Carbon is Carbon Unless it is Diamond, Coal, Nanotubes, or Graphene!
If you want to barbecue read this advice from the 
Barbecue or Boogaloo blog.
Anyone who reads my barbecue grill reviews will know that I have a strong passion for charcoal grills. One Of my favorites being the Weber one touch gold charcoal grill. But there are a few things that we do need to consider if we are to get he best out of our grills, and that is finding out what the best charcoal to use for grilling is.
After countless years of trial and error and countless different brands and types of charcoal, I am in no doubt about a few facts.
Firstly, you do NOT need to buy expensive charcoal to get optimum results. In fact, brand has little, if anything to do with the results you get. It is the type of charcoal that is all important, and a generic brand is just as good as some expensive name that you may see advertised quite a lot. We all need guidance on looking for the best of something, checking out a charcoal bbq’s buyers guide will help you narrow down what you want to use when it comes up to grilling season, and you can safely know you’ve not paid over the odds for something that doesn’t work!
Charcoal Types
Wikipedia has some great information, although maybe a little more than we need to concern ourselves with really. It basically is going to come down to two types for our purposes.
Lump charcoal
Briquettes
There are a few key differences to note, and I feel that they are important.
Lump Charcoal vs Briquettes
Lump charcoal is the most natural form. Usually made from hardwood, it is the simplest option. It is simply carbonized hardwood broken up to be suitable for the grill. Natural, not contaminated with any additives, and about as pure as you can get. You may be surprised to read that charcoal can contain all manner of additives, but is the case.
Briquettes are often not as natural. They can be made from compressed sawdust, may have additives to help them light or burn, and may even have paraffin or other fuels added too.
I guess this article is over now!!!
It is pretty obvious from the above what it is that I am going to recommend isn’t it?
Lump charcoal each and every time is what I recommend as the best charcoal to use. It is natural, has no additives, and I have actually found that it burns much better anyway.
Why would we risk contaminating our food with smoke from petrol and other binding agents when the whole point of cooking with charcoal is to keep it as natural as we possibly can? I think that this is a very important point to bear in mind. If you want to get the best results, and this means the best burn and the best flavor, then go for lump charcoal each and every time.
What Brand Of Charcoal Is Best?
In my experience it honestly does not matter. It may be worth trying a few different options if you can find them. But in my experience most areas usually stock the same brand, or generic bag of charcoal for the most part, so we are usually stuck with what is readily available.
The main thing is to buy something natural and this means lump charcoal wherever possible.
You should be able to find it readily enough from local sources, and if not then it may be worth the extra drive to stock up on what is at the heart of a successful barbecue.