Kingsford Charcoal Professional Briquettes, 11.1 Pounds

I love Kingsford, and have been using them for years. When I'm grilling, they're my go-to heat source. The regular briquets are perfect for this. When I'm smoking something or need something that needs a long term heat source, these are great! Here's the story: Traditional briquettes have a "binder" in them, that keeps the briquette together so you can burn it. They traditionally have a smell to them, that after you've burned them for a while, goes away. Perfect for a grilling, but when you're continually adding fuel to your fire to keep the heat up on a longer term smoke, you don't want that smell of the binder going into your food. IMO, it makes the food taste funny. I've always started my fire with kingsford regular Briquettes, then bought a "lump" charcoal (which has no binder) to keep the fire going. These are nice alternative. I think, I love them. No smell and a higher heat. Worth the extra buck you pay for them. The trade off you get from not having a binder is you get more ash on your food. To me, its a great trade off. On a long term smoke, I'd rather have a little ash on my food than a bad taste. The ash is negligible (depending on how you're smoking), and the food just tastes a lot better. Here's my rule: If I'm grilling, I just use regular Briquettes. If I'm smoking something, I'll use these because my food tastes better. Glad you made these!

I bought the charcoal not knowing any difference it may have had to Original, or other types. I just got a new grill and needed charcoal, and this is what I saw first. I am thankful that I did. This charcoal burns hot, and burns for a long time. An hour after I was done on the grill, the temperature was still running 300 degrees. More importantly this charcoal burns cleanly and does not impart any bad flavor to the meat.