Wicked Good Charcoal

I took the plunge and ordered some "Wicked Good" lump Charcoal. Three 22LB bags set me back $90.00 after shipping. Shipping cost as much as the charcoal.

You're looking at 1.36 per Lb compared to .35/Lb of Kingsford at the local Walmart as the fall season sets in . Although expensive, one chimney will handle a full grill of chicken thighs with plenty of heat left over.

It burns hotter, longer and cleaner than any charcoal I've used. A 22 pound bag is loaded with good sized chunks of charcoal. The average piece is approximately 32.5% larger than a Kingsford Briquette and there's usually several Monster pieces included (I'll save those for the WSM). The pictures depict the big ones from one bag.

I grilled some chicken thighs the other day and the charcoal flavor was absolutely amazing!

Is it good charcoal? Yes, very much so.

Is it worth the price? Well, buy a 22 pound bag and save it for special cook-out's. With that being said, IT'S WORTH THE PRICE!

Update 3/1/09: I've now grilled chicken, numerous steaks, and smoked several items on the WSM using Wicked Good Charcoal. I've come to the conclusion that for my taste, additional smoke wood is not necessary when using WGC.

A few weeks ago I smoked a few racks of Baby Backs using 3 fist sized chunks of Hickory and the smoke over powered the "Q". When using Kingsford, that's never the case. Today I scaled back the Hickory to one chunk and although not as over powering, the smoke was still too much on the grate load of Beef Short Ribs.

I grilled a pile of chicken indirect on the Kettle and after 45 minutes on the grill, the smoke flavor was just right.