British BBQ Society Forums

The other week I ran out of charcoal so I took myself off to my local Booker to restock before a Q-ing session. To my horror they were out of stock of their Restaurant Grade charcoal and had to buy some ordinary "supermarket" type charcoal.
I cannot stress enough the difference between proper restaurant grade charcoal and the supermarket variety. Restaurant grade charcoal burns much, much longer and imparts a far better flavour whereas the supermarket stuff is nearly burnt out before you're ready to cook, doesn't last for long and has no flavour!!

Nuff said

We’ve been experiencing the very same problem with Booker in Brighton and also at the Aldershot branch during Mayhem in May. I guess they’ve either fallen out with the supplier, or the supplier is experiencing some major production issues.......................just guessing though – maybe Toby can shed some light on the situation?

I rarely use resturant charcoal as i don't have a Booker card.

I normally use either Fuel Express or Big K lumpwood and i pay about £5 per bag which is easily enough for a 15hr cook.

I was also using some cheap 3kg bags of unbranded lumpwood from Go Outdoors over the winter which kept me going and again i got good results with.

I've not tried using the stuff from the super markets which would probilly not be so good but if you use more of a branded lumpwood and have a good feel of the bags before you buy (I have had some funny looks when doing this) to make sure you've got some nice big bits you might get better results with it.

Swindon_Ed wrote:I make sure you've got some nice big bits you might get better results with it.

The very reason I like the restaurant grade stuff is it seems to burn longer than the cheapo crud at Tesco etc - and quite often has some bits in the bag that are SOOO big, I can't even fit them through the door on the Excel to reload!

My local Booker has since restocked - thankfully

Swindon_Ed wrote:I rarely use resturant charcoal as i don't have a Booker card.

I normally use either Fuel Express or Big K lumpwood and i pay about £5 per bag which is easily enough for a 15hr cook.

I was also using some cheap 3kg bags of unbranded lumpwood from Go Outdoors over the winter which kept me going and again i got good results with.

I've not tried using the stuff from the super markets which would probilly not be so good but if you use more of a branded lumpwood and have a good feel of the bags before you buy (I have had some funny looks when doing this) to make sure you've got some nice big bits you might get better results with it.

It was Big K from Waitrose that I used and the difference there is huge. It's quite easy to get a card from Booker - You either have to have your own company or show that you are part of an organisation such as yours. I think you can do it online, as well.
It's definitely worth trying

DrSweetsmoke wrote:Let me know if you need any charcoal.

Cheers Al but it's ok, i'm just arranging with Big K for them to ship a load of their resturant charcoal at the moment.

Swindon_Ed wrote:

DrSweetsmoke wrote:Let me know if you need any charcoal.

Cheers Al but it's ok, i'm just arranging with Big K for them to ship a load of their resturant charcoal at the moment.

What are the details for Big K Restaurant charcoal?

What are the details for Big K Restaurant charcoal?

Check out the below link, not sure on delivery costs but you have to buy at least 2 bags at £15 each. Good stuff though
http://www.bigkproducts.co.uk/Product-Restaurant-Grade-Lumpwood-Charcoal_22.aspx

DrSweetsmoke wrote:Fifteen bones a bag?

Yes, similar in price to Bookers at £12 for 12kg, only thing is you need to add delivery to that price. I'm sure on the quantities that you must buy you could probably get a better deal on a complete pallet