The Morning Woodworker

Wood, Beer and Food!

Before anyone starts sending hate mail, let me explain. I am not talking about woodworking with beer. I am talking about the perfect ending to weekend. (My weekend ends on Monday, IF I get two days off, which in this case I did, woohoo!) I’m talking of cooking with wood… and beer.

While I was perusing the local Lowes Home Impovement store I went through the grill section as I usually do. What caught my eye wasn’t the usual assortment of grills that they had to offer. (Although I was tempted by the shininess of stainless steel.) What caught my attention was a couple of pallets of charcoal that I had not seen before. It was the “Cowboy” brand “Lump” charcoal. In case anybody is not aware, lump charcoal is wood chunks that have been charred into coal. I had been wanting to try this lump style of charcoal for quite some time. While I enjoy grilling as much as any American Male in the South, I never felt that I had a “One Up” on anybody, I had only the Bricket style of charcoal available to me. At least I don’t use gas. Those guys are “posers”. (O.k. send hate mail now). I had heard of this Lump Charcoal on “The Food Network”, I have just never seen it in the stores.

Well since I had bought my two big bags on Saturday, I have grilled tree times this weekend. What a difference! It burns hotter, doesn’t have any chemical taste or smell and just plain cooks better. So if you have never tried this type of charcoal before, you owe yourself a favor to try it. Take that shiny gas grill to the curb and get yourself a charcoal burning grill with cast iron grates and cook yourself up a mess of grub. You will never go back to bricket’s or gas again. I promise.

Oh I almost forgot to tell you that there is much less ash left behind when using this stuff. Like I said, I have grilled tree times and I still don’t have to empty the grill. Awesome!

If you can’t find this charcoal in the store, just do a Google search for “Lump Charcoal”. There are many places that will ship to you.