In an old recipe collection book (1960) I have read the following on bbq
"Never Use Charcoal for Broiling
Charcoal absorbs great quantities of poisonous gases. It is used for this purpose in gas masks. It will absorb ninety times its own volume of ammonia gas. Most charcoal briquette contain quantities of wood alcohol and acetic acid. These fumes are given off as the briquette burn and are extremely toxic.
Charcoal is a dark or black porous form of carbon prepared from vegetable or animal substances, as by charring wood in a kiln from which air is excluded. In countries where coal and other fuels are hard to find or are too expensive charcoal is used for cooking fires.
Americans observed charcoal cooking in other countries and decided it must be a better method of broiling. Charcoal gives off various types of fumes, depending on what it is made from by mostly just a dirty carbon odor. This carbon odor gives a taste to broiled food that is just the same as you would get by sprinkling carbon on the food. This taste is far more often undesirable than desirable.
For broiling meat, fish or fowl over a fire, always us hard coal. It gives off no carbon fumes like charcoal and it gives the meat, fish or fowl a much cleaner taste. Hard coal never obscures the flavor of the meat, fish or fowl as charcoal definitely does.
The use of hard coal instead of charcoal in Minnesota for broiling has always been the accepted practice. Many other parts of America have also discovered this to be true. The famous restaurant, Gage and Tollner's in Brooklyn, which unquestionably broils the finest fish and meat in the east, uses nothing but hard coal for broiling, Never charcoal. "
Now I have never tried this before and was wondering if anyone else has. I cannot get any hard bit coal here in MN without ordering a whole dump truck worth from the east coast, but I would be curious if anyone has any knowledge on this type of broiling or thoughts.
Thanks.