CHARCOAL (TRADER JOE'S)

Trader Joe's had a pallet of charcoal out in front of their store. It is a known fact that they place candy at the checkout lines to trigger impulse buying. Well I was driving buy and saw that pallet. The brakes were applied and an illegal U-turn steered me in the right direction. There was no impulse buying here. This purchase was in the interest of meat cooking science. This was my only purchase. An eighteen pound bag set me back 6.99 and 70 cents for our govenator.(Bastard, My wife, Ms. Goofy has taken a 15 percent pay cut to pay for Arnold's folly) Sorry!. Back on track to the barbeque.

We are going to conduct a similar unscientific experiment similar to the green heart charcoal experiment. We are going to light up 4 charcoals in a chimney starter at the same time. We will monitor the temperatures at thirty minute intervals.

The bag of charcoal has some vital information for the consumer. It is made of hard woods and cornstarch. The charcoal is made in Argentina and is a 100 percent natural product. I am feeling good already. The bag claims that the 18 pounds will last as long as a 30 pound bag of other charcoal. Wow that is a big claim. We shall see.

KINGSFORD & TRADER JOE'S

The first 30 minutes, the Kingsford has lit up faster. The Trader Joe's has not fully ignited. They were both started at the same time with a chimney starter and two wadded up newspapers. The initial reading by a fancy laser thermometer read 550 degrees for the Kingsford and 560 degrees for the not fully ignited Trader Joe's. Pretty darn close if you ask Mr. Green Jeans. After one hour the temperatures dropped to 420 for the Kingsford and 376 for the Trader Joe's. The Kingsford looked a little spent. I have 30 minutes to kill, so I think I will ask Ms. Goofy to go by the Beer Booth and bring me a cold one. That works at your house, does it not?

Fast forward an hour. I had to get my cold one by myself. The Kingsford is 3oo and exhausted. The Trader Joe's is 384 and going strong. What does this mean. Trader Joe's took a little longer to get started. It seems to be a good and long heat source. I will reserve my opinion till tomorrow when I do a taste test with barbequed pot roast.