Fogo Marabu...

KamadoTom

Has anyone else here tried this charcoal? 

Marabu, as the story goes, is an invasive species that has infested millions of acres of land in Cuba (which I like the idea of finding a use for something that is being eradicated), it is IMO an extremely dense charcoal that takes some effort to ignite but burns long and hot once it does.

I bought a bag to try it out and have had mixed results. The best results I saw were when cooking at moderate to high temps., it takes a while to get going but once there it is stable and will hold temp for hours if needed, I've grilled chicken, different sausages, steaks, burgers and hot dogs with great results. I have really liked it for baking as it sits at a set temp. very well and will hold @ 350-400F no problem. I think it would be awesome for multiple pizza cooks though I haven't tried it yet.

The area I have had issues is when doing long, low n slow cooks (6 hours +) where the fire has eventually started dying out even though the firebox has plenty of fuel. I surmise that the size of the fire to maintain 225-250F is so small that it doesn't have the temp./energy to ignite the neighboring pieces to keep the fire going, I've tried multiple things to prevent this but eventually they have failed and temps began to drop and vent adjustments, unless extreme, fail to get the fire to recover. 


I would love to hear from someone with experience with this charcoal or that better understands what's happening, thanks!

cookingdude555

Interesting.  Looks like FOGO is distributing it to the US.  $45 for 33 lbs seems a little high (I am kind of a thrifty charcoal person).  It would be cool to give it a try tho.