Fresh Charcoal

[TroyOHchatter]

I live in central western Ohio. I have been cooking with charcoal for many years and yet it seems I finally have hit on something.

For a few years I have purchased KBB at our local Lowes or Home Depot. I took pride in being able to get the black strip off in one piece. Nevertheless, I have never had the greatest of consistency or success with it. I know, that's odd and I never mentioned it out of shame and acceptance. And note this is not buying it and storing it in a sauna for a year. This is buy it, bring it home, open, and cook.

So this spring, our local Meijer store got some fresh KBB and i bought a bag. It performed flawlessly, like I thought charcoal should. it lasted longer, gave more heat, and in the PBC, it cooked to the times and temps that Noah has in his video recipes.

My suspicion is that Lowes and Home Depot stockpile KBB and store it God knows where.

The smoking gun? Getting the strip off in one piece. On the 3 bags I have bought at our local Meijer I have not been able to get the strip off in one piece no matter how patient I was.

With all of this, my top tip? If the black strip comes off easily in one piece, take the strip and charcoal back to where you bought it because there's a really good chance it's been compromised by high moisture. As far as the PBC and KBB go? I use the lighter fluid method as I have found it more consistent and easier to fire up. Using this method, at 15 minutes you should have the top coals almost all the way greyed over and enough heat to really feel it when you go to hang your meat. Any less and again, you have some crap KBB.

In our area I can't be tempted by the 2 for $9.99 deal they run as it seems it's inferior product. Your experience may differ.

Happy cooking!

[Jetski]

Interesting observation. I just bought two of the two
packs from HD a month ago. I'm on my third bag
and have cursed the black strip on all three
bags. Maybe I'm getting lucky! I've done a 7
hour cook and a 13 hour cook, both with decent consistency. I'll have to keep an eye out for a bag
that easily opens to see what kind of results I
have from that charcoal.

[jgg85234]

I think this is a great observation. In Arizona, the humidity is very low compared to the Eastern part of the country. I've never had an easy to remove strip and i've had nothing but consistency with KBB over a lot of years. The (very) occasional times I've had problems with a fire its been during extended wet intervals and those don't happen very often.

Jim

[Huskee]

Funny I always try to get that strip off in one swipe, I thought it was just me. I too have found the more moist they are the easier that strip is and vice versa. I however have experienced fine use with humid charcoal and in fact I let mine dry if it gets rained on and still use it. While I've never compared performance of fresh dry vs moist humid stored coals, it doesn't bother me personally regardless.

[Thunder77]

I also go for getting the strip off in one go. Never usually happens though! And like Huskee, I have used charcoal that got left out in the rain, and then dried out. Seemed to work fine.

[TroyOHchatter]

What I run into with the PBC and the suspect charcoal is it simply dies out after 2 to 3 hours regardless of what I am cooking. On my kettle, it never gets up to a decent searing temperature at all. Again, just my experience.

[Jerod Broussard]

I don't mess with the strip. I bust the bag and start pouring. Too many bad memories of trying to open a feed bag in the dark.

[lonnie mac]

Man if humidity was a problem in these parts I'm in trouble! Never had an issue using new KBB, old KBB, rained on or otherwise really. Took me years to get through that big batch I left outside during hurricane IKE. It's gets dang moist in Texas and all my coals live outside sometimes for months. I started using B$B sometime ago too, but not for any other reason other than I like it better. And it has a string! I HATE STRINGS!

[JeffJ]

I didn't realize it was a humidity thing. I just assumed it was me as I rarely am able to get the strip off all at once. But then, I can't cut, tape, paste or fold paper to save my life. I must have slept through kindergarten.

[EdF]

I'm supposedly a highly educated engineer, and I can never get those damned strips off clean. And it's not a matter manual dexterity either.

[tbob4]

Glad it's not just me! I'm not a rocket scientist or an engineer but I can catch a football and a baseball pretty well and I can juggle. So we've eliminated your brains and my dexterity. I always thought it was a brains thing.

[Brewmaster]

I stopped trying to pull the strips, I brake out the onion pocket knife and slit the bag open, tried tearing and I wound up with KBB all over the place

[Willy]

I am SO GLAD to know I am not necessarily a clutz or a dummy. Well, I may be a dummy anyway.

Speaking of how crappily these strips work (let's not forget pet food bags), how is it that the baking soda folks and the folks who sell flour haven't come up with a better packaging system since I was born???? I mean, really, just poke a tab in a box of baking soda, then let the tab block the flow of soda AND allow moisture into the box??? Don't get me started on flour bags "poofing" flour all over the counter and pantry, not to mention the grocery store check-out conveyor belt.

Fer cryin' in the beer, we can now actually even buy hot dogs and buns with the same number of items in each package! Remember when 10 dogs and 8 buns was de rigueur?

[ribeyeguy]

I gave up on ripping the strip long ago, it never worked. I now use either a knife or a scissors to open every bag.

[Pirate Scott]

Set the bag in the Kingsford Charcoal bucket and cut the top of at the right height, put on the cover. Works pretty good.

[NortheastAl]

Now that's a good idea! I hate pouring the bag in with the dust and fines it creates.

[rototiller78]

TroyOHchatter I can assure you that the Home Depot doesn't stockpile Charcoal. I work at one of the RDCs for THD. It comes in on Semi Trailers to us and we unload it off of them and then directly put them into the trailers that are being shipped to our stores. Might be a 2 day stay all together before it hits the store.

[TroyOHchatter]

Agreed, but how long does a store keep it? And where? All I am telling you was my experience. For 50% savings, don't think I won't be considering a purchase around the holidays, but if it's dry at the store, then I will ensure it stays dry at my house.