SHOYEIDO Charcoal 24 Pcs., 1 EA

This is the best charcoal I've tried, by leaps and bounds. I've used the round kind with and without the fuel added, and even the ones without the fuel can have a very noticeable smell when lighting or the incense runs out before the coal does (the ones *with* fuel are unbearable for my uses lol). These barely have any smell at all. I placed it on my stove burner and it lit with no problem at all and heated my incense beautifully. I will not ever let myself run out of these. If you use bakhoor incense you need this.(My husband also used it for loose herbs and frankincense, and liked it alot for his uses as well)

Light using tongs over a flame for about 15-30 seconds. Candle or gas stove work great. Easy.No harsh burning chemical smell. Love it.The only downside is there is no dimple to hold incense.

I love that these have a clean burn. I was using quick lite, but the smell was awful. These are used for incense in my home a couple of times a week. They don't break easily, which is great, but I also can't use just a portion. I've found that I can relight them, and I'm so thankful. They have a nice burn time, plenty to fill my home with the scent of the moment. The 5 stars is mostly because of the clean burn and that I can get several burns out of one brick. I will say since they are not quick lites, it does take a minute to get them going. Some people have said they put them on a burner, I don't. I hold a lighter to the brick and use tongs. It works. And it lights before a cheap lighter gets hot, so win! I still have over half of a box left...impressive for me just because of how frequently I burn incense. I'll be buying these again when I get closer to running out. I've tried several, and these are by far my favorite.

Difficult to light but fine once it gets going.

I like these because they have less odor than other charcoals. You can make your own self-starting charcoal with these. Soak them in a jar of 99% Alcohol (isopropyl) for a few hours. Then when you go to light them, the AL will flash quickly and burn in clean blue flames. No waiting over a candle flame. By the time the AL has burned off the charcoal will be well lit. You can use the same jar of AL over and over again for soaking.These charcoals are sensitive to moisture, so if you leave them in a humid environment they will have trouble lighting on their own. I had a box I left outside for a few months, but I was able to use them by soaking in 99% AL for a few weeks. You can also soak half-burned bricks that didn't burn to the center and get another burn out of them.You can find 99% AL at specialty stores, makeup fx supply stores, chemistry supply and sometimes your local pharmacist can order it. You need isopropyl - rubbing alcohol is only 70%.

I have tried many different "self-lite" charcoals for burning incense and have found this as a great alternative. This type of charcoal is great in that it is all natural, bamboo based, and omits the additives that self-lite types need to get started burning such as salt pewter. It does emit a slight floral fragrance when burned by itself, but I have found that this impacts the incense very little. I typically burn resin based incense like frankincense and on occasion need to break up the larger pieces to burn correctly. I do this using a coffee grinder that is dedicated solely to my incense endeavor. I have found that this type of charcoal is best lit using my stove, even though I have used a regular lighter with no problem. I will continue to use this type and brand as I really enjoy it!

Well I bought this charcoal to burn greek incense tears. Usually I buy the greek round charcoal but somehow i decided to give a try to this one. I thought that being rectangular in shape would provide a wider surface that would hold more incense pieces on top of it.The greek incense tears must be placed on top of, or in between burning coal and burn evenly. Often a blend of different incenses is used, so "evenly" burn is a must to create that nice mixture of scented smoke. I didn't get to the point of "evenly lit” because the heat didn't extend beyond one edge, then it just extinguished after a laborious process of lighting.Well, this charcoal failed the expectations. It took really long time to lit only a small fragment of it. I adhered to the routine and hold the piece over a candle, noted it was not working as usual so I switched to a stronger gas lighter and waited, waited. After a while it lit one corner or edge and that corner only lighted for some minutes before extinguish. I don't know if the charcoal is wet or what the problem is. It never lit the whole. So it is useless. It doesn't lit the whole surface but one single corner till it stops. (notice the flame was applied in several points and surface) In order to increase the heat, I tried to blow, or fan it as I usual do but, it didn't help; it only spread around some white ash. Unusual thing.I attach a picture showing 3 pieces, 2 pieces i tried to light and one new for comparison of the size and how much the used ones burned. Notice the incense didn't burn as the coal surface never heated.Returns no accepted even if the product is flawed. Should I say burned expectations?

I get that this charcoal is good quality, which is why I bought it, but why on earth would they shape it like that? Not only is it not concave to support resin, it is literally convex! If your resin pieces are small, they will roll off it and fall into the ash. I had to try several times, placing each piece with surgical precision until it stayed put. A bigger piece has a better chance of staying put the first time if you place it super gently and slowly, although count on trying at least twice. Good grief, you had one job, charcoal. ONE.