There are three types of charcoal to choose from - briquettes and non-briquettes, or rough charcoal. Basically, the charcoal briquettes are more dense and will burn more evenly and longer, though they may not have all the flavor of the rough charcoal. Rough charcoal, on the other hand, will burn hotter, but for a shorter period of time. Choosing between the two mostly depends upon what type of cooking you want to do.

The third type is called lump charcoal, which is a very pure and clean-burning charcoal. Most people are unaware of this option and only use the more familiar charcoal briquettes found at the grocery store and garden centers. However, these briquettes are far from being pure charcoal. The manufacturers begin with charcoal, which is then ground up and combined with fillers and binders that make the charcoal "go further.” It may also have non-wood substances such as petroleum coal added to the mix prior to forming the briquettes. Just because burning briquettes may have a "light coat of gray ash" covering them, it does not mean that all impurities have burned out. In fact, the impurities will burn all the way through the briquettes –meaning these impurities will be released throughout the time you are cooking your meat.

One way to avoid this is to use lump charcoal, which has no foreign substances in it, and all the impurities found in natural wood have been eliminated during the process of turning it into charcoal. It also has the added advantage of burning much hotter and faster than the regular charcoal briquettes.