This type of charcoal is quite literally lumps of wood turned into charcoal, said Kit Dillon, who burned over half a ton of charcoal during testing for our guide to the best charcoal for grilling.
The transformation happens thanks to a carbonization process called pyrolysis: When wood or other organic materials are heated in an oxygen-starved environment at temperatures above 750 ºF, charcoal is created.
During testing, Kit found that Fogo Premium Hardwood Lump Charcoal (our top-pick lump wood charcoal) maintained high temperatures during 95 minutes of burn time: It maxed out the thermometer at its hottest, 1,148 °F, and reached a low of only 800 °F. It also produced only ¾ cup of ash.
(For context, lump wood charcoal tends to produce less ash than briquets; Kit confirmed this while testing similar quantities of briquets that produced more than 3 cups of ash.)
This lump wood charcoal has no additives, and it burns extremely hot and pure, producing very little ash. But since all lump charcoal is irregularly shaped, predicting temperature and grilling times can be difficult.
The main issue with lump wood charcoal, however, is its uneven formation. “Because no two pieces of lump wood have the same shape, no two pieces of lump wood ever burn the same,” Kit said. And that makes it difficult to control temperature, prevent hot and cold spots, and anticipate cooking times.
Lump wood charcoal is generally devoid of binders (like vegetable oil or starch), which may sound enticing for barbecue purists and help reduce the amount of ash produced, however, it’s possible for other foreign materials, like rocks or metal, to end up in a bag of lump wood charcoal.
Grilling expert Meathead of AmazingRibs.com and author of The Meathead Method, reminds grillers that lump wood charcoal isn’t for imparting flavor onto food, contrary to popular belief. Instead, he says it should solely be used as a heat source. “A lot of people think that charcoal gives you better flavor,” he says. “But you shouldn’t get flavor from charcoal, you should get smoke flavor from chunks of wood you add.”
Meathead says this is why most pitmasters often add chunks of hardwood (like oak, apple, or hickory) to their grill along with charcoal to impart a stronger wood-smoked aroma to the food they’re cooking.
Still, pitmaster Hugh Mangum, a co-founder of Mighty Quinn’s, an acclaimed barbecue chain, and co-author of Barbecue: Smoked & Grilled Recipes From Across the Globe, likes cooking with lump wood charcoal because he finds that it tends to come to temperature a little faster than briquets.
But Mangum acknowledges that there are some drawbacks to using lump wood charcoal. “It doesn’t necessarily have an even or as long a burn as briquets, and it can sizzle and pop when burning up to temperature,” he concedes.
