Well it is official I have found my new favourite charcoal! qBurn Finest Cuban Marabu Charcoal is perfect for low and slow cooking. I took it for its first test run on xmas day for our xmas turkey. I have made a video which will be released soon along side a series of charcoals I have reviewed.
At first glance I was a little disappointed because I expect bug chunks which you normally get from restaurant grade charcoal but don’t be fooled this coal burns for a long time! It claims “It can cook for 24 hours or more using only 3kg of product, what’s more is that there is still some left ready for the next cook” and I believe it!
I use a Weber charcoal measuring cup as my standard lighting amount in my Kamado Joe. Using one cup and three Flamers firelighters the coal was ready to cook on after 20 mins. I then added another 2 cups before starting to cook.
The coal held a consistent temperature of around 250F for 6 hours before I shut down the Kamado Joe. The next day I went to see how much was left and their was over 1 cups worth of charcoal still remaining!
The charcoal is vert dense and when two sticks are knocked together it makes a metallic knocking sound rather than a traditional wooden knocking sound that you would expect to find in another charcoal.
So the charcoal is awesome and I also like the sustainable story “Cuba has a problem…Marabu; marabu is a wood that is growing incredibly fast and has dominated the Cuban agricultural landscape for decades. The Cuban government have asked how they can tackle the issue that is causing huge economic loss to Cuba in lost agricultural land. Charcoal is one of the answers to this problem.”
At £20 per box it isn’t cheap but it lasts very well and in my opinion is worth every penny!
http://www.marlin-cs.com/product/qburn-finest-cuban-marabu-charcoal-10kg-box/