The Good Charcoal Company is a new player in the charcoal market, but after testing it out twice, it definitely earns the top spot on this list. The charcoal is made from sustainably harvested acacia wood, and the company claims to sell the first charcoal approved by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in the United States. Each species of hardwood lump charcoal burns at different temperatures. For example, apple burns at 1190 degrees, while maple burns at 1200. This means you'll have to vent your fire differently depending on the makeup of your charcoal, so take this into account. to cost more than briquettes, but it offers a completely different and unique charcoal grilling experience. Experience a new era of ceramic grilling with the Kamado Joe Konnected Joe Digital Charcoal Grill and Smoker. The Konnected Joe makes lighting a fire easy. Simply press the Automatic Firestarter (AFS™) button to ignite your charcoal, set your desired cooking temperature with the digital Kontrol Board™ or the Kamado Joe App and let the Kontrol Fan™ do the rest. With multiple cooking functions the Konnected Joe allows you to enjoy Kamado grilling and smoking your way. Automatic cook mode provides full digital control, or try Classic mode, for the traditional Kamado experience. Whether you're grilling with lump charcoal or charcoal briquettes, understanding your fuel type for charcoal grilling

The Digital Fan maintains and regulates temperature consistency throughout the cook by generating airflow through the grill interior. You may also use Classic Cook mode for a traditional Kamado Joe grilling experience. Learn More About How We Test Products What to Look for When Buying Lump Charcoal Sources and Quality it's all about the flavor, as the natural wood flavors impart on your food due to what you're grilling with. Automatic Cook Mode for digitally connected cooking or Manual Cook Mode for a traditional kamado grilling experienceLump charcoal can be made from almost any hardwood and it's often created as a byproduct of sawmills. By making sure the lump charcoal is made of hardwood that was sourced sustainably you can assume that the charcoal doesn't include varnish or other chemicals. In terms of quality, good lump charcoal has no fillers, additives, or binders. There also shouldn't be a lot of sparks. What you don't want is small bits and dust that only fall into your ash trap. Our charcoal lit easily, and stayed a nice consistent temperature throughout our grilling session. It didn't pop a single time during our testing, so it's a bit safer and less dramatic to light and use.

The Konnected Joe is the very first Kamado Joe grill to offer built-in digital controls to provide a digitally connected ceramic grilling experience. Light your charcoal with the push of a button and control and monitor you cooks via the Kontrol Board or the Kamado Joe app. The Konnected Joe also offers the standard Kamado Joe innovation with the 2-Tier Divide & Conquer Cooking System, Slide-Out Ash Drawer, Air Lift Hinge and more. Lifetime on Ceramics, 5-year on metal parts, 3-year on heat deflector, 1 year on thermometer and gasketBuying inexpensive lump charcoal can mean receiving an inferior quality. Not only can it be hard to light, but can also pop and spark throughout your grilling session making it somewhat dangerous. But we found that Masterbuilt's lump charcoal is inexpensive and very safe, though there are a few other tradeoffs.