The Kingsford Connection - decent charcoal needed for grilling

Hello, All!

Does anyone know where I can pick up some Kingsford charcoal and starter fluid?

Let's face it; the charcoal for sale in this country is awful stuff.  After seven years of suffering with sub-standard grilling material I'm feeling rather desperate.

Please let me know if anyone has a clue where I could possibly get some.

Thanks!

LOL - I said to DH this weekend (as we were grilling) - yeah, this charcoal is okay, but it isn't Kingsford.  Of course, he had no idea what I was on about.

I don't have any ideas, unfortunately.  I managed okay with what is available, but we also got a brand new Weber kettle style grill & I think my success thus far is more owing to the grill (and the grill mistress) than to the charcoal. 

I also miss being able to buy wood that you can soak & add in amongst the hot coals to get things a bit smokier.  But no mesquite or hickory here, I guess. 

Well, if there's one thing us Yanks do well it's anything involved with BBQing.  My wife doesn't understand as I similarly explain that the charcoal on offer doesn't come up to scratch.  She simply raises an eye brow and tells me to get on with it.

The good thing is that I did manage to find a big 32" Weber Kettle grill at one of the local garden centers, which got one of it's rare outings this weekend due to the nice weather.  But the charcoal!  Agh! I even went to the extent of contacting the Kingsford people directly in hope of finding a source here.  No dice

Anyway, are there any military people who visit this site?  If so, would you like to make a run through your local BX/PX for me?  It's not like this is cigarettes or booze I'm after, just a supply of good old American Kingsford.

I had a thought, I used to work for a grocery store here in the US and I used to order things from the UK for my wife all the time since I could get it form the partner stores in the UK.
ASDA is part of the Wal-Mart family and I wonder if they can order and have things sent from the US to them at the local stores, might be worth talking to the store manager to see if they can get it in. 
You never know, same thing with the DIY stores.

I had a thought, I used to work for a grocery store here in the US and I used to order things from the UK for my wife all the time since I could get it form the partner stores in the UK.
ASDA is part of the Wal-Mart family and I wonder if they can order and have things sent from the US to them at the local stores, might be worth talking to the store manager to see if they can get it in. 
You never know, same thing with the DIY stores.

ASDA's not owned by Wal-Mart any more.

ASDA's not owned by Wal-Mart any more.

I didn't know that! So that means it's safe to shop at ASDA now! 

ASDA's not owned by Wal-Mart any more.

Well, that's sort of true:

In 2009 Wal-Mart 'sold' Asda for £6.9 billion to their Leeds-based investment subsidiary Corinth Services Limited. The deal, which took place in August, was described as part of a “group restructuring” and means Asda remains under the control of the Wal-Mart, since Corinth are themselves a subsidiary of Wal-Mart.
(from Wikipedia)

I had a thought, I used to work for a grocery store here in the US and I used to order things from the UK for my wife all the time since I could get it form the partner stores in the UK.
ASDA is part of the Wal-Mart family and I wonder if they can order and have things sent from the US to them at the local stores, might be worth talking to the store manager to see if they can get it in. 
You never know, same thing with the DIY stores.

I'd love to know if that is possible! Or maybe even check with Costco, since it's the same company as the US Costco???

According to Wal-Marts website it is http://walmartstores.com/pressroom/news/9744.aspx

Thanks for your thoughts and consideration on this matter. 

I live in hope that one day Kingsford charcoal will be made freely available throughout the UK.

I definitely feel your pain!  The charcoal here is just so...weird.  Hard to explain the difference.  Like the stuff in the US (Kingsford) is really hard - more coal-like, I guess?  The stuff here once it burns a bit falls all to pieces, like it's more woody or airy inside & expands out in a weird way, not very dense anyway - seems that a lot of it just falls into tiny bits & goes to waste. 

I checked the Kingsford webpage, and they said that their charcoal's distributed at Costco amongst other grocery and chain stores in the States. Wouldn't it be at the Costco here too, then? They can't be that different can they?

Yes, I was wondering about Costco.  Maybe someone with a membership can check it out & report back here?

Hmmmm, well I'm wondering if I might have this charcoal thing sort of sussed...

I was at Sainsburys today (I don't get out much ), and they were selling a couple different types of charcoal.  (Whereas my local Morrisons only sells one kind.)  There was what Sainsburys had labeled as 'lumpwood charcoal' & 'instant light lumpwood charcoal' - the latter is what we have been using.  But there was also a Sainsburys product - 'charcoal briquettes' - briquettes being the operative word there, I think, because that's what I remember the charcoal being called in the US...saying it's harder and burns longer than 'lumpwood charcoal'.  So I got a bag of that.  Will have to wait until the weather is a bit nicer to try it out & then I'll report back here if it's any better/worse/more like US-Kingsford-charcoal.

I think I'll use some of the instant light stuff to get the BBQ going, probably on top of some of the briquettes.

Sainsburys also had, not lighter fluid, but 'lighter gel' - which I presume will be about the same thing really?  Plus those little squares that you put around charcoal to get it to light.

And!  And!  They also had whisky-soaked oak wood (ok it's not mesquite or hickory, but still) chips to put around your charcoal, so I got some of those! Score! 

My dad used Jack Daniels wood bits in the charcoal yesterday for our Memorial Day bbq. It was fantastic! It even made my portabella mushroom better. Hopefully the Saino's stuff will do the trick. I love that store!

I know this is probably a little to late. But I stumbled across this thread whilst looking for a Webber Chimney starter and found a place in the UK that does rather nice smoking woods.

newcomer link: http://www.worldofpower.co.uk/bbq/bbq-accessories/bbq-fuel-lava-rock.html [nonactive]

Also, I must agree the Jack Daniels wood chips are rather nice.

But back to charcoal, I found that Kitchen Grade Lump-wood Charcoal from Bookers burns similar to Kingsford. It takes much longer to get started than Kingsford but it doesn't breakup and get in your food like the stuff you find in Morrison's because it is meant for indoor, for paying customers. Only really down side it comes in like a 14kg bag. I hope this helps.