4 ms·

Henry Ford helped popularize charcoal briquets

22 points by RickJWagner 3y ago

hprotagonist 3y ago
> there are plenty of backyard barbecuers that would rather do their grilling over hot coals, specifically charcoal briquets. Better yet, lump charcoal. My kamodo-style grill has a porous ceramic body, and using briquets does nothing but ensure that everything you cook on it afterwards will taste of lighter fluid -- but even on the weber, lump's far nicer.
- aidenn0 3y ago
  It seems that if what you're cooking tastes of lighter fluid, perhaps that's because you're using too much lighter fluid? Unless you are talking about briquettes that contain a petroleum-derived accelerant, in which case I can only point you to the ones that do not.
  - dylan604 3y ago
    the use of any fluid is not necessary and is absolutely out of convenience or ignorance of better methods. a sibling comment mentioned a charcoal chimney. like many, i grew up watching the grill get started with using lighter fluid, so it was taught without explicitly being taught so it is something most people never see. i've since switched to solid wood chunks instead of charcoal. my backyard provides me plenty of kindling, and i find the wood chunks easier to start that way
    - aidenn0 3y ago
      Right, my point was that lighter fluid choice is orthogonal to briquette vs lump charcoal. I'll also second (third?) the chimney suggestion; they get the charcoal hot so quickly without fluid.
  - bigstrat2003 3y ago
    Or not letting it burn off, or something. I occasionally use lighter fluid (despite owning a chimney starter) because it's just plain fun. It makes my inner cave man cackle with glee because I made fire! When I do use it, I practically drown my briquettes in the stuff so as to get a nice big FWOOSH, but I've never ever had it affect the taste of my food.
- whateveracct 3y ago
  No reason to use lighter fluid with briquettes. All you need is a chimney and some sort of fire starter (newsprint works and you can buy little bundles that burn like nuts and start the coals every time).
  - albertsondev 3y ago
    My favorite is to cover a wadded-up paper towel or two with a splash (or spritz, in my case) of vegetable oil. Dirt cheap, using things I already keep stocked in quantity in my kitchen, and even more reliable than those crappy $10/pack starter blocks. Definitely want to find a similarly cheap source of actual pure charcoal, though.
    - MostlyStable 3y ago
      I use egg cartons, newspaper/packing paper, and paraffin wax to make homemade starter cubes. It's cheap as dirt since the only thing you have to buy is the wax which is very inexpensive, and extremely effective. You basically just wad up the paper into the egg carton cups and pour enough wax to hold it together (althernatively you can dip the wadded up paper in the wax then stick it in the cups before it solidifies). Cut a carton cup out of the carton, place it under the chimney, light it, and let it g.
      - albertsondev 3y ago
        We go through... a lot of eggs in this house, and I have other uses for waxes as well (such as waterproofing, candlemaking, and sealing wine bottles). This is genius, I'm stealing it. ...or so I'd like to say, practically speaking the minimal prep work of "grease a wadge of paper towel and spark it" is more realistic for my degree of laziness.
    - whateveracct 3y ago
      Ah I never considered adding some cooking oil to my paper! I do like the pre-made ones because I live on a windy hill so the fact that they are overkill helps them not go out while lighting.
georgecmu 3y ago
I'm disappointed the article neglects to mention the use of actual coal in Kingsford briquettes. I imagine charcoal alone would not be energy-rich enough to get the temperatures. Anyway, the environmental permit applications for their plant in West Virginia (close proximity to coal) are available online and make for interesting reading: https://dep.wv.gov/daq/permitting/titlevpermits/Documents/March%202014/Kingsford%20Parsons%20FS.pdf https://dep.wv.gov/daq/permitting/titlevpermits/Documents/Ma... https://dep.wv.gov/daq/permitting/titlevpermits/Documents/November%202022/093-00004/FinalPermit_R30-09300004-2019(MM02).pdf https://dep.wv.gov/daq/permitting/titlevpermits/Documents/No... For example, one can learn that their VOC emissions are in excess of 100 tons/year or that they can use 80,000 tons of coal per year. I guess folks that are willing to saturate their food in vapors of lighting fluid wouldn't care about a little bit of coal...
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- encoderer 3y ago
  Not an expert here, but I imagine they shove a bunch of wood briquettes into a barrel and seal it shut and then put it in a coal-fired furnace. The wood smolders but there’s no oxygen so charcoal is formed. No coal or coal vapors going in here. Thoughts? I’ll add - you don’t need fluid! Newspaper or shopping bags and some canola oil works every time.
  - lukevp 3y ago
    No, the briquettes have actual coal in them. I was surprised too. I’m switching to lump charcoal when my kingsford runs out. “That char is then mixed with ground coal and other ingredients to make a charcoal briquette.” [1] “Technically, charcoal briquettes aren't actual charcoal, but a combination of charcoal and other ingredients molded into easy-to-light lumps. Kingsford Charcoal, for example, by far the most popular brand in the US, is made up of bits of charcoal, coal, starch (as a binder), sawdust, and sodium nitrate (to make it burn better). For the same reason that SPAM is cheaper than a whole ham, briquettes are cheaper to make than all-wood charcoal.” [2] [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingsford_(charcoal) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingsford_(charcoal) [2] https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/cooking-tips/article/everything-you-need-to-know-about-charcoal-from-briquettes-to-binchotan https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/cooking-tips/article...
EdwardDiego 3y ago
I'm not tipping anything towards Henry Ford, who helped popularize antisemitism in the US. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/19200522_Dearborn_Independent-Intl_Jew.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/19200522...
- itisit 3y ago
  Same goes for IBM! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust
  - Aloha 3y ago
    This book has been fairly and as far as I can tell, widely debunked, and if you've read it, the holes in the arguments it advances are obvious and manifold. Also, the complete lack of documentary evidence doesn't help - it even overstates the importance of tabulators in the holocaust.
- js2 3y ago
  Lump charcoal is better in any case.
  - MostlyStable 3y ago
    Disagree. As do many professional pitmasters https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/grill-and-smoker-setup/how-charcoal-is-made/ https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/grill-and...
  - Accujack 3y ago
    Yeah. Briquettes are basically bottom of the barrel coal powder, sawdust and other additives mixed with a binder.
    - MostlyStable 3y ago
      Yeah, you would never find, rocks, metal, nylon rope, or PVC in lump charcoal [0] https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/grill-and-smoker-setup/how-charcoal-is-made/ https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/grill-and...
0xcde4c3db 3y ago
I've seen a few listicles on the theme over the years, but I wonder if some dogged academic has ever gone to the trouble of seriously cataloguing the various American traditions that are essentially just wildly successful corporate marketing campaigns targeted at prior generations. Charcoal grills, diamond engagement rings, green bean casserole, the Pledge of Allegiance, chocolate-chip cookies, etc.. I'd hope that we also have at least a few that were straight-up parody/mockery of the corporations, in the same spirit as the expression "pie in the sky" entering the popular lexicon via a leftist parody of a Christian hymn [1]. Perhaps someday an Nth cousin M-times-removed of Guillermo del Toro, Hideo Kojima, or Stephanie Sterling will be moved by the spirit of tradition to utter something like "we gather here today in the halls walked by our forefathers, to proclaim as they proclaimed, 'fuck Konami'" [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Preacher_and_the_Slave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Preacher_and_the_Slave
- qubex 3y ago
  Don’t forget the guise of Father Christmas!
- EdwardDiego 3y ago
  Wait green bean casserole was a marketing ploy by Big Bean? I've always wondered what it actually is when it crops up in American media, usually when Thanksgiving is getting ruined. Edit: Not Big Bean, Big Soup wanting to sell onion soup mix! Just like a traditional dip in my country: https://www.maggi.co.nz/recipes/original-kiwi-dip/ https://www.maggi.co.nz/recipes/original-kiwi-dip/

22 points by RickJWagner 3y ago

> there are plenty of backyard barbecuers that would rather do their grilling over hot coals, specifically charcoal briquets. Better yet, lump charcoal. My kamodo-style grill has a porous ceramic body, and using briquets does nothing but ensure that everything you cook on it afterwards will taste of lighter fluid -- but even on the weber, lump's far nicer.

aidenn0 3y ago
It seems that if what you're cooking tastes of lighter fluid, perhaps that's because you're using too much lighter fluid? Unless you are talking about briquettes that contain a petroleum-derived accelerant, in which case I can only point you to the ones that do not.
- dylan604 3y ago
  the use of any fluid is not necessary and is absolutely out of convenience or ignorance of better methods. a sibling comment mentioned a charcoal chimney. like many, i grew up watching the grill get started with using lighter fluid, so it was taught without explicitly being taught so it is something most people never see. i've since switched to solid wood chunks instead of charcoal. my backyard provides me plenty of kindling, and i find the wood chunks easier to start that way
  - aidenn0 3y ago
    Right, my point was that lighter fluid choice is orthogonal to briquette vs lump charcoal. I'll also second (third?) the chimney suggestion; they get the charcoal hot so quickly without fluid.
- bigstrat2003 3y ago
  Or not letting it burn off, or something. I occasionally use lighter fluid (despite owning a chimney starter) because it's just plain fun. It makes my inner cave man cackle with glee because I made fire! When I do use it, I practically drown my briquettes in the stuff so as to get a nice big FWOOSH, but I've never ever had it affect the taste of my food.
whateveracct 3y ago
No reason to use lighter fluid with briquettes. All you need is a chimney and some sort of fire starter (newsprint works and you can buy little bundles that burn like nuts and start the coals every time).
- albertsondev 3y ago
  My favorite is to cover a wadded-up paper towel or two with a splash (or spritz, in my case) of vegetable oil. Dirt cheap, using things I already keep stocked in quantity in my kitchen, and even more reliable than those crappy $10/pack starter blocks. Definitely want to find a similarly cheap source of actual pure charcoal, though.
  - MostlyStable 3y ago
    I use egg cartons, newspaper/packing paper, and paraffin wax to make homemade starter cubes. It's cheap as dirt since the only thing you have to buy is the wax which is very inexpensive, and extremely effective. You basically just wad up the paper into the egg carton cups and pour enough wax to hold it together (althernatively you can dip the wadded up paper in the wax then stick it in the cups before it solidifies). Cut a carton cup out of the carton, place it under the chimney, light it, and let it g.
    - albertsondev 3y ago
      We go through... a lot of eggs in this house, and I have other uses for waxes as well (such as waterproofing, candlemaking, and sealing wine bottles). This is genius, I'm stealing it. ...or so I'd like to say, practically speaking the minimal prep work of "grease a wadge of paper towel and spark it" is more realistic for my degree of laziness.
  - whateveracct 3y ago
    Ah I never considered adding some cooking oil to my paper! I do like the pre-made ones because I live on a windy hill so the fact that they are overkill helps them not go out while lighting.

georgecmu 3y ago

I'm disappointed the article neglects to mention the use of actual coal in Kingsford briquettes. I imagine charcoal alone would not be energy-rich enough to get the temperatures. Anyway, the environmental permit applications for their plant in West Virginia (close proximity to coal) are available online and make for interesting reading: https://dep.wv.gov/daq/permitting/titlevpermits/Documents/March%202014/Kingsford%20Parsons%20FS.pdf https://dep.wv.gov/daq/permitting/titlevpermits/Documents/Ma... https://dep.wv.gov/daq/permitting/titlevpermits/Documents/November%202022/093-00004/FinalPermit_R30-09300004-2019(MM02).pdf https://dep.wv.gov/daq/permitting/titlevpermits/Documents/No... For example, one can learn that their VOC emissions are in excess of 100 tons/year or that they can use 80,000 tons of coal per year. I guess folks that are willing to saturate their food in vapors of lighting fluid wouldn't care about a little bit of coal...

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
encoderer 3y ago
Not an expert here, but I imagine they shove a bunch of wood briquettes into a barrel and seal it shut and then put it in a coal-fired furnace. The wood smolders but there’s no oxygen so charcoal is formed. No coal or coal vapors going in here. Thoughts? I’ll add - you don’t need fluid! Newspaper or shopping bags and some canola oil works every time.
- lukevp 3y ago
  No, the briquettes have actual coal in them. I was surprised too. I’m switching to lump charcoal when my kingsford runs out. “That char is then mixed with ground coal and other ingredients to make a charcoal briquette.” [1] “Technically, charcoal briquettes aren't actual charcoal, but a combination of charcoal and other ingredients molded into easy-to-light lumps. Kingsford Charcoal, for example, by far the most popular brand in the US, is made up of bits of charcoal, coal, starch (as a binder), sawdust, and sodium nitrate (to make it burn better). For the same reason that SPAM is cheaper than a whole ham, briquettes are cheaper to make than all-wood charcoal.” [2] [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingsford_(charcoal) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingsford_(charcoal) [2] https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/cooking-tips/article/everything-you-need-to-know-about-charcoal-from-briquettes-to-binchotan https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/cooking-tips/article...

EdwardDiego 3y ago

I'm not tipping anything towards Henry Ford, who helped popularize antisemitism in the US. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/19200522_Dearborn_Independent-Intl_Jew.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/19200522...

itisit 3y ago
Same goes for IBM! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust
- Aloha 3y ago
  This book has been fairly and as far as I can tell, widely debunked, and if you've read it, the holes in the arguments it advances are obvious and manifold. Also, the complete lack of documentary evidence doesn't help - it even overstates the importance of tabulators in the holocaust.
js2 3y ago
Lump charcoal is better in any case.
- MostlyStable 3y ago
  Disagree. As do many professional pitmasters https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/grill-and-smoker-setup/how-charcoal-is-made/ https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/grill-and...
- Accujack 3y ago
  Yeah. Briquettes are basically bottom of the barrel coal powder, sawdust and other additives mixed with a binder.
  - MostlyStable 3y ago
    Yeah, you would never find, rocks, metal, nylon rope, or PVC in lump charcoal [0] https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/grill-and-smoker-setup/how-charcoal-is-made/ https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/grill-and...

0xcde4c3db 3y ago

I've seen a few listicles on the theme over the years, but I wonder if some dogged academic has ever gone to the trouble of seriously cataloguing the various American traditions that are essentially just wildly successful corporate marketing campaigns targeted at prior generations. Charcoal grills, diamond engagement rings, green bean casserole, the Pledge of Allegiance, chocolate-chip cookies, etc.. I'd hope that we also have at least a few that were straight-up parody/mockery of the corporations, in the same spirit as the expression "pie in the sky" entering the popular lexicon via a leftist parody of a Christian hymn [1]. Perhaps someday an Nth cousin M-times-removed of Guillermo del Toro, Hideo Kojima, or Stephanie Sterling will be moved by the spirit of tradition to utter something like "we gather here today in the halls walked by our forefathers, to proclaim as they proclaimed, 'fuck Konami'" [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Preacher_and_the_Slave https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Preacher_and_the_Slave

qubex 3y ago
Don’t forget the guise of Father Christmas!
EdwardDiego 3y ago
Wait green bean casserole was a marketing ploy by Big Bean? I've always wondered what it actually is when it crops up in American media, usually when Thanksgiving is getting ruined. Edit: Not Big Bean, Big Soup wanting to sell onion soup mix! Just like a traditional dip in my country: https://www.maggi.co.nz/recipes/original-kiwi-dip/ https://www.maggi.co.nz/recipes/original-kiwi-dip/