Best Readily-available Lump Charcoal, Hand Down

Hands down the best lump charcoal that's readily available.

There Are Different Sizes of Jealous Devil Lumps

Jealous Devil has always been my preferred Charcoal so when a small local retailer stopped carrying it I was pleased to see Home Depot had it available. However upon opening the paper bag of Jealous Devil XL Lump Charcoal from HD I was surprised to find it consisted of relatively small briquettes of Charcoal. Compared to the old style bags I was used to marked ‘Restaurant Quality’ that I had been buying these were 1/4 to 1/3 the size while being marked ‘XL Chunks’. They still work just fine but they burn up quite quickly compared to the old larger size which would last 8-10 hours without difficulty. I will attach pictures of both types of bags as well as the size difference between the two. Paper bag and contents from HD, the plastic bag and its contents are not from HD. You’d think something marked XL Charcoal Lumps would actually be XL size.

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This is my first experience with Jealous Devil. I only grilled once so far with 1 whole chimney starter full of this JD lump. It was definitely the hottest my grill ever got with this amount of charcoal. It lit fairly quickly and produced much less ash than my ol' standy charcoal - Kingsford blue. The sizes were pretty consistent, without any overly large chucks. I didn't get to the bottom of the bag yet to see how much unusable dust is at the bottom, but after 1 use I can say I'd definitely buy this brand again.

My ‘Go To’ Lump Charcoal

After trying several different brands I settled on this Charcoal several years back for my Louisiana Grill egg barbecue and Jealous Devil is now my yardstick that every other brand has to measure up against. This charcoal lights and burns to either a very high or low temperature as desired depending of course on the draft settings. Perhaps the best thing about Jealous Devil however is that it will burn hour after hour on end without getting used up which is perfect for long slow rib cooking. I can make it go out eventually if I’ve finished grilling and want to save the remaining charcoal for later by closing the air off completely, on the other hand I’ve left the draft cracked open and found some Charcoal still burned through the night into the next morning. A good Charcoal is the make or break difference when it comes to grilling and this is the one you want to use. Sprinkle your choice of flavoured wood chips on top of this just before you set the meat and you’re off to the races.

Great Charcoal

Bought my first bag and love the charcoal. Nice, large lumps of real wood charcoal without the rocks! Other brands I have used almost always have 2-3” rocks in them, but not this brand.

Great stuff

I’ve been looking for a “Go To” lump charcoal, and I found it. I’ve tried many different brands with mixed results. This one is the perfect size of mixed pieces, and doesn’t have that chemicaly smell or taste that I have experienced with a few other brands. I highly recommend jealous devil chunx!

Disappointed

Heard and read good things about this charcoal. Inside the bag was actual garbage (plastic twine). The XL size was not even close, it was more like the small pieces that settle to the bottom of actual XL lump charcoal bags.

This is the best charcoal I've ever used and still reasonable cost. Burns hotter with less ash and sparking. Flavor is relatively mild but excellent. There is less powder than other brands, but sometime chunks are very large and need to be broken up.

Great quality hardwood lump charcoal. I know the name is XL Lump but I wish it had a better distribution of small, medium and large lumps. Each bag comes with what I think is a little too many XL lumps which take much longer to burn and create cold spots.

I have used Jealous Devil for years now. It's the best lump charcoal out on the market. Just plain charcoal, no chemicals added. No junk. Just charcoal. Glad to finally see it in store finally.