I stopped by 2 of Royal Oak’s lump charcoal manufacturing plants in the Missouri Ozarks a few days ago. I was looking for the construction debris and refuse they allegedly make their lump from, but it must be stored in a secret underground location because all I could see was raw hardwood lumber. Whole logs (that you can’t saw into good lumber), slab wood from the sawmills, and blocks from the pallet makers.
Ah, yes. I missed that initially as well. I'm not sure how prevalent the use of scrap wood is in making lump, but I have had a piece or 2 with a nail stuck in it and it makes me wonder what other processes that piece of wood has undergone in its journey to my cooker/food.
If not cooking outdoors, I am cooking on the stovetop with my 14" carbon steel wok, 12" CI skillet, or in the oven with my two Lodge CI pizza pans, or two dutch ovens. I've also got a nifty Lodge carbon steel grill pan that rocks for veggies outdoors.
The only lump I had some strange stuff in the bag in the past was the one and only bag of Cowboy lump that I ever purchased. It had stuff in that bag of lump like carbonized moulding and window/door trim like you would have inside your house. And you won't convince me it was all oak, as I rarely see any of those type mouldings that are not pine.
Large Big Green Egg, Weber Performer Deluxe, Weber Smokey Joe Silver, Fireboard Drive, 3 DigiQs, lots of Thermapens, and too much other stuff to mention.
I’ve never had a problem with Royal Oak. The only charcoal I’ve ever had a problem with was Cowboy, and it wasn’t with the charcoal itself; there was a big piece of ceramic in it, like some kind of electrical insulator. Otherwise, everything else I’ve used has been fine, to varying degrees.
Cowboy is the only lump I ever had a complaint with either. Moldings, window and door casings, and strange stuff that I am not sure was even scrap hardwood.
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