Surprising Royal Oak Disappointment

[Troutman]

Been using Kingsford charcoal briquettes for decades, more recently switched to the Professional series with good results. I'm not here to debate the pros or cons of charcoal versus briquettes but the brand being used (save that argument for another time please). With Kingsford I typically get a hot burn, so much so that I have to back down the vents quite a bit to get the 225* range for low and slow. I recently been reading how a lot of folks have sung the praises of Royal Oak over Kingsford with good burn, less ash and less additives. For some reason it's not popular in my area so its hard to find. Low and behold I was in my local Academy and they had a pallet of Royal Oak Ridge sitting right next to Kingsford Blue and it was half the price. Like a dumbbell I fill my cart with 4 - 20# bags thinking I just made the find of a lifetime.

Well since then I've had two cooks with it and I can't get the temperature up beyond about 250*. In fact I had a cook yesterday, wanting low and slow, and had trouble getting above 200* with vents wide open. I know everyone is going to say it's the weather or its the way I setup, etc. etc. Well the weather today is even worse, rain and wind, and I just fired up the 22" to do some chicken for next week with my remaining Kingsford and its roaring hot, had to back it down as usual. I typically use the minion method and ad a half chimney of hot coals to begin. Did the exact same with both charcoals.

Anyway, long story short, has anyone had this experience? I'm looking to dump 3 bags of Royal Oak. If you come by the house I might even give it to you if you show up with a 6 pack. I like Corona Light with lots of limes please. Love to hear some thoughts on this.

[Spinaker]

Some will disagree with me, but IMHO RO is junk. Maybe it is just the bags my area gets, but it seems like every bag I have bought has FM in it, especially their Lump. Rocks, concrete, plastic, I even found orange bailing twine in one bag. Not to mention the lump pieces are usually small and the rest of the bag is full of dust. I will drive across town to buy more expensive charcoal before I buy RO. I gave them plenty of chances but they just kept selling me bunk bags. When my cookers call for lump, I use Rockwood Lump or FOGO for lump. To me, the difference is clear. The performance and piece of mind is worth the extra cost, in my eyes.

For briquettes, I would not use anything other than Kingsford. It is everywhere, it works, its pretty cheap and most of all, it is consistent. I don't buy the less binders thing. Burn a coal of Kingsford and burn a coal of RO, I doubt you see any difference. Kingsford has been in this game for a long time. They have their recipe down. So when someone comes out claiming that they are using "less binders", I shrug it off. If I am doing a cook that uses briquettes, ash production isn't a huge concern for me. If it is, like when I use the Broil King Keg or the Kamado Joe, I use lump, which produces waaaaay less ash. If you want a significant drop in ash production, use lump, it will make for a significant drop in ash production. You are not going to see a significant drop in ash just because RO uses 1/2 teaspoon less corn starch in their binders.

I know some people use RO all the time, and it might work for them. For me, I would rather pay a little more and get a better cooking experience.

[FireMan]

I’m not going to rail on em like Ol Spinaker, but I have not been pleased with RO, especially the bag of dust in the end. Then again, maybe I will end up railing. With that said, see above.

[Troutman]

Well ash isn't a major factor for the WSM cooks, but you're right it's about the same amount with either briquette. I was just flabbergasted by the difference in temperature gradients. It's almost like RO had some sort of retarder built in. Anyway, not trying to be an RO basher, but that stuff gotta go......

[Spinaker]

I don't like to bash any company. However, RO has sold me nothing but junk. And when they do that, they get bad press.

[Bruce54]

Couple things, maybe relevant, maybe not. Which variant of RO did you get? As a different data point, I use the RO "Chef Select" food service briquettes almost exclusively, but also use the Kingsford Pro when Costco has it on sale. I just don't like the idea of anything other than wood and binder in briquettes. Only real challenge sometimes with either of these has been maintaining lower temperatures. Overall, I've been very happy with either. How charcoal is kept and handled before it gets to you makes a LOT of difference. Rough handling == dust and broken bits. Wet / dampness, or even just too high humidity == ruined, useless charcoal. Pure speculation here, but there was a reason that RO was on sale for half price, and it may have more than a little connection with recent weather events. Sadly, you got to discover this in an unfortunate way. Never mind giving your charcoal away. It needs to go back to the place you got it for a full refund.

[kmhfive]

. It needs to go back to the place you got it for a full refund.

!!!!!!Yep!!!!!

[FireMan]

To second that emotion, yup! Maybe the old adage of "you get what you pay for" or there is a reason it’s so cheap!

[Troutman]

Yea I know Academy will take it back. It may be some product that got water logged by the recent hurricane here in Houston but I doubt it. This store and their warehouse didn't suffer any flood damage. Also I keep all my charcoal and pellets in plastic binds in my garage. Both bags sit side-by-side. But yea, I probably will go exchange for Kingsford. Just thought this was really odd.

[JasonH]

I use both Royal Oak and Kingsford briquettes, I notice that (in my experience) kingsford burns hotter and faster than RO, and has more ash. However, my most noticable difference in any charcoal is where I buy it from. If they store it outside, in humid areas such as mine, it id going to be a slow burn and cooler temps.

[EdF]

oops put it in the wrong place. sorry!

[EdF]

Briquettes? What's that? (he ducks and runs)!

[EdF]

Troutman https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/u...a-cooking--2#/

[Troutman]

Oh its a Uuni Pro, when you said that I was picturing a large bbq cooker that had every kind of fuel system built in (charcoal, pellet, propane, wood) all in one unit. I've seen a couple that utilize propane and wood but wouldn't it be cool to have an all in one? Anyway, very neat pizza oven, wish I had that toy for my arsenal !!

[EdF]

Since it appears to take the same size splits as the KBQ, I'm envisioning a thick steak on sticks, maybe finishing a prime rib. The oven space is big enough on this one.

[RonB]

If you don't return it, how about mixing some in with Kingsford? Seems like it could work well if one runs hot and the other runs cool.

[DWCowles]

I like Fogo lump charcoal. It’s expensive but it’s worth it.

[Skip]

IMO I agree with you on that one.

[JeffJ]

Not a fan of Royal Oak.

[HouseHomey]

I need a sandwich. A KBB man myself. I can't use the lump but I'll buy you a beer 🍺

[JeffJ]

Given that KBB can be had for $5 per bag, it's an easy choice for me. In a typical year I'll go through 25+ bags of KBB but will only go through 2 bags of Kingsford Professional and 1-2 bags of lump.

[Psinderson]

I have used KBB almost exclusively. Until I did a batch of jerky a few weeks ago. I set up a snake to get a good low temperature. It worked great except there was so much smoke from the briq igniting as it moved down the snake. The jerky was good but a bit too much smoke for me.

I had heard that Weber briq were not as smoky, so I tried those yesterday for my bacon followed by another batch of jerky. Same snake setup and MUCH less charcoal smoke overall. I was able to more effectively use my applewood. It also burned much slower and kept a good low temp. 10 hours total for thecooks and I still had 1/3 of the snake left. I think I will use Weber for smoking and KBB for standard grilling.

The reason this all may matter is- did I hear somewhere that Weber briq may be rebranded RO? Maybe I am wrong.

[Thunder77]

I have had varying experience with Royal Oak. I agree with Spinaker that their lump is garbage. My results with their briquets are so mixed that I don't use it any more.