Green Olive Charcoal Review
It can be really difficult to find good charcoal. Some charcoal burns too quickly while others are too smokey. Also, I’ve bought bags of charcoal which have been little more than bags of dust! I like to cook with restaurant grade lumpwood charcoal. It delivers stable temperature holding and is very economical. I decided to do a Green Olive Charcoal Review and put it to the test.
| First impression: The lumps are large | Woods: Oak, beech & hornbeam | Lump size: 3 – 20 cm |
| Bag size: 8 kg | Bag price: £16.99 | Price per kg: £2.12 / kg |
ABOUT Green Olive CHARCOAL
This charcoal is made with a mix of 100% totally natural hardwoods. The species of hardwood that are used are a mix of hardwoods to ensure the best quality of lumpwood with a longer burn and more intense heat. Apparently, this charcoal only has large pieces which “range from 3cm -20cm to allow for the home BBQ to the professional kitchens”. It it offers a totally natural cook with high intense heat. Let’s put this to the test!
FEATURES & SPECIFICATIONS
- Bag weight: 8 kg
- Made from: mixed hardwoods
- Lump size: 3 – 20 cm (apparently!!
- Burn time: 8 hours+
Charcoal lighting Tips
Firstly, it’s important not to use accelerants to start the charcoal burning. This is especially true in kamado ovens as they’re constructed from porous ceramic. The ceramic will absorb some of the lighter fluid. And this will cause your food to taste and smell awful. Anyway, the use of lighter fluid and kamados is a whole other discussion which you can read here if you like.
Secondly, when lighting any kamado or BBQ, I’d recommend wearing a long sleeve t-shirt or jacket and sunglasses. This will protect your arms and eyes as some sparks can be thrown. You can read my how-to guide about how to light charcoal here.
Green Olive CHARCOAL REVIEW RESULT: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
| Smoke: | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Performance: | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Quality: | ⭐⭐⭐ |
| Value: | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Overall Rating: | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
I’ve enjoyed my cooks with this charcoal, but I’m not sure if I’d use it all the time. It does deliver great flavour and stable temperatures but I found that the lumps were smaller than I expected. This meant that the charcoal burnt more quickly and so didn’t last as long as other lump charcoal. It did also burn hotter than I’d hoped for but I was able to manage this. It didn’t produce any more smoke than I’d have expected, which was great.
Also, the Green Olive Charcoal was delivered as a large bag stuffed into a cardboard box. I think this might’ve crushed some of the charcoal,
Priced at £16.99 for 8 kg, it’s €2.50 per kg. That’s good enough value for money for charcoal, but not good enough to convince me to buy it again.
WHERE to BUY Green Olive Charcoal?
Green Olive Charcoal is available to buy from Amazon for £16.99