Charcoal....

[smokeisgood]

I've always been a Kingsford BB person, basically because I know it's a good product, and have bought cheaper charcoal that sucked. But, my question is, in keeping with the KISS theory, is there really a difference in the "quality" charcoals? I'm not talking about someone spending for RO Chef's Select for the American Royal, but just everyday backyard bbq. From what I see online, Select is about twice the cost of KBB. Regular RO Premium is a little cheaper, and B&B about the same price roughly. I don't care to spend extra for something better, but also don't like just giving money away. If you are using charcoal in a GF, with wood chunks for smoke, is there really any difference in these charcoals? (I'm not talking about dollar store off brands)

 

[cclinard1]

I use RO All Natural in my Limo Jr. I like it because I find it produces less ash than Kingsford. $8 for a bag at Walmart. I also use B&B briquettes which is same price and about same performance but they’ve become hard to find. I’ve just never had good luck with any Kingsford products. I gave their Professional All Natural a go because Costco has it on sale 2 for $15. Ran 2 pork butts on the Limo Jr with it this past weekend and it was fine but still left more ash behind than RO or B&B. My ash pan is small so this makes a difference.


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[smokeisgood]

I use RO All Natural in my Limo Jr. I like it because I find it produces less ash than Kingsford. $8 for a bag at Walmart. I also use B&B briquettes which is same price and about same performance but they’ve become hard to find. I’ve just never had good luck with any Kingsford products. I gave their Professional All Natural a go because Costco has it on sale 2 for $15. Ran 2 pork butts on the Limo Jr with it this past weekend and it was fine but still left more ash behind than RO or B&B. My ash pan is small so this makes a difference.


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I guess ash is something I never considered, as I only ever really used charcoal as a base to get my stick burner going. Since my ash pan is the same size as yours, I guess that's good to know.

 

[gsobbq]

Greetings! Just my humble opinion, anything that I have used outside of Kingsford and RO just plain sucks. (Shoulder shrug). Well let me backtrack. When I tried to use them on my big smoker, off/cheaper brands just don't work well for me. Now at home, on my small grill they are okay.

 

[jkief]

I like the B&B briquettes. I find it’s a really neutral flavor and low ash.

 

[BillN]

I have tried all the basic charcoal products from Walmart and yes there is a difference.

 

[gcs]

I've used most of them, it's pretty hard to beat Kingsford blue bag when it's on sale, is there better? I think thats subjective, maybe yes for some applications. Just don't get the black bag stuff from Walmart....Worst...charcoal...ever. :grin:

 

[smokeisgood]

So what y'all are really saying is Matchlight is good to go???:biggrin1::biggrin1::biggrin1:

 

[Big Andy]

Sam's Member's Mark is a really good brand. Burns hot and little ash. Supposedly RO Chef's Select rebranded. 40lbs. for $16.99.

 

[sudsandswine]

I'm a charcoal snob - I think paying more for a higher quality fuel is worth the cost, especially when divided between the number of cooks a bag can do. I only have a Primo XL kamado and a Hunsaker drum that I do "barbecue" using charcoal, and with those it's only lump. Cheaper charcoals with questionable contents that put off chemical smells when lighting and burning are often detectable on the food, for me. I've had better luck with size consistency on the higher quality lump brands which results in a higher % usable of the bag - almost 100% in most cases.

Back when I had a WSM and would use briquettes for fuel, I could definitely tell a difference in the flavor and color on the food using KBB vs better briqs. Briquette quality makes more of a difference in a smoker than it does a grill, in my experience. When there is unlit fuel that might smolder or smoke before it burns clean it can produce a flavor I don't care for. When I grill with briqs they're fully ashed over and at that point any off flavors aren't really a factor.

I've been buying Jealous Devil lump for $26/20lb bag. B&B might run me $17/20lb bag, and Royal Oak $13/20lb bag. Even taking into consideration Jealous Devil costs double per pound compared to Royal Oak, that only results in $2-3 bucks extra per use, which seems nominal to me when you factor in the money and time invested with the rest of the process. That's also not taking into consideration the fact I was typically seeing ~1/3 the weight of the bag in unusable tiny charcoal fragments or foreign objects.

 

[darita]

Personally, I don't like the acrid smoke and flavor of KBB. Also, it burns quick and produces a lot of ash in my GF. I use B&B and Weber, which are clean burning and leave less ash, but still have uniform size and shape when compared to lump.

 

[Gimmethecash]

^^what those last two wise folks said. Try a bag of B&B (Weber stopped making briqs) and see/smell/taste for yourself.

 

[NickTheGreat]

I used to be more of a lump guy. But have been purely KBB for the last 4 or 5 years now.

I think I get a little more consistent heat out of the KBB. Not as many temp swings.

But I do think it produces more ash. I haven't measured it, but it is noticeably more in the bottom at the end of a cook.

 

[PnkPanther]

I prefer using B&B but hasn't been consistently in stock
Doitbest stopped carrying chef select, but i can it through website for $30 dollars delivered for 40lbs bag, not too bad, but not as good of deal as 22 and free ship to store


KBB I'll use, but prefer others.

 

[jzadski]

I prefer using B&B but hasn't been consistently in stock
Doitbest stopped carrying chef select, but i can it through website for $30 dollars delivered for 40lbs bag, not too bad, but not as good of deal as 22 and free ship to store


KBB I'll use, but prefer others.

If you have a GFS around their brand is the RO Chef Select rebadged. I haven't been there in a while and can't remember pricing

 

[hedonsmbot]

I thought all lump charcoal was essentially the same. I typically alternate between Fogo, Maple Leaf, and Kamado Joe Big Block based on what's available.

One day the only thing in stock was "Vision Grills" brand at Home Depot; almost half the price of the next cheapest Lump Charcoal.

One bag of that and now I can tell you that there can indeed be a BIG difference. That stuff burned up like Chinese Newspaper and it was the first time I'd ever seen ash billowing out the top of my Big Green Egg.
It burned hot but burned fast and made a mess of the food.

 

[Kimo1]

This is the best way I can help you compare. Mostly lump but some briqs as well.
http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm

 

[Chester]

Sam's Member's Mark is a really good brand. Burns hot and little ash. Supposedly RO Chef's Select rebranded. 40lbs. for $16.99.

This is what I have been using the most of and have been very happy with it.

 

[ssv3]

A few years back I had a knock at my front door and when I opened it I had two cops with fire extinguishers in their hands. I told them I was only burning KBB. :laugh: Told them to come back for some grub later. I only use KBB when I'm all out of options.

When it comes to "molded charcoal" this is it for me. Best I've ever used. Hardly and start up smoke, burns hot and long, minimal ash.

 

[onemanlan]

Those charlogs are something else. They take a while to start, but they definitely burn a lot longer than the same weight of briquette charcoal it would seem. They're a strange thing to get used in it all because its difficult to meter out the amount you need since you're typically used to briquette sized metering. Overall great product! Just don't see it beyond the occasional go at Academy around here which sporadically has B&B products in stock. Would do again for sure if they were a regular product. That said briquettes are cheaper with most sales so that typically wins in the end for me. I don't suspect you'd see the charlogs on sale often comparatively. Still a solid product.