My FOGO Larder

[fuzzydaddy]

Yep, it's pricey for sure Breadhead (compared to yours). My local options are very limited and Royal Oak is the best I have available in my area and it's about $0.80 a lb, but unfortunately it is often mostly small pieces. I've also thought about trying Rockwood from Firecraft which is just over $1 a lb. I've got to look around when I get to FL to see what's available there.

[LA Pork Butt]

I regularly use Royal and find it tony and large have a good distribution of large, medium and small. Occasionally I get a bag short in large. Overall it is pretty good. Home Depot has a 17# bagel for $12.97. Sometimes I can find it at Walmart for less tha $10.

[CeramicChef]

I'll be the first to admit that There are lots of brands cheaper than FOGO. At this point in my grilling career, I've come to the point that I'm not looking to go cheap. I don't buy cheap spices for my rubs; I'm looking for quality. I don't buy cheap kamados; I'm looking for quality. I don't buy cheap smoke wood, I'm looking for quality. I certainly don't buy cheap meat; I'm looking for quality. I don't buy cheap lump; I'm looking for quality.

My Komodo Kamados, my spices, my smoke wood, my prime meat selections, and my FOGO lump all act in concert to insure that I overcome my limitations and produce the best possible BBQ for myself and my guests. FOGO has a very nice very mild, almost neutral, oak component that allows me to fine tune the flavor I put on my cooks. To me, it makes no sense to scrimp on lump when we are so discriminating on so many other dimensions of our cooks. That's just me.

We each need to find a lump that works well for us, our families, and our guests. We're passionate about our craft and we want those who eat the products of our passion to enjoy those efforts and the whole experience as much as we do. I've found my niche with Komodo Kamado, Fruita Woods, FOGO, amd my local butcher. I wish the same for every BBQ chef here!

Here's to great cooks and even better memories with family and friends. Enjoy!

PS - oh, one last thing. I've touted FOGO's size, density, neutral flavor profile, etc. in other posts. What I generally don't address is that it's really quite price competitive in the sense that I think I get more cooks per unit than I did using other lump brands. FOGO, because of its density, seems to last longer than the comparable quantity other lumps. That means I get more cooks out of a load of lump than I got with other brands. All things considered, FOGO, on a cook by cook basis, is really not that more expensive to use than other lumps.

[Breadhead]

CeramicChef ...

Well said.👍

I totally agree with every thing you said... But being the cheap SOB that I am, knowing I'm paying 45 cents per pound for lump that works for me, makes my brisket taste a little bit better.😆

[Don Jr]

Amazon is selling Fogo for $50 / 35 lbs? I find Ranch-T to be on par with Fogo for much less money where I live. Pieces tend to run from baseball up to small fire log size. Both Fogo and Ranch-T are the largest pieces of charcoal I've seen. I would gladly use either so for me it comes down to price.

I bet all of us charcoal burners could work on a way to have the good stuff distributed to ourselves for less money. Hmmm....

[Strat50]

Very nice looking lump! Our choices in my part of Alaska are moderate, expensive, and are you kidding. Shipping cost for small amounts are pretty high, so ordering takes a bit of budget adjustment if we use a premium product. The only affordable options for us is to use what I can find at Lowe's and Home Depot. Most times, its fine, but we do crave something better.

Having a kind of "homestead" ideology around here, I'm thinking of making my own. I've made lump on a very small experimental scale, and it was pretty easy. Now, I know what standard to strive for and, hopefully, achieve. We have a ton of alder and birch here, both cook well as just as they are, but make great lump, at least from my small experiments.

Now, I just have to find the time...