Big Ed’s is all about top-quality, long-burning charcoal, made from a mix of Eucalyptus and Mangrove wood. Each 10kg box is packed with around 80% large (some very large!) chunks, and about 20% smaller pieces. That mix is very deliberate – and here’s why:

🔥 Big lumps vs. small pieces – what’s the deal?

Big lumps burn longer and steadier, which is exactly what you want for low ’n’ slow cooking – think brisket, ribs, pork shoulder. But they can take a bit longer to get going. That’s because of something called surface area.

👉 In simple terms:
Smaller pieces have more surface area exposed to the flame, so they catch fire more easily and faster… but subsequently they burn out quicker
Bigger chunks have less surface area for their size – so they take longer to light, but once going, they burn hotter for longer.

That’s why the smaller pieces in the box are actually really useful:

• They help you light the fire faster

• They can act as a bed to support the larger chunks

• And they’re great for quick grilling – burgers, steaks, kebabs, that kind of thing

• Lump size isn’t a pre-requisite for quality as such, but there are additional, flexible, reasons to prefer larger lumps..

If we only packed massive pieces in the box, you’d find it harder to light, and less versatile for different BBQ styles. Plus, those smaller pieces help cushion the big chunks during shipping, so you get more of the high-quality charcoal you paid for, not dust.

Another important note – Remember this is a 100% natural product… the glory of this product is its natural state, but its also the case that with nature you get a ‘spectrum’ of sizes and shapes.. so every box will vary in size, shape, density etc… The boxes are hand sorted and hand picked, to do our best to ensure we smooth out natures inconsistency… but none the less we have to work with the natural state of the wood…

❗️Should I smash the big lumps down?

Some people do – but honestly, you don’t need to. If you want smaller pieces, just pick them out of the box. The big chunks are gold for longer cooks, and smashing them means you lose some of the benefit of those long burn times.

Each Box if hand packed.. On the bottom of the box the packer will lay a bed of smaller pieces, and then place on top of that a row of large chunks that fills the bottom 1/4 of the box.. As each lump of charcoal is irregular in shape then a handful of smaller charcoal pieces are scattered over that layer to bed it in and make the first layer level.. This helps fill the gaps in between the larger lumps, which in turn stops the larger pieces from moving around and breaking up during transport… Another layer of larger chunks is added over the top of that layer, and once again a handful of smaller pieces or scattered over that second layer of larger lumps to fill in all of the gaps.. This process is repeated, so that there is either 3, or 4 layers typically of the large pieces and the smaller pieces.. The ratio of large pieces and smaller pieces is on average 80% big chunks, and 20% smaller pieces…

Remember : The size of the charcoal isn’t the representation of quality.. smaller pieces are simply derived from exactly the same source of material.. the smaller pieces are also high quality.. its just a fact that having a range of lump sizes gives you the versatility in cooking methods on your BBQ.