"Stan Marks" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> "Piedmont" > wrote:
>
>> "Stan Marks" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > In article >,
>> > "CSS" > wrote:
>> >
>> > > Kingsford is fine.
>> >
>> > I've heard, from a very reliable source, that Kingsford puts anthracite
>>
>> Stan, please post you source. thanks
>
> There is no one source, Mike. (I guess I should have said, "...from very
> reliable sources...", although I do consider both this newsgroup and the
> Smokering BBQ mailing list to be reliable "individual" sources. Do a
> Google search for "Kingsford ingredients" on this newsgroup and you will
> find plenty of documentation on the subject. It has also been discussed
> on the Smokering BBQ mailing list.
>
> Just to make it interesting, though, my wife is a chemist working on her
> doctorate and doing her dissertation research on coal, so I asked her to
> run an analysis of Kingsford and see if it does have any coal in it. She
> will also analyse lump charcoal and other brands of briquets for
> comparison. Should be interesting. Stay tuned!
>
> On the question of Kingsford's burning properties compared to lump
> charcoals, the Naked Whiz website has such a comparison. Check it out at:
>
> http://www.nakedwhiz.com/burntimetest/lumpcompare.htm
>
> Note that Kingsford ranked last in burn time by weight, only middling in
> burn time by volume and that it produces more ash than the four
> different brands of lump tested *combined*! (I also feel compelled to
> add that the Kingsford ash is considered to be toxic.
>
>> Here is a copy of the email that I sent to Kingsford regarding the above
>> comments, of which has been purported more than once here on AFB. They
>> say
>> they will respond within 48 hours.
>
> [SNIP]
>
> I will be very interested in their response.
>
> Stan

It's no secret that coal is one of the ingredients used in Kingsford. So
what? Does coal smoke contaminate food or make it taste bad? Haven't
people cooked over coal for oh, a few hundred (if not more) years? Does the
use of coal make it any less of a product than lump? Some lump users have
reported finding pieces of old hardwood flooring in their bags-- does a bit
of shellac or varnish in your cook concern you? What guarantee do you have
as to the contents or purity of any type of charcoal? Do you think that a
product made in the US by a major company (that you can contact with
questions) might be subject to stricter control than a brown paper bag of
charcoal marked "made in Mexico?"

People who consider themselves to be "BBQ experts" like to jump on the
bandwagon and trash Kingsford. It's a product that has good points and bad
points, like any product that has multiple suppliers. Ford and Chevy, IBM
and Mac, Coke and Pepsi, on and on...I've used it, I continue to use it, and
I also use lump. And in about ten years of barbecuing, I've never had any
say "Ewww-- did you cook this over Kingsford?"