What the heck is in my charcoal???

bproffer · Mar 16, 2015

It has been an interesting charcoal week for me. I have always heard of finding odds and ends that are not charcoal sometimes, especially if using hardwood lump. I have occasionally found small stones, pieces of un-burnt plywood etc, but this week was fascinating.

First was a bag of Royal Oak lump. I was doing a practice burn playing around with the Assassin, and as I poured the remains of a half used bag of RO lump down the chute, I heard a big clang sound. So I empty the chute and find these sitting there:

WTH is that (not the white rock...lol). It looks like a meteorite. I am glad I found it before I lit the coals.

Next up, was a bag of Trader Joe's (Rancher) 100% hardwood briquettes. As I was pouring charcoal into the chimney lighter, this caught my eye:

Looks like some companies really need to step up their quality control.

Anyways, I know I am not the only one to find strange items in their charcoal, so post up oddities you have found!

Ol'Joe · Mar 16, 2015

Another reason to use the KBB, pretty dependable as to content.

Happy Hapgood · Mar 16, 2015

I bought some cowboy lump and it had pieces of door trim and some kind of fiber board looking stuff in it. Like what is swept up from a construction site floor.

stephan · Mar 16, 2015

SteveKing · Mar 16, 2015

Looks like slag

Larry S · Mar 16, 2015

I quit buying Frontier lump because about 1lb. of a 20lb. bag was rocks.

Larry S

jread23 · Mar 16, 2015

I get one of those white rocks in almost every bag of royal oak lump.

Garrett · Mar 16, 2015

It's normal!

Bushman5 · Mar 16, 2015

i just learned how to make my own charcoal...........cheaper than buying rocks.....

cliffcarter · Mar 16, 2015

I remember someone on The Smoke Ring found a melted and mangled cel phone in a bag of RO lump about 5-6 years ago.

mikemci · Mar 16, 2015

It looks like a meteorite, or something from Star Trek. I know a guy who always scoops a little dirt in the aluminum cans he picks up to sell :tsk:

Skip · Mar 16, 2015

Cowboy and other lump charcoal have been made from construction waste. The other looks like slag. Probably some sort of metal separated in the the production.

1buckie · Mar 16, 2015

SteveKing84 said:
Looks like slag

It does.....just like copper smelter slag....only made out of lead.....:twitch::loco:

I gave up on the Trader Joe's stuff when I kept getting the nylon thread they use for the bag closure EMBEDDED in the briquettes.....I hope that's a nail & not a bullet......

Doug Crann · Mar 16, 2015

jread23 said:
I get one of those white rocks in almost every bag of royal oak lump.

Same here. I often find what looks to be fiberglass mesh of sorts as well....

Doug Crann · Mar 16, 2015

Perhaps it was a small Boeing Bomb?

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rtm8w3o63AA"]Joe Dirt - "Meteor" - YouTube[/ame]

5string · Mar 17, 2015

Love Cowboy lump, it's like a box of CrackerJacks, there's a "prize" in every bag.

Wolverine · Mar 17, 2015

I think we all get a rock or chunk of what the hell is that in our bags. And some say its ok and normal live with it and cook on. However i say BS and some are missing the point. Charcoal is sold by the pound, If there is a 1/2 or even 1/4 pound rock in each bag the company is making a huge profit by selling you a farking rock. Just imagine how many 1/2 pennies are floating around in the banking world.

SteveKing · Mar 17, 2015

Wolverine said:
I think we all get a rock or chunk of what the hell is that in our bags. And some say its ok and normal live with it and cook on. However i say BS and some are missing the point. Charcoal is sold by the pound, If there is a 1/2 or even 1/4 pound rock in each bag the company is making a huge profit by selling you a farking rock. Just imagine how many 1/2 pennies are floating around in the banking world.

I thought I'd figure out what volume of rock/steel is required to amount to 0.25lbs. I'm a geostructural engineer who has specializes in support of excavations and tunnels, so I'm qualified to do this type of analysis. I ran the calculations and based on the cubic weight of limestone (those white rocks appear to be that) and steel, the diameter of a sphere for each material to weigh in at 0.25lbs individually are 1.8 inches and 1.2 inches respectively. So yeah, it don't take much for that to add up. A typical rock found in a bag is nearly that size, so they are screwing us. Intentional? Probably, that's for a court to figure out. :mad2:

G$ · Mar 17, 2015

SteveKing84 said:
A typical rock found in a bag is nearly that size, so they are screwing us. Intentional? Probably, that's for a court to figure out. :mad2:

I think it would cost more to add 1 rock to a bag of charcoal than they would see in profit. Intentional? Probably not. Careless? Probably.

SteveKing · Mar 17, 2015

G$ said:
I think it would cost more to add 1 rock to a bag of charcoal than they would see in profit. Intentional? Probably not. Careless? Probably.

That's the job for a forensic accountant to look at. But I can tell you rock is cheaper than hardwood lump charcoal by weight.

Either way, it's either intentional or neglect. Both cases the manufacturer is at fault.

What the heck is in my charcoal???

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