pound restaurant-sized bags. We tested the 17.6-pound bag that is commonly
available. When we dumped it out on the ground for sorting, we anticipated some large pieces, however, we found no pieces that
we would call large. You can see a photo down below of the largest pieces. As you can see from the table below, the size distribution
was somewhat disappointing. However, the owner of FOGO explained to us in an email that the FOGO Premium charcoal is designed to have
smaller pieces while the Super Premium FOGO has larger pieces. So keeping that in mind, we found that the majority of the bag was
indeed comprised of small pieces.
The 11.6% content of chips and dust is Average compared to other brands.
Our main complaint with the bag was that it was about a pound underweight. The manufacturer believes this
is a one-off, so we visited Ace Hardware where we purchased this bag. Indeed, every bag we weighed was over
weight, so this must be a one-off.
| Large |
0.0 pounds |
0.0% |
| Medium |
3.9 pounds |
23.2% |
| Small |
10.8 pounds |
65.2% |
| Chips/Dust |
1.9 pounds |
11.6% |
|
|
|
| Total |
16.6 pounds |
|
|
Lighting the charcoal was a bit tough, taking 6 sheets of newspaper in our chimney starter test. This is Very High compared to other brands.
While the charcoal was starting in the chimney, there was very little sparking and no popping. The fire was relatively slow to spread and the
charcoal burned with a mild smoke. We never know how to describe the different smells of different charcoals, but this charcoal smells
pretty much like your typical Central or South American hardwood charcoal, only a bit milder.
In our maximum temperature test, we dump the charcoal from the chimney starter into a cooker, add more charcoal, let the fire build and
then watch for the maximum temperature. While the fire was building and burning, again there was no sparking and very little popping.
The charcoal burned at a maximum temperature of 800°F, which is Average compared to other brands. Also, while lighting with a MAPP torch,
there was fairly severe popping and sparking, so (repeat after us) always exercise care when using a MAPP or propane torch to light lump charcoal.
In our burn time test, FOGO burned a fairly long time, High compared to other brands. The ash production was Low compared to other brands we have tested.
So, to sum it up, this charcoal has a small size distribution with an average amount of chips and dust.
It burns a fairly long time with fairly low ash
production. It is somewhat hard to light and only gets to average maximum temperatures, but certainly hot enough
to do 95% of what we want to do with it. On top of that, you can find at Ace Hardware or order it through Amazon with free shipping.
We give it our Above Average rating.
