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Comment by noughtme | Hacker News Reader

Charcoal and coal are quite different.

At the same time, the most common form of 'charcoal' that an average person will use in their BBQ is made from both charcoal and coal, as well as other things.

standard charcoal briquettes contain coal?

i’m amazed to hear that.

(I use lump charcoal myself which seems to give to food a better smoke flavor)

They do often contain coal. Briquettes are weird. For smoking, you really want to be using wood (or charcoal and wood); charcoal has most of the volatiles burned off already, in principle leaving behind only carbon, so it isn't great for smoking things.

No regular brand of charcoal contains coal.

Please link just one brand that does and I’ll withdraw my complaint but I’ve worked in the industry and very much doubt this.

> "Kingsford Charcoal is made from charred soft and hardwoods such as pine, spruce, hickory, oak and others depending on which regional manufacturing plant it comes from. That char is then mixed with ground coal and other ingredients to make a charcoal briquette. As of January 2016, Kingsford Charcoal contains the following ingredients:[7][8]"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingsford_%28charcoal%29#Manuf...

If this isn't true, they need to fire their entire PR team.

This MDS says it contains anthracite: https://www.thecloroxcompany.com/wp-content/uploads/kingsfor...

Wow. Son of a gun you're right. Here's more info on why coal dust turns out to make an ideal binder for charcoal briquettes:

https://mineralmilling.com/coal-dust-a-superior-choice-as-a-...

I had no idea. Key quote:

"Research and patent literature show that when charcoal briquettes are produced using an organic binder such as anthracite, the binder is present in quantities of between approximately 2 and 8% by weight."

And "coal, anthracite" is clearly listed as the third most common ingredient in the safety sheet for Kingsford Charcoal Briquettes, after charcoal and ashes.

i should clarify i’m not smoking the meats, i’m just grilling. But I can definitely taste the difference between charcoal and briquettes.

I guess for real smoking i’ll have to find wood.

> I can definitely taste the difference between charcoal and briquettes

Yes I agree. I either use lump charcoal, or hardwood that I let burn down to embers. Briquettes impart an unpleasant flavor.

You’ve repeated this a few times, but I clicked on several charcoal options on Home Depot’s website, and they claimed to be made entirely of “100% natural hardwood”. Maybe some cheaper ones have added coal?

Take Kingsford, for example, probably the single most popular brand of briquettes at Home Depot. It does not say 100% natural hardwood, it says 100% natural ingredients, including wood. Coal is natural. And 15-40% of Kingsford briquettes [0].

[0] https://www.thecloroxcompany.com/wp-content/uploads/kingsfor...

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