Someone told me that when cooking with charcoal, I should wait for them
to turn white before cooking (they told me to wait about 45 minutes),
and the reason was because black charcoal leaches something toxic. Any
comments or suggestions?

wrote:
>
Someone told me that when cooking with charcoal, I should wait for
> them to turn white before cooking (they told me to wait about 45
> minutes), and the reason was because black charcoal leaches something
> toxic. Any comments or suggestions?

If you're talking briquettes rather than real lump charcoal, then it has
more to do with making sure all the briquettes are ignited and stabilized to
reduce temperature fluctuations. Some folks fire up briquettes with starting
fluid,a petroleum derivative, --- can we say YUCK --- which does add
unpleasent flavor to the food; but so do most briquettes. Kingsford, for
example, uses a mixture of anthracite coal (yup, that stuff in the ground)
and fir tree char (which you would never use for real barbecue, unless you
love the taste of turpentine). It is then bound together with starches and
other binders. No amount of burning will remove the off-taste that is
inherent to these products.

Best: Lump charcoal started with a chimney starter.

Next best: If you are going to use briquettes, look for a brand which does
not use coal or starch as fillers. Some of the Royal Oak briquettes are in
this category. Then use a starter chimney or electric starter to get thing
going rather than petroleum products.

Bottom of the barrel: Use minimal starter fluid if you must use starter
fluid.

Here's a good source of information: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ceramic.htm

--
Dave
www.davebbq.com

In article . com>,
says...
> Someone told me that when cooking with charcoal, I should wait for them
> to turn white before cooking (they told me to wait about 45 minutes),
> and the reason was because black charcoal leaches something toxic. Any
> comments or suggestions?
>
>
If you are talking about the charcoal briquettes sold everywhere (e.g.,
Kingsford brand), that's pretty accurate advice. Even more so if you're
talking about the light-with-a-match kind like "Match Light" from
Kingsford.

These common briquettes are made with coal dust and the match light ones
have something else added that will burn at a fairly low temperature to
allow them to start with just a match (probably some sort of paraffin).

Until these briquettes get up to temperature and are "fully involved"
(covered with white, thanks to yet another additive), they will give off
volatile fumes that can condense on your food and make it taste bad.
The match light ones seem to give off fumes constantly, until they burn
up.

If you're talking about hardwood "lump" charcoal, there really is no
need to wait until its all covered in white. As long as you've got the
level of heat you need for cooking (without hot or cool spots if you're
grilling), you can start. The lump doesn't (or shouldn't) have any
additives like the briquettes.

I've heard of briquettes that don't have coal or oil products added, but
never used them and can't give you any brand names to look for.

Bob

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Someone told me that when cooking with charcoal, I should wait for them
> to turn white before cooking (they told me to wait about 45 minutes),
> and the reason was because black charcoal leaches something toxic. Any
> comments or suggestions?
>

Don't use chopped and formed charcoal and you won't have that problem. Use
real charcoal.


Ms P

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Someone told me that when cooking with charcoal, I should wait for them
> to turn white before cooking (they told me to wait about 45 minutes),
> and the reason was because black charcoal leaches something toxic. Any
> comments or suggestions?

rule of thumb used to be 1/3 white -but that was before the "easy-start"
charcoal.

I assume the quick-start briquet coating has a type of paraffin/oil that
coats the entire briquet, so with that type I would want the entire surface
to be white so I would be sure the quick-start material was totally gone.

> ha

In article . com>,
wrote:

> Someone told me that when cooking with charcoal, I should wait for them
> to turn white before cooking (they told me to wait about 45 minutes),
> and the reason was because black charcoal leaches something toxic. Any
> comments or suggestions?

Don't know about turning "white" but I wait until the flame is gone and
the coals are glowing red.
--
Peace, Om

Remove _ to validate e-mails.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a Son of a bitch" -- Jack Nicholson

On Sun, 31 Dec 2006 19:31:05 GMT, Steve Wertz
> wrote:

>On 31 Dec 2006 11:06:48 -0800, wrote:
>
>> Someone told me that when cooking with charcoal, I should wait for them
>> to turn white before cooking (they told me to wait about 45 minutes),
>> and the reason was because black charcoal leaches something toxic. Any
>> comments or suggestions?
>
>Kingsford ingredients
>
>Kingsford sends a form letter in response to consumers' questions
>about the ingredients. According to the form letter sent in
>August, 2000, Kingsford contains the following ingredients:
>
> * wood char
> * mineral char
> * mineral carbon
> * limestone
> * starch
> * borax
> * sodium nitrate
> * sawdust
>
>I don't know why you'd use them to cook food. Use lump charcoal
>instead (pure charred wood).
>
Because you have to go on a wild goose chase to find lump around here.


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sf wrote:

> On Sun, 31 Dec 2006 19:31:05 GMT, Steve Wertz
> > wrote:

> > Kingsford ingredients


> > I don't know why you'd use them to cook food. Use lump charcoal
> > instead (pure charred wood).
> >
> Because you have to go on a wild goose chase to find lump around here.

A good bet is always Doitbest hardware stores. They have Royal Oak lump
as a standard item, if the store nearest you doesn't have it in stock
they can order it for you.

You can use the store finder at their web site to see if there's one
near you:

<http://doitbest.com/>



Brian

--
If televison's a babysitter, the Internet is a drunk librarian who
won't shut up.
-- Dorothy Gambrell (http://catandgirl.com)

Dave Bugg wrote:
>> If you're talking briquettes rather than real lump charcoal, then it has
> more to do with making sure all the briquettes are ignited and stabilized to
> reduce temperature fluctuations. Some folks fire up briquettes with starting
> fluid,a petroleum derivative, --- can we say YUCK --- which does add
> unpleasent flavor to the food; but so do most briquettes. Kingsford, for
> example, uses a mixture of anthracite coal (yup, that stuff in the ground)
> and fir tree char (which you would never use for real barbecue, unless you
> love the taste of turpentine). It is then bound together with starches and
> other binders. No amount of burning will remove the off-taste that is
> inherent to these products.


After using a gas grill for the last 15 years, there's no way I could
go back to charcoal. I eat a charcoal grilled hamburger and all I can
taste is charcoal.

" wrote:
>
> Dave Bugg wrote:
> >> If you're talking briquettes rather than real lump charcoal, then it has
> > more to do with making sure all the briquettes are ignited and stabilized to
> > reduce temperature fluctuations. Some folks fire up briquettes with starting
> > fluid,a petroleum derivative, --- can we say YUCK --- which does add
> > unpleasent flavor to the food; but so do most briquettes. Kingsford, for
> > example, uses a mixture of anthracite coal (yup, that stuff in the ground)
> > and fir tree char (which you would never use for real barbecue, unless you
> > love the taste of turpentine). It is then bound together with starches and
> > other binders. No amount of burning will remove the off-taste that is
> > inherent to these products.
>
> After using a gas grill for the last 15 years, there's no way I could
> go back to charcoal. I eat a charcoal grilled hamburger and all I can
> taste is charcoal.

That would be the crap lighter fluid and coal issue as noted above, not
charcoal.

Try grilling a burger formed from just ground beef (<5 min from grinder
to grill) over proper lump charcoal (low grill position, 600+ degrees)
and taste a new culinary world.

Pete C.

Pete C. wrote:
> " wrote:
> >
> > Dave Bugg wrote:
> > >> If you're talking briquettes rather than real lump charcoal, then it has
> > > more to do with making sure all the briquettes are ignited and stabilized to
> > > reduce temperature fluctuations. Some folks fire up briquettes with starting
> > > fluid,a petroleum derivative, --- can we say YUCK --- which does add
> > > unpleasent flavor to the food; but so do most briquettes. Kingsford, for
> > > example, uses a mixture of anthracite coal (yup, that stuff in the ground)
> > > and fir tree char (which you would never use for real barbecue, unless you
> > > love the taste of turpentine). It is then bound together with starches and
> > > other binders. No amount of burning will remove the off-taste that is
> > > inherent to these products.
> >
> > After using a gas grill for the last 15 years, there's no way I could
> > go back to charcoal. I eat a charcoal grilled hamburger and all I can
> > taste is charcoal.
>
> That would be the crap lighter fluid and coal issue as noted above, not
> charcoal.
>
> Try grilling a burger formed from just ground beef (<5 min from grinder
> to grill) over proper lump charcoal (low grill position, 600+ degrees)
> and taste a new culinary world.

The thing is lump charcaoal is not all that clean either, it's a dirty
fuel, burning even the so-called finest lump charcaoal produces lots of
soot... gas burns far cleaner... I gave up on lump charcoal long ago,
maks a steak smell like pencil sharpener leavings.

No grill is all that great for cooking. In almost all cases they are
filthy dirty things, loaded with rancid grease from long ago cooked
meats, a steak cooked on the typical grill tastes like it's been cooked
in a pan that's never been cleaned. The best way to cook steak is on a
freshly stoned griddle.

Sheldon

On 31 Dec 2006 23:45:49 GMT, "Default User" >
wrote:

>sf wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 31 Dec 2006 19:31:05 GMT, Steve Wertz
>> > wrote:
>
>> > Kingsford ingredients
>
>
>> > I don't know why you'd use them to cook food. Use lump charcoal
>> > instead (pure charred wood).
>> >
>> Because you have to go on a wild goose chase to find lump around here.
>
>A good bet is always Doitbest hardware stores. They have Royal Oak lump
>as a standard item, if the store nearest you doesn't have it in stock
>they can order it for you.
>
>You can use the store finder at their web site to see if there's one
>near you:
>
><http://doitbest.com/>
>
>
>
>
Thanks, Brian. I've never heard of them before but it turns out there
are several in my immediate area. Is it a concept like Ace or a
chain?


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See return address to reply by email

sf wrote:

> On 31 Dec 2006 23:45:49 GMT, "Default User" >
> wrote:
>
> > sf wrote:

> >> Because you have to go on a wild goose chase to find lump around
> here.
> >
> > A good bet is always Doitbest hardware stores. They have Royal Oak
> > lump as a standard item, if the store nearest you doesn't have it
> > in stock they can order it for you.
> >
> > You can use the store finder at their web site to see if there's one
> > near you:
> >
> ><http://doitbest.com/>


> Thanks, Brian. I've never heard of them before but it turns out there
> are several in my immediate area. Is it a concept like Ace or a
> chain?

I think it's just a bunch of independents grouped together. What you
can do is look up the item online at the web site above and get the SKU
number. Then talk to the store and see about ordering it if they don't
stock it.



Brian

--
If televison's a babysitter, the Internet is a drunk librarian who
won't shut up.
-- Dorothy Gambrell (http://catandgirl.com)

Steve Wertz wrote:

> On Sun, 31 Dec 2006 14:13:05 -0800, sf wrote:
>
>
>>Because you have to go on a wild goose chase to find lump around here.
>
>
> Several places in the BA to get lump.
>
> http://www.lazzari.com/
>
> According to their retail page, available at Orchard Supply and
> Safeway. As well as several restaurant supply house, IIRC.


Correct. Restaurant Depot is one.

--
Reg