Good point, I don’t have a Kamado. I didn’t realise that would be relevant, any idea why that’s a no-no?
Not really sure but I think it’s to do with the higher amount of ash inhibiting airflow, making temperature control more difficult. Haven’t tried it though.
1 Like
Interesting subject, I need to find out more, have seen these egg bbq’s around but never knew much about them.
We just use a gas Weber at present - but I miss charcoal cooking
Briquettes aren’t recommended for kamados as you say, the extra ash might well be the reason, though there may be a bit of snobbery involved too. I’ve always preferred charcoal with traditional BBQs but it may be down to briquette quality from supermarkets etc.
Impregnated self-lighting charcoal is something else to avoid.
I really like the Weber has BBQs - need to move ours as it seems to be on a direct flight path between small birds nesting in a tree and the bird feeding station so it has the appearance of being paint-balled!
Anything that contqins chemicals is a nono, something about the ceramic taking it in if i recall
2 Likes
I would say don’t ever use supermarket briquettes for any type of BBQ. Because they’re manufactured, there’s a large quality gap between the worst and the best, mostly in the additive used for binding, and tightness of the packing. Much bigger than with charcoal which can only differ so much because of what it is.
My experience:
Charcoal:
- Pro: gives little ash
- Con: uneven shapes. Inconsistent heat, burns up quickly
- Pro/Con depending on use: lights very quickly and burns very hot.
Charcoal briquettes:
- Pro: even shapes, consistent heat, burns for longer
- Con: leaves more ash
- Pro/Con depending on use: burns cooler than charcoal, not as easy to light
Coconut Briquettes:
- Pro: even shapes, consistent heat, burns for longer, less/no flames from dripping fat, leaves less ash than briquettes.
- Con: ??
- Pro/Con depending on use: burns cooler than charcoal but hotter than regular briquettes, not as easy to light as charcoal.
If you just want to quickly sear, like with a steak, charcoal is probably ideal. (Coconut) briquettes are better for longer cooks. But I can’t stress enough that with briquettes you do need to pay for the quality ones. You don’t want the cheap chemically ones you find in the supermarket. Look for brands that also supply restaurants. Above I have assumed high quality ones.
I guess ideally one would have both charcoal and a form of briquettes. As I don’t want to bother and being Dutch even reuse fuel that hasn’t burned up I use coconut briquettes exclusively. But I don’t have a Kamado.
High quality coconut briquettes do not contain any chemicals. The same is true for high quality “regular” briquettes. The supermarket ones certainly do though. Then there’s ones that contain only natural ingredients for the binding. The highest quality coconut briquettes, like Ecobrasa, don’t contain any additives at all.
1 Like
Yes, that’s my understanding as well, that the ceramic will gradually absorb the taste of the paraffin wax and other nasties contained in briquettes.
Eugh! 
1 Like
That was my understanding too. The neighbours frequently use self-lighting stuff and it stinks.
1 Like
Contained in cheap briquettes. Good quality briquettes are bound with natural ingredients like tapioca or starch. As mentioned, with coconut you can even get them without any additives, but that’s a completely different product from regular briquettes again. They should not be grouped IMO.
A good briquette is no worse than charcoal, just different. For some purposes one might be better, for some the other. A bad briquette on the other hand…
The white blocks? That stuff is horrible. The brown ones are much better, but still not great.
I’ve had good results with wood wool fire starters, sometimes called fire wool. But again, go for quality ones.
No, the instant lighting charcoal which has been doused in some flammable liquid and lights without a starter block, and is usually packed in small bundles wrapped in paper - light the paper and it all does.
Increasingly prevalent in UK it seems - people in general want convenience and don’t think beyond that - some charcoal can be smokey but combine that with a smell of petroleum coming across the wall and it’s very unpleasant.
Ouch. I wasn’t aware of those, but it does sound horrible indeed.
Monolith make an electronic starter (basically a very hot hair dryer) that retails for around £70 in the UK. I have one - it’s fantastic; BBQ fully lit within 60 secs
2 Likes
I think I may have used an electronic heat gun to similar effect years ago.
I’ve also used my compact DeWalt blower to get the coals roaring and you can get some impressive sparks flying around though I am probably a bit of a pyromaniac 
Think I’d lost patience waiting for the Weber chimney starter to work when the BBQ was getting cool and needed a top up.
4 Likes
Great photo.
1 Like
Bookers have restaurent grade 12 kg charcoal in now at £12:99. But you do need a members card to buy
1 Like
Looks as though Bookers are trade only unfortunately. I’ve often wondered how such businesses can exclude the general public without being discriminatory, presumably it’s just to keep the ‘rabble out’ 
1 Like
Never use briquettes. There’s no reason to. Use medium/large size pieces of quality hardwood charcoal. If you want it hotter, cook earlier. If you want it cooler, cook later. If you want it longer, add more. Anyway, briquettes don’t work in the ‘Egg’ method of cooking. You need easily burnable hardwood charcoal to gently keep burning for up to a few hours.
3 Likes
Well, a couple of months down the line and this thing has been used pretty regularly.
I may now be seeing some shortcomings.
The temperature gauge has failed, maybe just bad luck but it’s pointless now.
The ‘gasket’ material between base and lid is poor and seems to be fraying.
The inlet vent is functional but poor quality.
‘Gasket’ material in the removable top vent no longer gives a snug fit.
The ‘frame’ to raise the grill off the ceramic bowl is a tad too small, and being a tripod type design, it’s easy for one edge to fall into the ceramic coal bowl if disturbed, say when cleaning the grill with a brush.
I’m finding consistent temperature control hard to achieve, it’s gone out a few times when I’ve tried to run it ‘low and slow’ - it’s either me or poor tolerances elsewhere causing heat loss.
For the price it’s probably an excellent buy but I can see me getting a better quality version down the line.
2 Likes