Charcoal Brands

[JakeT]

What brand of charcoal is everyone's favorite? I typically use Lazzari lump charcoal just because its the easiest for me to pick up at my local grocery store. Anyone ever used quebracho blanco? Anyone know the difference in flavor between that and mesquite?

[ComfortablyNumb]

At the risk of being drummed out of the Pit, I use the cheapest briquettes I can get at Walmart in the PK360. I use the cheapest lump, I think it Royal Oak, to prime the KBQ.

[EdF]

Rim Shot!

[Troutman]

Or swish depending on your point of view

[DWCowles]

Kingsford Blue bag for me. I don't have a favorite lump charcoal yet.

[vandy]

I like Chef's Choice which is made by Royal Oak, it is made for restaurants and sold by The Charcoal Store in my area, then I like Kingsford Professional briquettes and as for lump so far I prefer the Kamado Joe big block. I have tried the Royal Oak lump but just don't like it.

[Spinaker]

FOGO and Rockwood

Kingsford White and Blue for the PBC's, which get a lot of use.

[Troutman]

Oh Mr. Fancy pants

[Spinaker]

I have not. But I should try it sometime, they sell it at my local Costco. JakeT

[Spinaker]

LOL. Call it what you will, my friend. I just like using the good stuff, one less thing to worry about. Troutman

[Troutman]

The cheapest brand in my hood is Royal Oak, but the stuff burns like crap for me so no go. Next in line is KBB but the Professional has been on sale at CostCo so I loaded up for the summer!! At risk of also being drummed out, I agree with ComfortablyNumb , I just buy what works and is on sale. I'm not a charcoal snob.

[GadjetGriller]

Its all about the taste! if you like the taste your golden and having more money to buy more Protein is a Bonus!! Not a dang thing wrong with that!

[Omega-Man]

Wegman's brand got a good rating on NakedWhiz so I bought a several bags last year. Also bough several from Sam's club which is much more convenient to me. Their lump brand is by Vision. I will be sticking with Sam's. How much different can they all be, anyway?

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumprankpoll.htm

[jfmorris]

99% of the charcoal I've burned over the last 30 years was Kingsford Original in the blue bags (KBB), which I have seen go from 25lb to 22lb to 20lb to 18lb twin packs over the years, mostly bought at Sam's Club or Home Depot. Granted some of the reduction in weight is formula changes, but I think its more giving you less charcoal for the same amount of cash due to inflation. I've seen the same trend with bags of concrete mix. Many years ago the standard size bag you would buy was 100 lbs. Then 80. Now many home improvement centers only stock 40 to 60 pound bags, and if they cater to contractors maybe they still stock 80. No one makes 100 pound bags anymore, as people are not not as "manly" as they once were. I used to watch my dad, now 76, haul shingles up a ladder onto a roof 2 full bundles at a time. I could never handle more than one, so I count myself part of the "less fit" generation(s)!

Anyway, back off my tangent.... what were we talking about? Oh yeah, charcoal.

Having used 99% Kingsford over the years, and sometimes Kingsford Professional, I've decide in the past few months that my favorite performing charcoal is Weber, which I understand *MIGHT* be produced by Royal Oak, but it bears no resemblance to Royal Oak briquets that I've seen. I've also recently tried Royal Oak branded briquets, and agree with Troutman that they certainly appear inferior to KBB, but I've not had any issue with them burning and having a good cook for direct or short indirect cooks with the SNS. They just seemed more crumbly and cheaply formed. I've not tried a 16 hour cook with them yet. I've heard good things about Stubb's, and have a bag of that to test after I empty the Royal Oak from the bin on my Performer.

I tend to say, go with what is on sale, within reason. Try the Royal Oak yourself if you see if for $5 per 15 lb bag like I did, unless you can pick up something better on sale.

The worst charcoal I've used, *FOR ME* was something called Cowboy lump charcoal. And the reason I hated it was it was so unpredictable and for direct grilling on the 4th of July, I had loaded 15 to 20 pounds of that Cowboy lump charcoal into the charcoal pan in my offset so that I could have 748 sq inches of direct grilling space. When the charcoal was ready, the grill was hitting 700+ degrees when I closed the lid, and even when I closed down all the intakes, was so hot that burgers were bursting into flame almost spontaneously, and that is with the meat 8 to 10 inches above the charcoal. I'll never try to direct grill with lump again after that experience.... Even with the longest tongs I could find we had trouble reaching the back of the grate as you could not hold your hand over it for more than a second or two.

[JakeT]

My understanding they can be big time different, like ive seen Meathead Goldwyn write more than one time, crap in crap out. The thing I like about the mesquite lump is it gives you that nice bold smoke flavor but looks like fogo and rockwood is oak, maple, hickory. Thats why I'm curious about that Kamado Joe stuff, says its from the quebracho tree thats super hard. Just not sure how that flavor compares.

[Troutman]

As to Weber being made by Royal Oak, I too was told that by someone so I called Weber. They claim they make their own. I found it to be a good charcoal but can only get it at Home Depot and its rather expensive. That's why I stick with Kingsford Pro.

As to the debate over this charcoal or that charcoal, one of the very first articles I read on the free side of the site was Meathead's article on charcoal. He quotes something that has stuck with me. I believe there is very little difference in charcoal at the end of the day; concentrate on the product, your cooking time, your cooking temperatures and the heat source really becomes secondary. He goes on to say;

"Harry Soo of Slap Yo Daddy BBQ, one of the top 10 competition teams year in and year out once told me "I buy whatever is on sale." Mike Wozniak of Quau,the 2010 Kansas City Barbeque Society Team of the Year and winner of scores of championships told me "Charcoal is for heat, not flavor. Wood is for flavor. I cook on whatever brand the competition sponsor is giving away for free."

So maybe we should be talking about the wood preferences instead of charcoal preferences?

[JakeT]

touche, I'll take that, guess thats why I have alder, hickory, and mesquite pellets for the a-maze-n-tube for use depending on what im cooking.

[packerfannate]

I have had problems with inconsistent temperatures using lump charcoal. Maybe the brand I used, but I struggled to keep it going and had problems with temperature fluctuation. I switched to charcoal briquettes and no longer had this issue. I prefer the KBB (Kingsford Blue Bag) but have also used the Kingsford Competition briquettes. Both seem to work well.

[Attjack]

I'm about to go out and buy about 10 twin packs if this. Never used professional before.

[jfmorris]

Most past years, before I got the Weber Performer and found this website, I would be 10-20 bags on sale at Home Depot in the 2 packs for 9.98 and that got me for 1 year or even longer. This year, I've been back to my offset plus the kettle and SNS and using propane less, and I burned through all the charcoal stockpile between September and December, and had to go out for more!

[KenC52]

Where did you find this?

[Attjack]

A grocery outlet store had that pallet outside of the store. Long gone by now. Best deal I've personally seen since I've started using briquettes over lump which hasn't been long.

[Troutman]

Buy the Pro, you will like it......and by the way you cookin' for some army??? lol

[Attjack]

Feels good to be stocked up.

[Huskee]

When not using wood I use Kingsford Original. I use it because it's everywhere, it's cheap, and it's predictable in performance. I've tried a lot of brands over the years and never found the others to be worth the price premium, for me personally.