AMOS Premium Hardwood Lumpwood Charcoal Restaurant Grade, Large 12kg Bag, Smokeless Barbecue Grill Fuel for Tandoori Ovens | Barbecuing Charcoal

This is restaurant grade charcoal, lights well, takes about 1/2 hour to get to temperature, lasts approximately an hour. Great value for money, shame it can’t control the weather lol

Slow burning and lasts longer. Ease of lighting

We use charcoal in a grillkota; considering that this is indoor cooking we have to have some basic criteria met for general comfort and safety. It must not smoke and it must not spark. Then there is taste, a factor in any bbq cooking; it cannot contain any accelerants or other ingredient that produces unpleasant odours or noxious fumes. Finally value; this is the balance of cost per kg against burn time. Also take into consideration how well graded the charcoal is, I don't expect to get 6kg of lumpwood and 4kg of grit and dust (not the case here). Suppliers can sift off the smaller charcoal pieces for use in briquettes, so no reason to sell it to customers.We have used various charcoals and have found that the quality can vary considerably, even from the same supplier and the same batch of bags. The only brand that appears to have standard quality is Green Egg, which is why it costs more.We have used two bags from this batch of three.Smoke: excellent, the original wood seems to have been burned out to just the right degree.Safety: in this batch, poor. Really bad sparking, as if someone had taken a bunch of firework sparklers and lit them all at once. This is mostly a problem when starting the fire and in the initial burn. It also seems to be certain pieces of charcoal in the mix, obviously not easy to identify what wood species this might be. Probably not so much of an issue outdoors but I'd still hate to get one of these cinders in my eye. We don't leave our kota unattended during the lightup phase.Taste: Good. The wood doesn't impart any distinctive flavour to the food. That can be rectified by using flavour chips in a smoker box.Value: excellent. Doesn't burn too fast. Does generate a lot of heat but doesn't exhaust itself before cooking is done. Good for up to 2hrs. A topup is not required unless we need to keep heating for a longer session. The majority of the charcoal is burnable, very little grit. Some fist sized pieces needed to be broken down (they also seem to be the source if the spitting).This would have been a five star charcoal, but I've marked it down due to the spitting. The bags aren't great either, black dust leaking from various slits in the woven mesh bags getting all over a light coloured patio.Will order again in the hope that the next batch is of this standard or better.

Excellent lump wood charcoal

Only small bits of lumpwood, not impressed would not buy again as poor quality and not good burn time

Purchased after buying cheap ready to burn charcoal from discount store that smoked too much. Like all charcoal some smoke on initial heating up but soon heats up and gives off some high heat. Bags contain some large bits but easily broken into manageable sizes. Don’t let the price put you off £ for £ against cheaper charcoal this product wins hands down. Will definitely be a returning customer. Five stars * * * * *

I’ve had some good restaurant quality charcoal from Amazon, but this is not great. Small pieces and a load of dust, takes ages to light in a chimney type starter.

I am not a great lover of barbecue briquettes preferring the quick high heat from natural charcoal but natural charcoal can be hard to find - especially during the pandemic lockdown as my normal retail supplier was closed. This charcoal was of the expected quality and burns OK. For anyone used to briquettes though be prepared for the bag to include some very small flakes and some large pieced that need breaking (which is why I keep an old hammer around). My only real criticism of this product is that the photograph on Amazon shows the charcoal in a plastic sack and that is how it comes from my retailer. The charcoal delivered came in a woven sack inside the Amazon packaging. As the woven sack is not dustproof it is dirty on the outside so very messy to handle and leaves a mess of charcoal dust on the shed floor which gets picked up by shoes and spread.As ease of use is part of my star rating this is only average due to the packaging and I although I would buy again if it was all that was available I would prefer to find something rather better packed.