Many of us when we started grilling thought that the instant light charcoal was a true blessing. In reality though, as experience has proven instant light charcoal is actually a hindrance instead of a help for grilling. This article will explain why. The idea of instant light charcoal seems like such a great idea. Something where you don’t need lighter fluid, electric lighters, or chimney starters to get your grill started. In general a full grill of instant light charcoal will be ready in just about 10 minutes for grilling, which is faster than most charcoal in a chimney starter. So, why are experts against this type of charcoal?
As someone who has been grilling well before the “grilling fad” that grew due to the cable network television shows and celebrity grillmasters such as Steve Raichlen and Bobby Flay, I learned the hard way. Using instant light charcoal seemed so easy, and the “burn the bag” charcoal where you light the bag for a one time use seemed even better. Eventually though family members started telling me that the food I was grilling just didn’t taste as good as when I used traditional charcoal. After researching and thinking about the subject, I found reasons for this problem. Hopefully my knowledge will help you so you don’t make the same mistake I made of spending several years with instant light charcoal.
Funny Taste- One of the major complaints my family and friends had was that all the meat had a “funny taste. It was sort of a chemical taste, and was more noticeable when grilling items such as chicken and pork than beef items. I realized that of course for instant light charcoal to be “instant light” it was soaked in chemicals. The chemical fumes didn’t burn off completely while waiting for the charcoal to become hot enough and turn an ashen color. As a result these fumes continued to flavor foods while they cooked. For those of you that are familiar with smoking, in effect the instant light charcoal conveys a chemical smell to it’s smoke and a chemical flavor instead to meat of how wood conveys a flavor from the wood to the meat. This is not what you want when grilling.
Burns Too Fast- In general instant light charcoal tends to burn faster than other t types of charcoal. This is because the chemicals it is soaked in to make it “instant light” doesn’t go away immediately after lighting the charcoal. Instead it serves as an accelerator for the charcoal while burning. I have found that in general instant light charcoal will lose it’s heat and burn away anywhere from two to four times as fast as traditional charcoal that is lit using a chimney starter. When cooking large pieces of meat this results in having to replace the charcoal frequently and therefore spending a lot of unnecessary money.
The Cost Isn’t Worth The Benefit- In general instant light charcoal will cost anywhere from 50% to 75% more than than same size package of charcoal that you light using a chimney starter or lighter fluid. I will say I strongly oppose using lighter fluid as well, but that’s another subject. As mentioned before the instant light charcoal also burns faster than other charcoal, therefore resulting in your pocketbook feeling the effects. Why would you spend more on a type of charcoal that makes your food taste funny and burns faster? The answer is that you shouldn’t.
In reality instant light charcoal is not for someone that is serious about grilling. It is designed to take advantage of consumers that do not understand the flaws with the product and are just looking for something quick and easy. When grilling, quick and easy is not always the best way. Remember as a grillmaster you love to hear compliments from your guests about the food you cook on your grill. If you aren’t receiving those compliments, the first thing you might want to check on is the fuel you are using for your grill.
