We were contacted by Packaging Service Co. Inc., the folks who bring you the Picnic line of charcoal and grilling supplies, and asked to review a new product they call "Mixed Grill". This new product is basically a mix of lump charcoal with briquets. You should be able to find this product starting May 1 in Texas supermarket chains such as Brookshire Brothers, Scolari's Food & Drug Co. (wholesaler) in Reno, Nevada, Fiesta Supermarkets in Texas and several supermarkets in the Florida market.
So, why this unique approach of mixing lump with briquets? According to the manufacturer, the goals of mixing lump charcoal with briquets are:
- Increase burn time by adding slower burning briquets,
- Increase the temperature of the fire by adding lump charcoal, and
- To make the fire easier to start by add lump charcoal.
- Better, more consistent temperature control through sizing and ratio of briquets to lump.
The lump charcoal that you find in this product is the same lump you find in Picnic Hardwood Lump Charcoal, made from South American hardwoods, primarily Quebracho Rojo, Quebracho Blanco and Guayacan. As you can see from the sorted photo below, it is all good sized pieces with virtually no chips and dust in the bag.
The briquets are 100% natural, made from the same woods as contained in the lump and held together with a 100% natural organic vegetable starch binder. These briquets are large. They averaged about 1.5 ounces per briquet as compared to Kingsford briquets which average about 0.9 ounces each. (See photo below.)
As for the mix itself, the bag that we sorted contained 71% briquets by weight and 29% lump charcoal. By volume, we estimate that the bag was 63% briquets and 37% lump charcoal.
So, how about the goal of easier starting? It took 5.5 sheets of newspaper in our chimney starter test to get just briquets started. When you tried starting the mixture straight from the bag, it took 4 sheets of newspaper. This is a bit harder than average, but not excessive. Clearly the addition of the lump charcoal to the mix does make it easier to start.
Hotter burning? We lit 3 pounds of briquets in our small ceramic cooker and let it run with the vents wide open. The hottest we could get the fire was 520 degrees. We then added some of the lump charcoal and the temperature rapidly climbed to 650 degrees. The addition of the lump does indeed result in a hotter burning fire.
Longer lasting? We compared the burn time of a sample of Picnic Mixed Grill with the results of our testing when we reviewed the Picnic Hardwood Lump Charcoal, and with the results of our comparison testing when we measured the burn time of some Kingsford briquettes. The Picnic Hardwood Lump charcoal burned about 15% longer than Mixed Grill. The Mixed Grill burned about 12% longer than Kingsford. So, you do get a longer burn time than with ordinary briquettes, but not as long as with the hardwood lump alone.
Ash production was high compared to other lump charcoals, but it was less than one half the volume of ash produced by Kingsford. This could be a problem in a ceramic cooker for a long slow cook, but acceptable in other applications.
The smoke of the Mixed Grill is a bit different than that of the Picnic Hardwood Lump Charcoal, which we attribute to the presence of the additional binder in the briquets. The smoke is still very mild with a hint of a perfume that is very pleasant.
So, what rating to give this charcoal? This is a bit tricky. We feel this product is more like briquets with lump charcoal added than it is lump charcoal with briquets added. Since we aren't in the business of reviewing briquets we don't have a lot of experience to draw on for comparing this product to other briquet products. If we do compare this to Kingsford, Mixed Grill is a far better product. It burns longer. It produces less ash. It has a mild pleasant smell and can produce higher temperatures. It is all natural without all the "ingredients" you find in Kingsford. If you are looking for a product for grilling at higher temperatures, if you want an all natural product, then you will probably agree that Mixed Grill rates a 4.9 in the briquet world. In the lump world, however, it would only get our Below Average rating. We think we would make the following recommendations:
- If you are cooking with an open grill and want higher grilling temperatures, this product is for you, as it will burn hotter than briquets alone. It will also have the additional benefits of being easier to light than briquets. It will burn longer than ordinary briquettes, but not as long as lump charcoal alone.
- On the other hand, if you are cooking with a closed cooker where you can control the airflow, you may find that the amount of ash produced by the briquets is a drawback and you would probably do better using Picnic's outstanding Hardwood Lump Charcoal for longer cooks with its lower ash production and longer burn times.
- And if you are cooking in a closed cooker where you cannot control the airflow very well, you might want to use Picnic Briquets (without lump charcoal added) to avoid the higher temperatures produced by adding lump charcoal to the briquets in Mixed Grill.
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