Barbor Freight flavored charcoal by Kamado Joe.

[llbts1]

Okay, I finally got my classic put together and loaded a basket of charcoal and fired her up. I swear it smells like the inside of a Harbor Freight Tool.

I am currently trying to talk my wife off the ledge.  I gotta believe I got a bad, BAD, batch of charcoal. Please tell me that KJ charcoal does not normally smell like a HF.

Is this a bad batch? Will this taint the inside of my KJ?  Anyone else with this issue? Recourse?

 

HELP!

[JeffieBoy]

 

Sorry, I have never experienced this with charcoal.  I have heard of wet or sketchy charcoal having a “scent”.  
 

It could also (more likely) be that you didn’t let the charcoal get hot enough to start burning cleanly.  If there was a lot of dense, white smoke rather than a thin blue smoke, then this is probably the case.  IIRC it is caused by choking the fire down too much, before it’s ready causing an incomplete burn.

 

Hope this gives you a few clues.

[llbts1]

Thank you, maybe I didn't let the charcoal get hot enough. I never had anything but a white smoke and then clear. Problem is we had the stench for 2-3 hours while I played with temperature settings.  Fortunately I didn't put anything on the grill.  I'm going to try some B & B next time and see if I continue to have the issue. Its gotta be the charcoal.

[robertyb]

I would recommend that you light that Classic back up and burn it off well before cooking on it. Let it get to 500 to 700 degrees then shut it down.

[len440]

While you were playing with the settings the fire is not stabilizing. You could be starting more coals then snuffing coals out which could lead to the fire not being stable and cause the smoke and smell, or it could be a bad bag. I would fill it up light the coals in 3 spots and let it catch with the dome open about 15 minuets or so close the dome with vents open till the dome reads 200 close vents to 1 finger width and wait about 2 hours and see if the smell is still there. If there than the coal is bad. I don't know if your all that familiar with charcoal but it takes  a little time to get used to it. Had some long phone calls with my grand son in law  in Calif when he went from gas to an akorn, but once he got used to charcoal fewer phone calls, he got rid of his gasser. His biggest problem was learning to wait for the coals to light and wait after adjusting the vents. But it will come Did you read Johns book in the start here post?

[DonBB]

KJ lump, in my experience, has become wildly inconsistent from bag to bag and I no longer use it because of this.