Some Coal Advice

[smidge]

so i bought a 40lb bag of best of the west natural mesquite charcoal. Thinking it would have some small pieces in it but they are huge logs and chunks! so ive been chopping them up with hammer and chisel to get desired pieces. I cannot get them to produce much heat, and they dont stay lit long. Any tips from people who have used these coals? Im waiting for codename to pop in and give me his oppinion as i know he has used these coals before.

[everydayshisha]

They may appear fully lit but they probably aint. once you get them fully lit you'll know.

[mushrat]

all the bulk charcoals don't like to stay lit unless they are fully going AND you hit the hookah like a fiend...

How does the mesquite taste when mixed with your shisha. Next time i would reccommend a neutral wood like oak.

[Scoop]

ive tried those coal before. while i never had heat issues, they do give off massive mesquite taste and i didn't like it.

[AzZ]

I think Codename067 uses those coals. I've never tried bulk charcoal like that.

[smidge]

i dont really get a mesquite flavor

[SoulFireX97]

so i bought a 40lb bag of best of the west natural mesquite charcoal. Thinking it would have some small pieces in it but they are huge logs and chunks! so ive been chopping them up with hammer and chisel to get desired pieces. I cannot get them to produce much heat, and they dont stay lit long. Any tips from people who have used these coals? Im waiting for codename to pop in and give me his oppinion as i know he has used these coals before.

How are you lighting these? I've been using them for the last two months and really like them (Not mesquite, just natural lump coal). For my set up I have a 1000 Watt electric coal hot plate that I simply put the lump coal on and let burn threw for about 10 minutes. I'm still experimenting though, I'm finding that grouping them in piles lights them faster and gets them going so they don't go out. I may even use a tin can to "Chimney" the coals just like you would do to start a charcoal grill.

If you have any breakthroughs let me know!

-SFX

[ilikemyusername]

charcoal fluid, a chimney and a match

[SoulFireX97]

charcoal fluid, a chimney and a match

BAD IDEA! (Unless you let all that fuel burn off for a long time!) The fuel sinks into the charcoal too easily, and if you smoke that you will end up with a NASTY headache or violently sick!

-SFX

[ZenSilk]

Mesquite is for bar-b-q's... and chips...

[Voski]

Theres a lounge that uses coals like that. Like said before if you stop hitting it it will go out, they require a lot more attention then normal coals so I don't bother with them.

[mathuv]

chimney and a blowtorch

[teq]

An electric heater blowing over the bowl helps keep the coals alive.

I recently bought 10lb of Royal Oak lump charcoal for $5 at Walmart. It sparks and smokes like crazy and I haven't been able to get them to light with my propane camp stove.

Whats the wattage on your coil burner and how much of the coal does it light before having to rotate them?

[chromecarz00]

An electric heater blowing over the bowl helps keep the coals alive.

I recently bought 10lb of Royal Oak lump charcoal for $5 at Walmart. It sparks and smokes like crazy and I haven't been able to get them to light with my propane camp stove.

Whats the wattage on your coil burner and how much of the coal does it light before having to rotate them?

DONT USE CHARCOAL
use special made hookah coal

[teq]

DONT USE CHARCOAL
use special made hookah coal

It's lump coal.... not briquets.

The only difference between lump barbeque coal and hookah coal is the type of wood used. Oak is much harder to keep lit than lemonwood or olive wood. If it wasn't, I'm pretty sure they would use it instead, since it's cheaper.

[Codename067]

I usually use a Hammer and break them down to much smaller pieces.

They don't change the flavor much Mush..I noticed little to no difference in taste from using natural finger coals. Never used oak.

[smidge]

well how do you get them lit codename? and how do you know when they are fully lit. mine are usually a really dark red when they light. not a normal bright red like you get from exoticas or other finger coals..

[Codename067]

well how do you get them lit codename? and how do you know when they are fully lit. mine are usually a really dark red when they light. not a normal bright red like you get from exoticas or other finger coals..

I bought a 10 dolalr single burner from Walgreens.

I put a bunch of piece on and let them stay there for 10 mins, fliping them every 5 mins [so one flip, 5 minutes on each side].

then cut up some cardboard pieces and start 'fanning' them.

I have used them so much that I got used to knowning when they are done. Dont let the sun light/light outside fool you..they are always red-er than they appear to be.