japanese charcoal?

[toyguymarc]

Has anyone here used the japanese charcoal yet?  I dont know if I am
using it wrong but it gives off an awfull taste and smell... What can I
do to prevent this, and what is the best way to light these?  Thanks
for your help.  Oh yeah by the way the name of the charcoal that I am using is "Sultan".  .  Should I just throw them away.  Are they harmful..  Thanks for your response

[lilotaku]

I myself am using Abu Hitam coals which are the japanese variety with the silver coating and all.  I personally just use my gas stove to light them, and wait till they are glowing red and then pick them up with tongs and blow off the coating.I have heard bad things about Sultan in the past about it giving off a bad odor and taste.  Try getting it to glow red, and blow off all the coating before laying it on the bowl.

[dunhillsharp]

I have used several boxes of japanese coals(from hookah-shisha.com)...
they are not as good as natural coals, and much harder to light than
instant lights.  You really need a stove or torch to light
them.  I found that they only give the coal taste if you move
them... so i usually light two, place them where i want them and dont
move them.  If you leave them sit, they retain their cube shape,
but when you touch them, they crumble all over and make your hookah
taste like crap.  I dont think I will ever order any again, I
would rather have instant lights for a quick setup, or natural coals
for a good smoke.

[Sonthert]

Oh yeah, another thought I just had...Sulfur lighting coals will produce more carbon monoxide which has been linked to heart disease. The reactions occuring in "natural coal":C + 1/2 O2 <> CO +HeatCO + 1/2 O2 <> CO2 + HeatIn Sulfur coals, there is another reaction that has to be dealt with:S +  O2 <> SO2 + HeatSince Sulfur sucks up alot of oxygen, the amount of oxygen for the top two reactions will be reduced. By Lavoiser's Principle (Spelling? Is this even the right name for the principle?) in a system in "equillibrium", increasing one side will increase the other. If I blow on a charcoal, it gets hotter. I increased the amount of oxygen, and charcoal burns faster, producing more heat. In the case of sulfur coals, the amount of oxygen available to burn carbon to carbon monoxide or carbon monoxide to carbon monoxide goes down, reducing the reactions. We want both reactions to go as far as they can, producing CO2 as much as possible. You may notice a black, oily smoke coming from the charcoal. This is carbon. That means the reaction isn't making it to producing carbon dioxide principally. That is, mostly carbon monoxide is being produced. Muy Malo.Claro?

[pavlakos_politakos]

yeah..what he said.you can always count on tang to go into detail.even if i dont fully understand. 

[toyguymarc]

Hey guys thanks for all the helpful advice and knowlage.  I hope I can help out sometime as well..  As for me, I am going to be trashing those Jap. coals I have.

[dizzing]

yeah, iv'e heard that sultan japanese coals tend to be horrible like that.  the ones that say "Golden Charcoal" but are still japanese style are excellent, i've had those.. they may or not be the same as the abu haitham brand... i'm not sure, but both of those are good.  sultan= not.

[Sonthert]

In my opinion, the Abu Hitham coals are better than the Golden Jap coals.Golden Jap coals weigh in around 14-15g for a strip of four. Abu Hitham coals weigh in around 17-18g and they wholesale/retail for the same price...so without the difference in quality, there's about 20% more in Abu Hitham boxes. I think Abu Hitham coals also have less flavor than Golden Jap Charcoal.

[ApoC]

abu hitam jap coals are my fav, i used to use 3 kings a lot and recently got some, and realized, holy crap do they have a bad taste. sorta like ammonia or something... gross. gonna start buying natural coals in the future since propane torches are so easy to use with em, whats the absolute best natural coal available?

[HookahCaterpillar]

If your talking about those square coals that have some kind of weird
silver coating on them I dont like them at all. They take forever to
light and then burn out really fast, stick with 3 kings there the best.

[Seandoo]

i use the japanese charcoal as well...i dunno they work better for me
than the quicklights unless of course i'm in a setting with no
stove/bbq eg. outside/at school or whatever. yeah they really taste
like butt at first...but try putting a quicklight on the bowl before
the firework show ends and see if it tastes any better. of course it'll
taste pretty gnarly, actually don't try it. what i'm trying to say is
make sure that you don't have a small oval in the middle that's not
cooked thoroughly....it's like eating a hot pocket or anything else
microwavable without turning it and not putting it in long enough. if
you get the whole thing glowing entirely through it shouldn't taste
like anything except what you've got under the foil. if it does...yeah
change your charcoal.