Also, commercial charcoal alone should not be used for barbecuing, because its smoke lacks the elements which enhance the taste of real barbecue. Both are the product of heating wood at a very high temperature without oxygen, and the result is almost entirely pure carbon. Lump contains no additives, so it is simply carbonized wood. On the other hand, briquettes contain many additives, which may include limestone, clay, sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate. Most veteran barbecue cooks prefer lump, because lump contains none of the additives found in briquettes.
Many cooks believe that the additives found in briquettes change the taste of the meat.
The conclusion here is that they taste different , and others can argue the merits. The same conclusion does not result in the question about using wood. Charcoal may be used successfully as a base to produce heat, to which wood embers are added. Alone, however, charcoal does not produce the complex flavors of real barbecue, because commercial charcoal has been chemically altered to carbon and has lost the good volatiles of real wood. The fact that so many discussions and arguments concern these subjects results from the fact the few people have developed their senses of taste and simply cannot detect any differences.