Oxford Charcoal - Faringdon

Alexander H.

I have used a broad selection of charcoal over the past 20+ years, from the main brands such as Weber & BigK, different bags of "restaurant" grade and also a selection of small-scale, locally produced charcoal. Price and quality varied and I never really settled on one good reliable source.

I discovered the Oxford Charcoal company thanks to a recommendation from Christian Stevenson aka DJ BBQ, and having used up my currently supply, decided to place an order: some British hardwood, a bag each of ethical Beech & Birch and some Marabu.

As soon as I heard the "clinking" of the coals as I unpackaged the delivery, I knew this was a good quality charcoal. The lump size in each bag is a nice mix of smaller pieces - good for short cooking times eg steaks, sausages, chicken pieces and then larger pieces for low-and-slow cooking. The lumps feel light and clean rather than dense and sooty.

I've not yet used a full bag, but so far there are no signs of the small broken pieces of charcoal and dust ("shrapnel") that were common in cheaper bags of charcoal.

The coal lights very easily and burns cleanly with little smoke. It reaches a good heat, reacting well to adjustments in the vent positions and seems to burn for a suitable amount of time.

Whilst I appreciate this is a premium product, you do get what you pay for and if you're going to be cooking a fantastic piece of steak, then do so over some Oxford Charcoal!

Andrew T.

Serena at Oxford Charcoal is one of the loveliest people I've ever had the pleasure to speak to. The level of service combined with such an excellent product, website and delivery service is simply second to none. I love cooking on fire and the high quality charcoal lasts longer than any I've used before. The wood chippings I use for smoking are brilliant, soak them and you'll get an outstanding result for low and slow. Whether you're new to cooking by fire or a tri tip master, Oxford Charcoal has all your needs covered. Pay for quality, get the results you expect.

Azriel A.

Excellent charcoal and service.
The charcoal lights up really easily and burns very well. In fact, I needed to control the oxygen supply because it reached higher temperatures, quicker, than ordinary charcoal. Once I did that - I get a great grill.

I've ordered various types of charcoal and I am very happy with all of them. I am now going to try the fire-pit wood...

Last delivery had an issue with the delivery-company - contacted Oxford Charcoal and the issue was resolved immediately.

Toby

The Charcoal from ‘The Oxford Charcoal Company’ is superb, very good burn time on the lumpwood, generating consistent heat and flavour for most BBQ roasts on my Weber kettle BBQ. In addition to this their customer service is superb, I base this off my experience previously ordering online and more recently when they went above and beyond to get some charcoal to me in time for my weekend BBQing. Serena was more than helpful and has bent over backwards to help get my charcoal delivered after I had missed the Thursday delivery slot. I would definitely recommend that you use this charcoal and support this company.

Les J.

This is the second time I am using Oxford Charcoal, even though my first order, last year, went slightly stray. However, the resulting delay was through no fault of theirs, and matters were very quickly rectified. An impressive company with impressive products!

Now end of August 2023 and I have just received another order of charcoal. Again, everything went very well. Great customer service

Andrew P.

The facts;

The product is good quality, better than most charcoal available.
The customer service is extremely poor - I ordered 5 bags of Birch (£16/bag), I received 4 bags of Hardwood Blend (£14/bag). I informed them of this and was refunded £10 (5 x the £2 difference). I thanked them for this but told them that they still need to refund me £14 as I received 4 bags not 5. There has been no response (3 days as of time of posting this review).

My view;

Not only can they not add up they steal from their customers.

Ollie L.

After splurging on a new barbecue it seemed obvious that I needed to be more selective of my charcoal.

A friend recommended Oxford Charcoal Company - and I haven't looked back. The lumpwood is great. It gives all the food great flavour, and has no issue holding heat for a longer period of time.

Will definitely keep ordering.

Alex F.

Bought a box of the best British hardwood charcoal, for use on my Big Green Egg.

The lumps are a good varied size (rather than mostly small chips or twig type charcoal, it lights well with the Oxford lighters.

First cook using the product so played safe with a nice low and slow pork shoulder for pulled pork.

Charcoal held its heat well at ~150 C for a good 5 hours, plenty left out of a 3/4 bag in the egg for use elsewhere.

Overall a great charcoal product that will see you well when cooking.

Next plan is a brisket.