The Best Charcoal for Grilling, According to Our Tests

Best Overall Charcoal

The Good Charcoal Company Premium Hardwood Lump Charcoal

$27 at Walmart $20 at Home Depot $20 at Samsclub.com

Test results aside, let’s start with the intangible reasons we love The Good Charcoal Company: Its acacia charcoal is made from invasive trees in Namibia that are encroaching on grasslands; it’s created 150 local jobs and counting; and it fights food insecurity in U.S. cities by hosting barbecues for people in need. 

The charcoal itself is also great. Acacia makes for dense, clean-burning charcoal that produces very little ash and no annoying popping or sparking in testing. Its mild smoke doesn't contribute any strong flavors, which lets you taste the meat over any acrid notes, whether you're quick-grilling a steak or barbecuing an entire rack of ribs. Our only complaint is a minor one: It took about 15 minutes to get a full load of charcoal going in a chimney starter, among the longer times in testing. The large chunks burn slowly, which means they also start slowly.

Sizes Available: 8, 15.4, and 27.5 pounds

Best Value Charcoal

Royal Oak Hardwood Lump Charcoal

Orig. $36 $33 at Amazon $15 at Walmart $18 at Home Depot

Royal Oak's charcoal is a mix of sustainably sourced American hickory, oak, and maple, all of which produce pleasant smoke that will lightly perfume both your food and your yard or patio. It lit very quickly — about 5 minutes in a chimney starter — and the grill was at temperature and ready to go within 20 minutes for both our low- and high-heat tests. There was little dust in the string-closure bag, and the chunks ranged in size from small to medium.

This is a good multi-purpose charcoal, and it's very reasonably priced for its quality. Just make sure to keep the bag out of the rain: The paper isn't very waterproof and liable to spill charcoal everywhere if you try to lift it when wet.

Sizes Available: 8, 15.4, and 30 pounds

Best Splurge Charcoal

Big Green Egg Oak and Hickory Lump Charcoal

$56 at Amazon View on Instacart.com

The Big Green Egg is our favorite kamado grill, and the brand's charcoal is ideal for the kamado setup. It lit quickly in testing and burned nice and hot, taking just 5 minutes to get a heavy ceramic kamado hot enough for searing. But it was also easy to lower the temperature by adjusting the grill's vents, making this a good charcoal for slow-cooking too. It's made from American hickory and oak woods, and we found little dust and no sparking or popping when lighting it. In terms of taste and flavor, it skews towards smoky, but not overly so. It sounds weird to call something “luxury charcoal,” but Big Green Egg fills that niche exactly.

A downside of this charcoal's high heat is that it burns fast. By the time the coals were started and the grill was pre-heated in testing, almost half the charcoal had already burned away. For longer cooks, you'll want to get a second batch lit as soon as you start cooking on the first. That means you might go through a lot of fuel, and unfortunately, this particular fuel is on the more expensive side.

Size Available: 20 pounds

Best Large Charcoal

Jealous Devil Chunx Lump Charcoal

Orig. $48 $36 at Amazon View on Bbqguys.com $38 at Home Depot

Known for its purity, Jealous Devil's lump charcoal is made from a South American hardwood that's 30 percent denser than oak. (It's called quebracho, which means "axe-breaker" in Spanish.) This leads to clean, efficient burning with minimal smoke just a small amount of clean ash to dispose of later. Though it gets intensely hot, it won't spark or pop.

This charcoal's light smoke flavor can stand up to bolder ingredients like beef but won't overwhelm fish or poultry. But make sure it's fully lit and glowing before you put any food on the grill — it did produce a lot of smoke at the beginning of the process in our testing. Jealous Devil's price is higher than many of its competitors, but with its powerful heat and clean burning, you can use less of it.

Sizes Available: 8, 10, 20, and 35 pounds

Best Charcoal for Flavor

B&B Charcoal Oak Lump Charcoal

$35 at Amazon $33 at Wayfair $15 at Walmart

We recommend B&B to anybody who loves smoky flavor. It didn't produce excessive smoke in our testing, but it did infuse chicken legs and hamburgers with a pleasant smokiness. The oak flavor isn't harsh like mesquite or sweet like apple; it's a background note that works nicely with just about any kind of food you might want to grill. For lighting, we used a propane torch rather than a chimney and found the charcoal lit quickly – in about 5 minutes – and was ready to cook in under 20.

It did spark and pop somewhat, a sign of moisture or collected charcoal dust, despite little evidence of dust in the bag. Aside from that, it burned clean, reducing to about half a cup of ash after cooking. 

Sizes Available: 20 pounds

Best Charcoal for Ceramic Grills

FOGO Super Premium Lump Charcoal

Orig. $42 $40 at Amazon $36 at Walmart View on Bbqguys.com

FOGO's charcoal did a lot of popping and smoking in an open grill, burning quite unevenly thanks to the random non-uniform sizes of its Salvadoran oak chunks. Chimney lighting took 12 minutes and more babysitting than many of the other brands we tested.

However, once we loaded the coals into a closed Kamado-style grill, the controlled airflow made them burn much more hot and clean. FOGO made for our favorite New York strip steak thanks to its high heat and subtle but recognizable smokiness. This might not be the brand for someone who uses a traditional charcoal grill, but for owners of ceramic models, it's ideal.

Sizes Available: 17.6 and 35 pounds

Best Charcoal for Smoking

Cowboy Hardwood Lump Charcoal

$41 at Amazon $40 at Walmart $18 at Tractor Supply Co.

For longer, lower-temperature cooking — in other words, real-deal barbecue — this mix of oak, hickory, and maple imparts a smoky flavor without overwhelming. Our test chicken was reminiscent of a campfire but had none of the harsh burnt notes that come from over-smoking. Cowboy's lump charcoal lit easily in about 5 minutes using a propane torch and then was ready for low-and-slow cooking in 25 minutes. The bag is constructed of a heavier-duty material than most, which is helpful if you plan to fold the end over and keep the extra charcoal outside next to the grill. 

One issue when lighting this charcoal was that it did a lot of sparking and popping, and generated a lot of smoke. You'll want to keep kids away and have a pair of heatproof grill gloves on hand for the beginning of the process. But that issue quieted as the flames died down, and the coals burned much more cleanly and slowly. After our low-and-slow testing, there was very little ash to clean up and plenty of extra charcoal.

Sizes Available: 8.8 and 20 pounds

Best Charcoal Briquettes

Royal Oak Premium Charcoal

$26 at Amazon $26 at Walmart $7 at Lowe's

Where lump charcoal comes in irregular pieces that often burn unevenly, briquettes are all the same size and shape. Rather than the pillow shape of most briquettes, Royal Oak's larger pieces have a groove down the top and bottom, enhancing airflow to achieve higher temperatures and burn time. The shape also makes them quicker and easier to light than competitors, and they burn hotter and longer thanks to more hardwood being in the mix.

The (potential) negative with all briquettes is that they produce more smoke and create a more intensely smoky flavor than lump charcoal. If you're used to a near-smokeless gas grill, Royal Oak's briquettes will make your burgers, steaks, and chicken taste quite different.

Sizes Available: 7.7, 15.4, and 18 pounds

Best Binchotan Charcoal

Jealous Devil Onyx Binchotan Charcoal

$60 at Amazon $60 at Walmart $61 at Home Depot

Binchotan is a special type of charcoal that many grill experts consider the best in the world. Originating in Japan, where it's popular for yakitori, binchotan is made from hardwood at extra-high temperatures, which leads to higher carbon content in the finished product — which means it burns really hot with little to no smoke or visible flame. This infrared heat creates an intense sear and cooks the food evenly from the inside out at the same time.

You don't want to use binchotan for anything besides quick cooking, however. Its intense heat evaporates moisture quite effectively and can really dry out meats if you overcook them. It's also expensive, thanks to the specialized process needed to make it. But if you want to speed-grill some skewers, this is the perfect choice.

Size Available: 10 pounds

Best Charcoal for Beginners

Kingsford Match Light Charcoal

Orig. $11 $10 at Amazon $10 at Target $11 at Walmart

Starting the charcoal is the worst part of charcoal grilling. The whole process of loading up a chimney, carefully folding up paper inside it, and trying over and over to get everything lit can be intimidating, not to mention embarrassing.

Kingsford Match Light solves the problem with briquettes impregnated with their own lighter fluid. All you have to do is lay the charcoal out and hold a match or stick lighter to two or three briquettes. They'll all catch fire by themselves, and take about 20 minutes to be fully ready for cooking. Just be sure to let the briquettes pre-heat fully to burn off all the lighter fluid; it can add an oily, chemical flavor if you add food while the coals are still flaming as opposed to glowing.

Sizes Available: 4, 8, 12, and 14 pounds