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BBQ Charcoal

How Factories Fake Weight With Moisture

Charcoal is hygroscopic, so a factory can leave in or add water and sell it by the tonne — you pay full price for weight that is not fuel and get less carbon per container. The defence is to buy on a dry-basis specification and require the batch's moisture figure, measured by ASTM D1762, on the Certificate of Analysis. Because we sell finished, lab-graded inventory, the actual lot carries a measured moisture value before you order.

The moisture trick is simple: charcoal is hygroscopic, so a factory can leave — or add — water and sell you that water by the tonne. You pay full price for weight that is not fuel, get less carbon per container, and the damp briquettes spit and crack on the grill. The defence is equally simple: buy on a dry-basis specification with the moisture figure on the Certificate of Analysis.

How the Trick Works

  • Padded shipping weight. Charcoal absorbs moisture from the air. Skipping the final drying step, or deliberately re-wetting before bagging, adds sellable weight that evaporates later — at your cost.
  • Less fuel per tonne. Every percentage point of water is a percentage point that is not carbon. The container weighs the same on paper but delivers fewer usable burns.
  • Worse performance. Trapped moisture is also why those briquettes crack and spit during heat-up.

How to Detect and Defeat It

  1. Specify moisture as received and require it on the COA. Moisture is measured by ASTM D1762; a credible supplier states the figure for the batch.
  2. Buy key specs on a dry basis. Fixed carbon, ash, and volatile matter quoted “dry basis” can’t be diluted by added water.
  3. Inspect actual stock. Because we sell finished, lab-graded inventory, the lot on the ready-stock board has a measured moisture value before you buy — you are not trusting a future run.
  4. Sample first. A free sample (you cover the courier) lets you weigh and burn-test before committing a container.

Our own moisture figure per grade is published only from an accredited COA, with the method cited — never a benchmark presented as our number.

Questions

Yes. Charcoal is hygroscopic, so leaving in or adding moisture pads the shipped weight — you pay for water, receive less carbon per tonne, and the damp briquettes spit on heat-up. A moisture figure on the COA (ASTM D1762) exposes it.

Specify moisture as received and require it on each batch's Certificate of Analysis, and buy fixed carbon, ash, and volatile matter on a dry basis so added water can't dilute the spec. Buying from inspected finished stock lets you verify the actual lot.

Lower is better, and the key is that the figure is measured and disclosed for the batch (ASTM D1762) rather than left vague. We publish our per-grade moisture only from an accredited COA, not as a benchmark dressed up as our value.

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