Can you mix lump charcoal with briquettes? | 4 Important steps

If you’re wondering whether you can blend briquettes with lump charcoal or not? As far as to clear the concern here in this article we will let you know the answer to the question “Can you mix lump charcoal with briquettes or not?”. The answer is a simple “Yes“. We will clear some of the queries regarding the lump charcoal and the briquettes.

If you want burnt ends and smoky hardwood flavor, then mixing lump charcoal with charcoal briquettes is all you need. The mixing can both have its pros and cons. It might cause a slight problem controlling the overall heat. Therefore, it is necessary to keep the proportion right to control the heat and prevent the food from burning.

Lump charcoal:

Lump charcoal is a natural resource made of hardwood. To produce Lump charcoal, the woodchucks are burnt in the absence of oxygen and ensure that the moisture is eliminated from it.

Charcoal Briquette:

Charcoal briquette is made up of scrap wood and uses different binders and chemical fillers. Their shape is uniform. As briquette is not a natural resource, thus burning charcoal briquette causes air pollution.

Characteristics of Lump Charcoal and Briquette.

Characteristics of lump charcoal:

• It is derived from natural hardwood and is the best alternative to quick fire.
• The benefit of lump charcoal is that the heat produced through it can easily be managed.
• Every chunk of it is not of the same size, therefore not necessary that every bit of it will carbonize.
• If it is not wholly burnt, it can be again used.
• It costs more than charcoal briquette, but it helps bring the ideal smoke flavor to your food.
• It is perfect for searing and direct grilling as it burns quickly and is a lot hotter.

Characteristics of Charcoal briquette:

• Charcoal briquettes are carbonized and mostly preferred to maintain low temperatures.
• It is not natural, thus adding to the overall pollution.
• It is less expensive and might leave a harsh flavor.
• Compared to Lump charcoal, it is of the same size and even inexpensive.
• It takes longer to light and even produces much more ashes compared to Lump charcoal.
• The burning span of Charcoal briquette is longer.
• It is perfect to use if need to cook anything at a lower temperature or, in other words, for slow cooking.

Can you mix lump charcoal with briquettes:

Lump Charcoal and Charcoal Briquette have their characteristics, and combining the two types of charcoal will help you get the best of both. In order to mix both types of charcoal, it is best to layer the lump charcoal and charcoal briquette. The most effective way of burning the two together is by layering them up and avoiding dumping them directly.

First, you need to light the chimney starter with the charcoal briquette and then layer it with lump charcoal. This way, the lump charcoal lighting will help illuminate the charcoal briquette at the charcoal grater. Ensure that the lump charcoal is in smaller pieces which will help to ignite the fire and prevent the smaller pieces from falling from the charcoal grater.

Benefits of mixing Lump charcoal and charcoal briquette:

People might wonder what some of the benefits of combining the two different types of Charcoals are. Below mentioned are some of the benefits:

1. Burning Lump charcoal alone may light very high heat; therefore, mixing it with the charcoal briquette will help control it.
2. Lump charcoal is natural Harwood, therefore, provides an exquisite flavor to the dish, not just this by mixing it with charcoal briquette will enable you to control the heat and cook the food properly.
3. Lump charcoal does not carbonize equally therefore, mixing it with charcoal briquette creates smoky flavors of the food.
4. Lump Charcoal burns quickly therefore, mixing it with charcoal briquette will help it burn longer and help cater to the shorter burn time.

Problems of mixing Lump Charcoal and Charcoal briquette:

Though mixing Lump charcoal and Charcoal briquette has many benefits, there might also be some problems while combining the two.

1. Mixing the two different types of charcoals might make it difficult to control the fire and temperature.
2. If the person wants to cook the food on slow heat, they might quickly run out of it.
3. The uneven shape of Lump charcoal might lead to uneven burning, as the little chunks of Lump charcoal will burn off quickly, while the more significant pieces might take a little longer, producing an immense amount of smoke and heat.
4. To light a controllable fire by using a mix of charcoal, it is mandatory to manage air intake.
5. The typical response of Lump charcoal and Charcoal briquette might also act as a problem that the person might face while burning the mix of Lump charcoal and Charcoal briquette.

The Accurate Proportion of the Two:

In order to identify the accurate proportions of Lump charcoal and briquette, the individual will have to figure out by using the trial-and-error method. If the briquette is already lit, then not much heat will be required from larger pieces of Lump Charcoal. The temperature can be effectively controlled through the air vent so, it is necessary to clean the charcoal grill after every grilling session. As there is no set or ideal proportion for mixing the two, thus many trials have to be made to figure out the ideal ratios of both charcoals.

Sparks can be seen in larger chunks of Lump charcoal while burning due to a certain amount of moisture. You need to be very careful if this is the first time you are mixing the two types of charcoal. Lastly, the burning of charcoal briquette produces a lot of ashes. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that the air intake of the grill you are using is clear and unblocked.

Conclusion:

This article focuses on some of the important and practical ways of mixing the two types of charcoals. It also provides a systematic way of burning Lump charcoal and Briquette by layering them up so, that heat can be controlled and managed.

Through the trial-and-error method figuring out the ideal ratio for mixing the two will help you maintain the perfect temperature. Also, keep checking that the air intake is precise and is not blocked by the ashes in the grill. Mixing Lump charcoal and charcoal briquette brings a whole new experience of having perfectly cooked grill food.