Rockwood Lump Charcoal

[Sapatero1]

I have used Jealous Devil in the past with great luck. Big chunks throughout the bags, Rey little dust, and a very hot, neutral flavor fire. The local Ace Hardware that carried it last year did not have it this time, so I bought Rockwood lump charcoal. Probably 25% of the bag got thrown away due to being dust or pieces so small they will fall through my chimney starter. Very disappointing and expensive to boot. I won’t buy Rockwood again.

[glitchy]

Bummer, I have a bag I picked up at ACE too and haven’t used yet. I’ll try to remember to report back if my experience is different in case you just got a bad bag or was poorly handled.

[efincoop]

Good to know. I have been happy with Jealous Devil as well. Thanks for sharing your experience with Rockwood Lump.

[Oak Smoke]

I’ve used Rockwood several times. The bags I had were mostly thin pieces, not that small, but thin. I’ve had pretty good luck with Kamado Joe Big Block and B&B. I’ve been using lump for years now. My experience shows that no matter what brand you use once in a while you’re going to get a bag that is not up to their normal standards. Sadly how it’s handled after it leaves the manufacturer has a lot to do with the quality you get.

[smokin fool]

Never seen Rockwood in these parts but agree JD is the bomb.

[bbqLuv]

I use Traeger pellets.

[STEbbq]

I have consistently read poor reviews of Rockwood Lump so I avoid. I like Masterbuilt Lump though as it uses Kamado Joe lump I believe at a cheaper price.

[Mosca]

People at the BGEgghead forum love Rockwood, I bought a couple bags and didn’t understand why. Mine was basically charcoal rubble, tiny pieces the size of a quarter or so. I used it up and moved on.

But you know, there are people who have tried FOGO and don’t like it, and it’s my favorite! So, here is MOSCA’S advice:

Find something you like and use it often.

[Histrix]

I'd say that Rockwood is one of the best, if not THE best lumps available in the USA. It has a very neutral aroma as it is fired to a higher percentage of carbonization than most other lumps. For some, that is important as your smoke profile will then come predominantly from the smoking wood you intentionally add to your fire. It's worth noting that it is also made only in the USA.

I've gone thru dozens of bags of Rockwood (it and Royal Oak are the lumps I use most anymore) and most bags contain a good range of sizes. Occasionally I'll get a bag that has more than usual chips and dust and when that happens all that tells you is that particular bag was tossed around quite a bit during its transportation from the plant. That's why you try to just use the bags that are from the top layer of the shipping palette. .

All those "fines" (chips & dust) are still usable btu's that you paid for so it makes no sense to just throw them away. While they might filter thru your chimney starter you can just sccop them up and toss them on your fire after you have dumped your chimney.

Personally, I never pour directly from a bag of lump. I empty bags into commercial duty Rubbermaid totes. That allows me to sort/scoop the sizes of lump I need for use on a particular grill (I don't like large pieces of lump on my smaller kamados). That also allows all the "fines" to sift down to the bottom of the container where I can scoop them out and pour them onto a lump pile later.

Rockwood used to have fairly limited distribution but it is now generally available at any Ace hardware (at least in the lower 48 - not sure about AK and HI). If it is not on the shelf they can order it (or you can order it on the Ace website for store pickup) when they place their next store delivery truck. Ace also frequently offers $5 off coupons so if you want to try a bag be sure to look for one of those coupons.

[Mark The Q-er]

You might have gotten a bad bag? I think also that some of it might depend on how gentle or rough the charcoal bag was handled before it got to the shelf. I've used Rockwood several times and it was fine.

Here's a review of Rockwood from a site that rates different lump charcoal companies. They give it a high rating. But it also has a fairly high percentage of readers, 8%, who rate it the worst ever.

Review of Rockwood Lump Charcoal -- Naked Whiz Ceramic Charcoal Cooking

Here's a whole database of info: The Lump Charcoal Database Rankings-- Naked Whiz Charcoal Ceramic Cooking

They even have photos of the charcoal.

You could go blind trying to read all this info... Haha

[Spinaker]

Yeah, I have had mixed experience with Rockwood. Some bags are good, some are bad. Most of the time it comes down to handling......if the bags were roughed up in transport and stacking, you can end up with a bad bag.

I like to use KJ Big Block or B&B Charcoal.

[Grapefarmer]

I have used FOGO Super Premium the last few years and find the quality excellent. One bag had a lot of small pieces and I emailed them about the poor size and they sent me another bag courtesy of them. A very conscientious company and the product is great, good size and a minimum amount of small size and dust. I order directly and the product arrives within a week.

[Mosca]

I was buying the tan bag, and the pieces were so big I had to break them up with a hammer! Then I read on their site that the only difference between tan bag and black bag is the lump size. I started buying black bag, saving a couple dollars.

[GroceryBoy]

I have tried it a couple times. Not a fan, lots of garbage pieces and seems to throw sparks. I would rather spend the money for FOGO or my preferred Jealous Devil.

[Skip]

I can get B&B and Jealous Devil locally and like them both. Lately however I've had a couple bags of B&B that had a lot of small pieces in the bottom of the bag. I chalk it up to handling in most cases. There's no way for us to know that until we open the bag and use it. Oh well.

[jfmorris]

I seem to have the exact opposite problem lately with B&B lump. The bags I've gotten over the past year seem to always have lots and lots of big hunks in them. One or two of those are fine if using it in the bottom of the Amado, but they don't work well if using the SNS in the kamado or kettle, or in a chimney.