New Kingsford Charcoal Product Line

According to a post on the International Dutch Oven Society Forum, "Kingsford is at it again." Apparently, in the past few years, Kingsford has changed its formulation of charcoal briquettes.

In the past few years, the forum has been alive with charges that foreign material in the charcoal impedes its burning qualities. I've had some poor quality Kingsford charcoal a few years ago -- a late summer purchase from Costco in 2004, I believe. Beyond a few bad experiences, my Kingsford charcoal (and that's the only brand of briquettes that I use) has performed well for Dutch oven cooking and for grilling.

Kingsford has revamped its charcoal line for 2006. Although I've yet to see the new charcoal with "sure fire groves," the idea makes sense from a scientific standpoint. Anytime you increase the surface area of a product, like a charcoal briquette, you increase the area that will catch fire and burn. It stands to reason that the should burn faster.

The question will be how much faster and is there any measurable improvement over traditional briquettes?

Here's The Virtual Weber Bullet's assessment of Kingsford's new product. Since I'm posting on break at work, I haven't had time to review their review yet. More to come ....