We received this charcoal about 2 years ago and were planning to do a review, but then the company which was going to import Sierra Madre charcoal into the U.S. couldn't make the numbers work with Noram de Mexico. As a result Sierra Madre didn't make it into the U.S. and it is not available in the U.S. at this time. We decided not publish the review at that time since you couldn't buy it in the U.S., but then we decided well hey, you can buy it in Mexico and The Lump Charcoal Database is world-wide, so why not publish it? We have all this information, so here it is!
First of all a little bit of information about Noram de Mexico, the company which manufactures Sierra Madre charcoal. Noram de Mexico is located in the state of Durango, Mexico (click on the map to the right) where there are (as of mid-2003) 1.5 million acres of natural forests being managed under the Forest Stewardship Council certification program. Noram de Mexico's operation is evaluated by the Rainforest Alliance SmartWood Program which has verified that their "wood comes from well-managed forests in a way that is environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable in accordance with international standards set by the FSC." (We first learned about the FSC when we reviewed Wicked Good Charcoal's Competition Blend. Click on these links for more information about The Rainforest Alliance and the Forest Stewardship Council.)
These forests are run primarily by "ejidos" which are forest cooperatives. The land is owned by the government, and the ejido is financed by a special national bank which supplies the necessary capital for reclamation, improvement, initial seeding, and so forth.
Noram maintains excellent relations with the ejidos, buying all of their raw material from the ejidos, and has been a key player in encouraging the growth of forest certification in the state of Durango.
Next we need to explain a little about Sierra Madre's unique packaging. You get two 10-pound bags in a box, along with some ocote firestarters. We are big fans of charcoal shipped in boxes as this should reduce much of the abuse that a bag of charcoal might suffer. And of course, many people like the smaller-sized bags since they are easier to handle. You can see photos of the box down below.
And what is ocote? Click on the small photo to the right to view a full-sized photo of ocote sticks. Basically, Americans would know ocote as "lighter wood" or "fatwood". The sticks are made from matured pine stumps after they become heavily impregnated with natural resins. We have mixed feelings about these sticks. Perhaps they could be used in a traditional metal charcoal grill, but in a ceramic grill where you put the starter down in the charcoal in a closed environment, these sticks tend to partly burn, partly smolder. And needless to say, smoldering pine resin is not something you want on your food. So, we would save the ocote for starting fires in your fireplace and sticking with more traditional methods of starting your charcoal.
As you can see in the following table, the amount of chips and dust was a bit more than average and the number of large pieces was a bit less than average. The bag contained more than the advertised 10 pounds. There was no scrap found and no "funny stuff." There was a small amount of charcoal which was not completely carbonized. This was more than usual, but not the worst we have ever seen. You can see a photo of the pieces which were not completely carbonized down below.
| Large |
1.1 pounds |
10.1% |
| Medium |
3.5 pounds |
33.4% |
| Small |
4.5 pounds |
43.5% |
| Chips/Dust |
1.3 pounds |
12.9% |
| Total |
10.4 pounds |
|
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The charcoal took 3 sheets to light in our chimney starter test, which is slightly more than average. There was very little sparking or popping while the charcoal was being started. The smell of the burning charcoal was a mild pleasant woodsy smoke. When starting this charcoal with a MAPP torch, there was quite a lot of sparking and popping, so as always, exercise caution if using a MAPP torch to start charcoal. When burning in our small ceramic cooker, there was no sparking or popping. We were only able to attain 650 degrees which is not terribly high compared to many other charcoals. However, this should be adequate for most uses. The burntime was high and the ash production was also high, which is of concern in a ceramic cooker for long cooks. So, this charcoal gets our Above Average rating.
