Briquettes or Lumpwood?

This is a question that challenges novice grillers and seasoned pros alike, and the debate goes on.

Firstly, to avoid confusion, what we in the United Kingdom refer to and Barbecuing, is what the Americans refer to as Grilling.  To the Americans, Barbecuing is low temperature slow cooking with smoke, and what we would refer to as hot smoking.

The two most common forms of barbecue (grill) fuel are lumpwood charcoal and briquettes.  Both are relatively easy to use and both have specific strengths and weaknesses in their application.

Lumpwood are the traditionally made gnarly pieces of coal which have been baked in a kiln. It is a pure form of charcoal, in irregularly shapes and sizes.  It burns hot, clean and fast, and leaves very little ash.  The fast element is what can let this fuel down.  By the time the coal is cool enough to cook on, it can be dying fairly quickly and your cooking window can be relative short, meaning that longer cook/thicker items are more difficult to manage.

Briquettes are manufactured typically from a coal dust which is bound together with a starch agent.  The advantages to this fuel are that they are regularly in shape, burn evenly and for long periods of time. Critics will point to the stronger smell and smoke during the lighting phase and the larger ash deposits.

Traditionally, open style barbecue grills use lumpwood whilst kettle style grills like the Webers recommend the briquettes, but either can be used in each situation successfully if managed properly.

Being a Weber fanatic, I shall concentrate this post on the Kettle style grills.

Weber promotes the use of briquettes and suggests using its chimney starter for quick and  efficient lighting.  But all briquettes are not equal. Whilst some, like the Weber own brand, will burn fairly consistently for up to three hours, other cheaper varieties can burn with less heat for much shorter periods of time, so there is an element of trial and error until you find a brand that satisfies your requirements.

As to how much heat you want inside your kettle, again there is some trial and error required here.  Rule of thumb is that more coal equals more heat, assuming it is all well lit.  In colder climates you will additionally require more coal as ambient temperature and humidity play a role in the burn.

So, back to the question Briquettes or Lumpwood, in the context of Kettle Grills.

Well, the answer is both, with the ratio depending on what you're cooking, expected duration and heat required.

Upping the lumpwood ratio increases the heat. I have read research that suggest briquettes and lumpwood burn at the same temperature, but I believe the ash the briquettes throw off starves the coal of the oxygen it needs and does not burn as optimally as the lumpwood.

As an aside, in the U.K. it is worth buy "Restaurant Grade" lumpwood, easily sourced on the internet.  The chunks are generally bigger and of high quality, and work well with the briquettes.

At the moment I am experimenting with ratios, but typically if I'm grilling steaks I will go 60:40 briquette/lumpwood, whereas something that needs longer and less aggressive heat like big chicken bone in pieces, e.g. quarters, will be more like 80:20.

Please feel free to contribute to the debate, and get grilling!