Quebracho is among the densest woods sold as charcoal, and so burns long and hot. Usually the cheapest kilo on this list.
- Quebracho
- Lump charcoal
Charcoal for your kamado
Sorted by the price of a kilo, not the price on the bag. That matters: bags run from four to ten kilos and sit side by side, sorted by the number on the front.
We do not rank charcoal by burn time. How long a basket lasts depends on how full it is, how far the vents are open and what the weather is doing — none of which we measure. Everything below is off the bag, with one figure we work out ourselves: what a kilo costs.
Lump charcoal only, no briquettes. The binder in a briquette does not burn away, it stays behind as ash, and ash blocks the very opening a kamado draws its air through.
Cuban marabu: dense wood, few sparks and a neutral smoke, which makes it a safe default if you would rather not think about species.
- Marabu
- Lump charcoal
Sold as restaurant grade, which for charcoal is mostly about piece size: large lumps let air through the stack rather than packing down.
- White quebracho
- Lump charcoal
- Large pieces
Kamado Joe’s own charcoal, sold on piece size — the name is the pitch. The bag holds 9.07 kilos, which is twenty American pounds.
- Not stated on the bag
- Lump charcoal
- Large pieces
The same wood as the Legua, under a brand that also makes kamados. Whether that is worth the difference this list does not say — the price per kilo is next to it.
- Quebracho
- Lump charcoal
Marabu with a long burn, in the same bracket as the other marabu here. Useful when that one is out of stock, since availability shifts weekly.
- Marabu
- Lump charcoal
Acacia charcoal, a little quicker to catch than quebracho and with a more pronounced smoke. A choice for anyone who does want to taste it.
- Black wattle (acacia)
- Lump charcoal
The same charcoal as the ten-kilo bag, in half a bag — and about twenty percent dearer per kilo. Worth it only if you genuinely have nowhere to put the big one.
- Marabu
- Lump charcoal
Nine kilos rather than ten, which puts the price per kilo higher than the bag suggests. Precisely what this list exists for.
- Marabu
- Lump charcoal
European oak rather than tropical hardwood, which shortens the journey it made. Burns for less time than quebracho, and that difference shows in the price per kilo too.
- European oak
- Lump charcoal
Big Green Egg’s own charcoal. The bag names no species, so neither does this — guessing would invent the one fact you are choosing on.
- Not stated on the bag
- Lump charcoal
The same charcoal as the nine-kilo bag, in half. Forty percent dearer per kilo, and on the shelf it sits beside it with a smaller number on the front.
- Not stated on the bag
- Lump charcoal
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