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Review: Easy Lite Japanese Charcoals


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So everyone on here seems stuck on the Canary brand of Japanese charcoals, but I thought I would give these a try. They are the ones you find at Social Smoke. Comparisons are against the Canary brand because it's the only other Japanese charcoal I've used.

Appearance: Solid bars of 4 tablets. Each row in the box is wrapped in plastic, which is a great idea to keep the dust down in the box. They are coated in the silver stuff to help them light. They look much nicer than the Canary brand.

Ease of Use: They break easy and clean. I got absolutely no charcoal dust on my fingers when handling them, something I can't say about the Canary brand.

Lighting: They took maybe a minute or two longer to light than the Canary brand, but it's a negligible difference (I turn on the stove and come back 5 minutes later either way). There was a faint chemical smell directly after lighting, but once the flame went down around them it was gone. The silver on the bottom blew right off after heated.

Quality While Smoking: No flavor from the coals imparted on my Starbuzz Vanilla. Each coal lasted about 40 minutes, which is a little longer than the Canary coals last (they usually go for about 25-30 minutes). They ash very nicely, something I love about the Japanese coals in general. The amount of heat produced was perfect; 2 coals to start out with and another one 40 minutes later gave me a 1.5 hour session.

Overall: I like these much more than the Canary brand. Probably the biggest reason is the value: I got 3 boxes for $17 (a little less with the SS discount) versus $15 for one box of the Canary brand. I don't see any reason to pay the high price for the Canaries now; I guess I just read from everyone on this forum to use the Canary brand if you want Japanese coals. In any case, give these a shot if you're a fan of Japanese coals; with the low price of these, I don't think I'll go back to 3 Kings or Nour fingers again (I wish I'd tried these sooner!)
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[quote name='Erica']are you talking abou the black box? If so those are the ones i use and I love them

But i have never used Canarys before So I dunno how they compare[/quote]

Yes, the black boxes. I don't recall anyone ever talking about them on here, it's always the Canary brand everyone raves about.
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[quote name='unleashtheclown']I think taqseem's ebay store has a deal on these coals. A case of 24 boxes for 45.00. The only japanese coals I've tried are diamante coals[/quote]

I dont really care for Diamante coals either... they smell HORRID when they lite and burn out quick
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i miss my abu hitams :( canarys suck compared to them imo, they dont seem any different when handling but they sure just dont work as well, im back to naturals now.
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ive used easylites, heated with either a stove or torch.

No matter what i do, they always taste like arse?

Much prefer the zoghal ghaleb coals!
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[quote name='Calcartman']What brand are these?
I used "sultan" easy light japanese coals and they were amazing, but I haven't seen em online, just in store, and they're like 13$ a box.[/quote]

The only brand I can see is "Easy Lite". Not a whole lot of information on the box.

@benny
It could have been the brand or maybe you didn't light them all the way and blow the silver coating off; I've tasted them with the silver stuff still on and they taste like total ass. So remember, always make sure the silver stuff is gone before puffing. ;-)
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[quote name='unleashtheclown']I think taqseem's ebay store has a deal on these coals. A case of 24 boxes for 45.00. The only japanese coals I've tried are diamante coals[/quote]

Holy crap, that is a deal for those!

[url="http://stores.ebay.com/Taqseem"]http://stores.ebay.com/Taqseem[/url] <-- For quick reference
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i blow on them, but at the risk of turnin my garments into swiss cheese i dont have the patience to sit there for 20 mins for each bastardly coal!
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I just bought a box, and I like these far more than the sultans I was using.
I'll buy some from taqseem when i come close to finishing these!

And skiracer, im jealous! the smoker friendly near me charges 24.99$ (as i found out an hour ago!)
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[quote name='Calcartman']I just bought a box, and I like these far more than the sultans I was using.
I'll buy some from taqseem when i come close to finishing these!

And skiracer, im jealous! the smoker friendly near me charges 24.99$ (as i found out an hour ago!)[/quote]

Ouch! That sucks, the most ive seen them for locally was 10 bucks a box at a deli of all places. If u get them from social smoke though there only like 7-8 bucks a box with shipping if you buy the three pack and use our discount code
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[quote name='skiracerj1'][quote name='Calcartman']I just bought a box, and I like these far more than the sultans I was using.
I'll buy some from taqseem when i come close to finishing these!

And skiracer, im jealous! the smoker friendly near me charges 24.99$ (as i found out an hour ago!)[/quote]

Ouch! That sucks, the most ive seen them for locally was 10 bucks a box at a deli of all places. If u get them from social smoke though there only like 7-8 bucks a box with shipping if you buy the three pack and use our discount code[/quote]

yeah, totally gonna do that.
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i havent used these but last nite i bought some silver coal japan style coals. they work pretty good. they come 60 in a box and are larger than canary's. they take FOREVER to light well which is what i hate and at first give it an off taste. i tried blowin off the silver coating but it kinda just stayed on their which sucked. they last for a very long time however, probably due to their size! they ash like crazy but overall they arent bad. not bad for 9.99 and a 20 min drive from my house. on a side note the same med. market has a box of 3kings for 10.99! cheapest i have seen too bad im not a major fan of them.
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hey Pimp!
I have the easylights, but in a 54 pack not the 96.

Maybe due to mine being 3 per stick rather then four, it takes longer?!

Between camping stoves, blowtorch, i dont wanna drag around any more paraphanalia then absolutely necessary!

I will give these bastard coals one more shot, but i'm pretty well set on my zoghal's! IMO they're a better shape and size
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[quote name='benny']hey Pimp!
I have the easylights, but in a 54 pack not the 96.

Maybe due to mine being 3 per stick rather then four, it takes longer?!

Between camping stoves, blowtorch, i dont wanna drag around any more paraphanalia then absolutely necessary!

I will give these bastard coals one more shot, but i'm pretty well set on my zoghal's! IMO they're a better shape and size[/quote]

Try breaking them into the individual pieces. I've gotten less than stellar results when leaving 2 or more stuck together.
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[quote name='benny']i do break em up![/quote]

break em in half :D

I've used these before and they do do the trick nicely... I need to get a better lighting technique for them... The silver crap comes off if you keep the blow torch on the coal for awhile and blow on it... but can someone PLEASE give me linkage to a pic or what yall are talking about when you say 'use a hot plate"?
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