Well since I am having the hardest time finding a decent lump in my area, I decided to go for the highest quality one can get in Lump Charcoal.
Japanese Binchotan charcoal (I had gotten in contact with KomodoKamado on their Sustainable KK Coco Lump and they will drop ship
minimum 5 boxes at their Carson Warehouse.. = Promising but expensive)
I know the best lump is the Japanese Binchotan... and I have looked all over the local Japanese and asian markets in my area, I live near a highly Japanese populated area of Los Angeles, County... even the Japanese markets ( Marukai, Nijiya, Mistuwa) do not have impressive options.
In my search for Japanese grill
shichirin..Anzen Hardware came up and I recalled how nice a place it was.
I bought some knives and japanese pull saws from him years ago.. never even knew about binchotan then..
After talking to my wife, we decided to venture to
Anzen Hardware ..Privatly owned by Nori Takatani "Nori-San" - located in historic Little Tokyo of Los Angeles
I was able to get
Japanese Binchotan charcoal .. :cool:
It is quite expensive, however well worth it, can be used multiple cooks if done correctly. Nori's service alone made it worth the cost.
he generously hand picked the best pieces even gave 1/4# extra , the quality is top notch and shipped from Japan.
Nori is the most humble generous business owner, I called him while fighting my way through LA Traffic and although he was closing at 5:30p he not only waited for me before closing, he had all the things sitting out ready for me when I arrived. He even blocked off a space right in front of his shop for me to park!!! He knew exactly what I wanted and explained the details of how properly to light binchotan and the best way to preserve it after cooking with it.
The Binchotan I bought is very different than lump, it is harder (actually makes a clinging glass like sound when knocking the pieces together.) I cant wait to see how it burns...
I also picked up a takoyaki griddle,
it was priced higher than what i could get through Amazon, but the service made it well worth supporting small business owners like Nori.
I also looked at Shichirin and Konro I decided at this time I could use my Weber Smokey Joe mini and get great results and have a larger capacity/coking area.
I will fire the grill up tomorrow night and post picks later.. Cant wait!!!!