Anthracite.

[Canrider]

My guess is that anthracite is hard to get burning because it's got so few volatile chemicals still remaining in it compared to 'house coal' (what is that, bituminous? sub-bituminous?).

 

[trustysteed]

make sure you read the label carefully, if it says anthraxite you may have been swindled...

 

[frog]

IIRC Anthracite used to be the top grade domestic coal. That was in the days when we all had coal fires. It was almost like solid tar, really bright and shiny you could almost polish it. The lower grade stuff used to go industrial heating plants and the really dodgy 'looks like it might burn' went to the power stations.

I can also recall sitting on the back step with a hammer, dustpan and brush, and the anthracite breaking it up so you had a nice pile of thumb size bits you used to put on the fire at night before you went to bed so it'd burned through the night. Having a back boiler it meant you got up to hot water in the mornings instead of cold

 

[Elmer Fudd]

Can you still get nutty slack?

Yes, but do as they do in Wales and dip the anticipated affected parts in the sheep dip before and after the "event".
(Shouldn't your question have been posted in the Health and Fitness section ??)

 

[Globalti]

Don't know what it's called but we burn shaped nuggets on our multi fuel stove and they're easy to light and go on glowing for a couple of hours.

Just off to see Stumpy the tree man this morning to order this year's suppply of wood, which we will stack and allow to season over the summer.