Preferred Charcoal?

[JoeSousa]

KBB is what I use for most cooks. For long cooks like brisket or pork butt I usually use Weber briquettes as they seem to last longer and have a bit less ash. For hot and fast direct cooks I have been using Fogo Premium more and more. Burns clean an hot.

[mountainsmoker]

I have gone strictly to Royal Oak All Natural. It burns fairly clean and doesn't use the binders and have the chemical smell that KBB does.
https://www.royaloak.com/products/al...coal-briquets/ I don't particularly like the orange bags but will still use them over KBB.

[DavidNorcross]

I am really liking B&B. If not available I go with KBB. Really cannot go wrong with either.

[Old Glory]

Fogo and Weber Briquettes for me

[au4stree]

I'm more/less a whatever is on sale kind of guy, usually RO. But am using lump less and less these days. If I'm going long cook I'll use a natural briq like KBB Pro or RO All Natural, but for everyday cooking I like the $8.88 RO bags or B&B briqs.

[Polarbear777]

Turns out that at regular prices, you pretty much get the amount of heat you pay for. The only significant factor is filler/ash, which may only be a problem on certain cookers and when going low and slow. If your cooker has space for ash buildup, go ahead and get the cheapest on sale.

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/fuels-discussion-not-for-grills-and-smokers/charcoal-aa/672024-cost-comparison-and-heat-ash

Fan of char logs for low and slow. They seem to last much longer...haven't tried them for hot and fast, because their density and shape certainly doesn't make sense for that.

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/charcoal-drums-barrels-and-bullet-smokers/pit-barrel-cooker/457459-pbc-calibration-tests

[STEbbq]

Thank you for this data analysis. I find it much more helpful than the popular charcoal review site (NakedWhiz). The charlogs are my favorite as well. I will probably run them hot and fast at some point, and I will report back. I will also buy some B&B lump to compare to B&B charlogs (I debate whether to treat them as briquittes or lump) which I think will be a good comparison.

[jfmorris]

I am really really liking every B&B charcoal product I have tried, and have had good luck so far with their char logs and their lump. I've not tried their regular briquettes though. At the local Academy, it sells for $12.99 for a 20# bag, which is cheap considering the quality. I place it second only to Weber briquettes for performance on my kettle with the SNS.

The Weber briquettes are a little larger and take a little longer to get fully lit than the KBB, but they also burn 12+ hours on a load in the SNS on my kettle, so its worth the wait for overnight cooks. The only cheap charcoal I have used was Royal Oak briquettes, and they were ok, and had a nice woodsy aroma which I liked better than KBB, but I only got 5-6 hours on a load in the SNS versus 7-8 for KBB, 10+ for B&B lump of 12+ for Weber briquettes. I burned up all the Royal Oak I had on short cooks.

[Rod]

I'm in the Weber briquettes camp for the long low and slow. Picked up 10 bags last year when Home Depot was clearing them out. I've never had an issue lighting them in my SnS on my 22" Weber kettle with a Weber cube. I did get a 16+ hour cook with them once with a full SnS load. So I save them for the big hunk a meat cooks.

I use KBB for every day cooks. B&B I like for performance, just not a huge fan of the heavy mesquite smell. Kingsford Pro doesn't seem to perform much different to me than KBB. Maybe burns hotter and smells better at start up, but my experience with Pro is limited.

[jfmorris]

I am down to my last couple of bags of Weber charcoal, also bought when they cleared it out of Home Depot. Lowe's also quit carrying it, so like you, I reserve it for overnight cooks. Once it is gone, I will be using B&B from Academy to replace it. I've not been noticing a mesquite smell with B&B, but have used their oak lump and char logs.

[Rod]

jfmorris I think I misspoke about the B&B mesquite smell since they are made from oak. I guess they just smell more harsh than others to me.

[jfmorris]

Rod I have only used the lump and char logs, but plan to try the B&B briquettes at some point. I'll see if they smell harsh as well when that time comes. For now I gotta finish all my KBB stockpile from 2018 and Weber stockpile from 2019.

[Bumby]

I'm a Royal Oak guy, myself, when using my WSM. When combined with some wood chunks, I get a nice wood smoke flavor. I have to add more for longer smokes but ordinarily, if I'm using my WSM, I'm either doing short cooks (i.e., bacon) or I'm starting on the WSM for flavor and shifting to the pellet smoker to finish.

[Nils Feller]

I always use Coconut briquettes. My favourites are Black Sellig and Cococabana (German sellers, don't know about international availability). They produce very little smoke or smell, a lot less than Weber briquettes or Kingsford for comparison. They burn hot and long, are eco-friendly and from a sustainable source.

[Potkettleblack]

Way back six years ago, I had gotten hands on some coconut charcoal. Little briquette sized tubes. As you say, burn hot and burn very long. As folks have noted about the Weber bricks, a bit of a pain to light, IIRC.

[alion21]

Due to the many reviews saying it is good, I picked up some B&B from Ace hardware one sale for 9.99 Yesterday.

https://www.acehardware.com/departme...arcoal/8023367

I haven't tried it yet, but I'm looking forward to it.

[HawkerXP]

I see its still on sale at Ace!

[mountainsmoker]

Should be good for you.

[hoovarmin]

I'm late to the party here, but someone generously gave me a bag of Fogo Super Premium the other day. I haven't burned lump in years, but I was eager to give it a shot in the PBC. First, this stuff is some quality fuel. At the beginning of the lighting process it was clear that this burns more clean than any fuel I've ever used. But trying to use the traditional lighting method proved difficult because the chunks are very large. I let it burn in the PBC with the lid off for a bit and when I put the lid on the temp was over 500! With lid on and both rebar it settled in to 325-350 and stayed there, and continued to burn super clean. I was impressed. At $30 a bag, I don't think it will become my go-to, but it was really fun using it.

[Beefchop]

I feed my WSM an exclusive diet of Kingsford Blue and chunks of hardwood/fruitwood. Consistent, predictable, and affordable. Different story for my BGE, it's a bit of a fuel snob.