Cowboy 20 Pound Hardwood Lump Charcoal

Here's the thing; Cowboy is by far the BEST charcoal I've ever used!!! The charcoal lights quickly and easily, the heat is easily modulated and predictable, and the coals last a long time. I've never ran out of heat before the food was done - and I've cooked for a 150 person wedding one one batch of coals. I have nothing but rave reviews for using the charcoal. But...and I'ts a BIG BUT...Sometimes the pieces are so broken up in the bag that I only get 60% of usable charcoal. It's kind of like when all the cereal is broken up into tiny little pieces in the box of rice chex. It's gotten progressively worse over the last 4 years and it's super frustrating. Having said that I now look at it like I'm paying 20-40% more for what I get. I've even resorted to squeezing the bags to see how much of the bag contains usable charcoal versus useless dust.

Bought about 7 bags and each one has had white stones in them that I keep finding when clearing out the fire pit. Spoke to a friend who recommended cowboy and he found one as well in picture below. The cynic in me thinks this is a way to get the bag to weigh more. The hopeful person in me wants to think this is scooped up in the process but hearing about others who have found various metal objects in their bags makes me concerned. The mix is inconsistent too with one bag having tiny pieces which burn way too quickly and others with large chunks only.