I always use Royal Oak all natural hardwood lump charcoal, the made in America version - noting that there is a Royal Oak charcoal option out there that has south american wood in it that doesn't burn as consistently. I say "use anything you want", but am posting to dispel the "hot cook only" and "inconsistent heat" rumors. I have a shallow wood box with my BBQ gear and when loading up the charcoal into my
chimney starter, I toss the big chunks into the box ...and give them a whack with a camp hatchet and they pop into numerous pieces. This quickly and easily resolves the issue with large chunks of charcoal ...and the Royal Oak doesn't tend to have very many of them. Do this, and the charcoal burns every bit as good as, and much the same, as those nice consistent briquettes.
One point that I don't see many people making, noting that in the last 3 years that I've known 6 people who've died from cancer - and my mom's husband just died from cancer last week and she's fighting Stage 4 cancer (stable and back off the chemo, thank God), is that the whole chemical issue is something to consider. There seems to be a cancer epidemic in western nations, where all the 85000+ artificial chemicals live in our environment and foods - great advances in the
treatment of cancer, but few big advances in cancer
prevention. Education seems to be the best preventative. So... I won't bore you too much. The one thing that I don't like about the briquettes is all the asphalt-like chemistry in them. Smoke itself is carcinogenic and I knowingly take that risk when it comes to smoke cooking, but if I'm going to do that ...well, I personally will also choose to avoid chemistry that isn't necessary. We buy all organic, all natural un-enhanced meats, and use the natural hardwood charcoal ...and avoid asphalt chemicals, MSG, and any other non-natural flavorings that we don't have to choose. Just my 2-bits...
Thanks,
Brian