Looks interesting, I'm not sure I'd fill an xl with it, but might be good for some applications.  The caveman pic on their website is kind of cool.  I'll bet the bamboo is pretty neutral.  Worth a shot but I'm not sure it would be an everyday for me.

I've used a few of the extruded charcoals over the last decade in various grills but not that Charblox. Some has been made from coconut shells, some from bamboo. I can't say I've noticed any significant difference between the two. 
It can be tricky to light them - you really want to use a chimney. It also helps if you have a gas grill side burner that you can place the chimney on to help speed things along. I use my wok burner or my portable gas burner.

Bamboo is a grass and balsa is a hardwood - Nature is weird.

Nowadays I only use that stuff in my yakitori grill as they are sized right to fit in a nice layer. I don't see any real advantage to using them in a kamado or Weber kettle over regular lump or briquettes.

I've been using the Thaan brand, it's about $40 for 10 pounds. That's a good price for that Charblox and I'm going to order a few boxes myself. Thanks for posting that!

Seems like in order to extrude it there would have to be some sort of binder, making not much different from briquettes, no?

caliking said:

The box says its made from recycled fruitwoods, but the description says 100% hardwood. Which one is it??

Fruitwoods are hardwoods. Just as balsa is actually a hardwood. The designation of hardwood vs softwood is not related to the density of the wood.

CGS said:

Extruded coconut shell lump made the rounds years ago. Groups try to revive it now and then. Two things that seem to stop the product's growth is price and consistent quality. I've never noticed appreciable extended burn times or higher temps from extruded.

Looks like here we go again......

Google, making coconut lump charcoal video, for some interesting videos.....

T    

Yep,
I have tried 3 different brands of extruded coconut lump. Still have a few boxes I’m slowly burning through. No noticeable length in cook time but issues with white ash on the food. Another note…In our high humidity climate, shutting down the egg and relighting the used lump goes not work as well. The extruded falls apart and clogs airflow. Those with a ash basket will have slightly better luck.

Blues hog offers an extruded product too. Don’t think it’s coconut. I think it’s just the dust collected and extruded with a vegetable oil binder or something of that nature. Called Hog Logs. 😁

Forgive my ignorance here, but I thought carbon was carbon IS carbon. By weight, if we’re simply talking carbon and all other things being equal, shouldn’t it all burn about the same?

unless they’re claiming that their carbon content is 3.5x as pure, I’m always skeptical. Looks cool, though!

Haven't tried it yet. Thanks for the feedback.

I doubt I have the patience to spend the extra time/effort to light it up, but we'll see.