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It's been 14 years since we last reviewed Big Green Egg lump charcoal, so it's time for an update, don't you think?
We have added more "tests" since then and have a much larger data base of charcoals to compare it to, so let's see
how it does in 2021!
We notice that the bag no longer indicates that the charcoal is made by Royal Oak, but we have no reason to believe
otherwise. It stills looks to be made from saw mill slabs, so there is quiet a bit of bark in the mix. We dumped
the bag onto the ground for inspection and sorting. We found one small rock, but no other "funny stuff". We found
no scrap, either. We did find a number of pieces of uncarbonized bark. You can see the distribution of sizes in
the following table:
| Large |
2.5 pounds |
12.2% |
| Medium |
5.2 pounds |
25.6% |
| Small |
10.6 pounds |
51.6% |
| Chips/Dust |
2.2 pounds |
10.6% |
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| Total |
20.5 pounds |
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In looking at the photo we took in 2007 of the overall contents of the bag and comparing it with this
bag, we think they look pretty similar. (We didn't hand sort the contents of the bag in 2007, so we
don't have the precise distribution.) In any event, by today's standards, the distribution of sizes
is somewhat disappointing in that over 50% of the bag consisted of small pieces. Whereas we are not
fans of monster logs, we like to see well over half of a bag to be large and medium pieces. The 10.6%
by weight of chips and dust ranks Big Green Egg lump charcoal in the Average category compared to other brands.
We didn't measure the ease of lighting back in 2007, but this bag took 3.5 sheets of newspaper to get a
good fire started in a chimney starter. This ranks as Low compared to all other brands. The smoke
was a mild to moderate typical American hardwoods smoke. There was almost no sparking or popping
during the lighting of the charcoal.
We also didn't test the maximum burn temperature back in 2007, so we now have another data point to add
to the mix. This charcoal burned at 877°F which ranks it High compared to other brands. Again there
was very little sparking or popping while the fire was building in the cooker or while it was burning at
maximum temperature. The fire was somewhat slow to spread and it did take a while to reach its maximum temperature.
Two things that we did test back in 2007 were burn time and ash production. This charcoal's burn time was
High compared to other brands. By 2007 standards the 2007 Big Green Egg lump charcoal burn time was High, but today
it would have only been ranked Average. This charcoal burned about 12% longer than the 2007 charcoal which keeps it
in the High range. When lighting with a MAP/Pro torch, there was very little sparking and popping, but as always,
exercise caution when using any sort of torch to light lump charcoal.
Finally, the ash produced by this charcoal ranks Average compared to other brands.
So, 2021 Big Green Egg lump charcoal contains an average amount of chips and dust, but with a somewhat disappointing
overall size distribution. It's relatively easy to light and burns at a pretty high temperature. The burn time is
High, but the ash production is now Average. So with these added data points and with many more brands for comparison,
we are slipping Big Green Egg lump charcoal down a notch to our Above Average rating.
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To the left is the rating that our readers have given this charcoal. If you have used this charcoal and would like to rate it and leave your comments, Click Here
To view reader ratings of all brands, Click Here.
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