Review: Kingsford® Competition vs Stubb's® Briquets (pics galore)

[PatioDaddio]

Oh, you also might check your local Ace Hardware stores, if you have one.

This link might also be helpful. Just click the "Change" link above the locations
list and enter your zip code.

I hope this helps,
John

 

[Rich Parker]

Oh, you also might check your local Ace Hardware stores, if you have one.

This link might also be helpful. Just click the "Change" link above the locations
list and enter your zip code.

I hope this helps,
John

I went to Kingsford.com and they said no stores within 100 miles sell it. Ace hardware website shows it with free shipping. Thanks for the link.

 

[PatioDaddio]

I went to Kingsford.com and they said no stores within 100 miles sell it. Ace hardware website shows it with free shipping. Thanks for the link.

Yeah, it said the same for my zip, but I can find it in town. I then searched
for "Kingsford Regular Charcoal" and it found a bunch of stores. You might
try looking at the local stores that carry the blue bag.

John

 

[Brizz]

So Stubb's weighed more but had more ash? That makes sense. However, it weighed almost double yet had 250% more ash. So in short, it produced a moderate amount of increased ash but not 2.5 times.

Now I'm interested in seeing a value comparison between the two with their properties taken into account. For instance, if Kingsford burned hotter, longer, with less ash but was twice the price would Stubb's be a better value per lb?

 

[Dave Russell]

Thanks for the review! I'm actually kinda surprised they both burned for about the same amount of time, in grilling uses, I swear that k comp burns faster than anything else I've used, including stubbs.

I do like the burning smell of stubbs over the smell of k comp, but the k comp is still way better than blue k IMO...

Exactly.

The issue with Stubbs is that their quality control isn't the best. MOST of the time the stuff is fantastic, but I've had a few bags that produced significantly more ash and produced far less btu's than typical. Makes me wonder if the bag reviewed was some of that non-typical sub par Stubbs, but if so, that's Cowboy Charcoal's fault. Just don't know if I trust Stubbs as much as I used to, especially when I consider the fact that some folks have noticed some really funky smells as well. Friend of mine down in Mississippi claims that about 30% of the Stubb's he's tried smelled funky and one cook was so bad that he ended up throwing out some smoked pork loin after smelling it later when pulling out of the fridge.

Don't know if K comp will make a come-back, but you sure know what you're getting with K. Burn it cleanly and the Kingsford flavor won't amount to much as to distract from your smoke wood flavor, but a "good" bag of Stubb's will add a much better flavor IMHO to a kettle cook if it happens to stay smoking when you put the poultry on. I'm a lot more careful when cooking with the Kbb but I just try to make sure my fire's burning right.

 

[Q-Dat]

If anybody is wondering, I have had really good results with the Royal Oak Natural/Nature Glo briquettes.

 

[Carnivorous Endeavors BBQ]

John,

Thanks for the great review/testing. I like both the Kingsford Comp and Stubbs. I had a suspision the stubbs wasn't running as hot and you proved it.

 

[Big Bears BBQ]

Thanks alot for all the hard work on the testing. I use the K Blue and the Comp and I thought the Blue was hotter so I know for sure now. Kingsford is all I use except for times with ribeyes I like the Jack Daniels. I see wher a lot guys complain about Kingsford but it works for us.

Thanks again Big Bear ..................

 

[PatioDaddio]

So Stubb's weighed more but had more ash? That makes sense. However, it weighed almost double yet had 250% more ash. So in short, it produced a moderate amount of increased ash but not 2.5 times.

Now I'm interested in seeing a value comparison between the two with their properties taken into account. For instance, if Kingsford burned hotter, longer, with less ash but was twice the price would Stubb's be a better value per lb?

My statement in the review is, "The Stubb's® briquets produced
nearly 250% more ash by weight than the Kingsford® Competition
briquets.", which is accurate.

Percentage of original weight in ash:
Kingsford: 23%
Stubb's: 39%

John

 

[wheelterrapin]

John I know it would be subjective but I would like to see you do a test relating to taste of some meat product derived from using these two charcoals. This was great information and I appreciate you making it available to us.

 

[PatioDaddio]

John I know it would be subjective but I would like to see you do a test relating to taste of some meat product derived from using these two charcoals. This was great information and I appreciate you making it available to us.

Thanks, but I'd rather see you do it. :shocked: :-D

John

 

[wheelterrapin]

Shucks John you have the taste buds to give a subjective review, I do not. Maybe some of the brethren already have an opinion in regards to which of the two charcoals produce the best taste according to their taste buds, if so maybe they will share their thoughts with us.

 

[---k---]

John,

I appreciate the review. Make sense to me. But I'm not sure how well it translates or if the differences make and differences.

I've been intending to do my own test some time. What I would like, and what seems to make a lot of sense to me, I would like to load up my UDS with say 4# of charcoal, light a similar amount, and then set my Pitmaster iQ to say 250* and see how long it goes before the temp starts to drop. I think this could be a real true test since the Pitmaster will be controlling it.

Don't know. I just need to find the a free afternoon where I want to play with my UDS without having it produce food.

Thanks again for sharing.

 

[Patrick C.]

Thanks for posting (and for sharing all your recipes!). You've got me wanting to do a quick ash test

Did the Stubbs briquettes burn completely? Nearly 40% ash seems really high. I never weighed it, but it doesn't seem like I'm removing 6 pounds of ash from the UDS after burning a bag of Stubbs. I haven' t run into any bad bags, but my sample size is pretty small so far.

Minor point- it is not correct that the Stubbs produced "250% more ash by weight". The Stubbs produced 250% as much ash as the Kingsford (4.625/1.875=2.46 or 246%) in your test, but since you started with different weights you can't compare those numbers directly. My cipherin'-
Kinsford Comp- 1.875/6.75 = 0.278 or 28%
Stubbs- 4.625/10 = 0.463, or 46%

The Stubbs produced about 66% more ash by weight- 46/28 = 1.665

 

[caseydog]

Now if someone will come up with a way to make uniform pieces of actual lump that would really be cool!

That's the only thing keeping me from using more lump -- bags full of huge chunks and tiny crumbs.

CD

 

[PatioDaddio]

Did the Stubbs briquettes burn completely? Nearly 40% ash seems really high. I never weighed it, but it doesn't seem like I'm removing 6 pounds of ash from the UDS after burning a bag of Stubbs. I haven' t run into any bad bags, but my sample size is pretty small so far.

Yes, it was completely burnt and I let both samples sit for 48 hours before
I weighed the ash.

Minor point- it is not correct that the Stubbs produced "250% more ash by weight". The Stubbs produced 250% as much ash as the Kingsford (4.625/1.875=2.46 or 246%) in your test, but since you started with different weights you can't compare those numbers directly. My cipherin'-
Kinsford Comp- 1.875/6.75 = 0.278 or 28%
Stubbs- 4.625/10 = 0.463, or 46%

The Stubbs produced about 66% more ash by weight- 46/28 = 1.665

Well, if the weight of the Stubb's ash is 4.625 ounces, and the weight of
the Kingsford ash is 1.875 ounces, is that not nearly 250% more by weight
(4.625 / 1.875 = 2.46)? I guess it's just how you read, or read into the
results.

I posted my cipherin' earlier:

My statement in the review is, "The Stubb's® briquets produced
nearly 250% more ash by weight than the Kingsford® Competition
briquets.", which is accurate.

Percentage of original weight in ash:
Kingsford: 23%
Stubb's: 39%

I used 12 briqs of each, so your starting weights are too low.

John

 

[JD McGee]

Great thread John...thanks for the side by side. I have used the comp k a couple of times and noticed it does burn significantly faster than the blue bag...especially for me when cooking at temps in the 325-350 range. I pretty much stick with the blue bag now...I can cook my butts and briskets on a single load as opposed to having to add comp k briqs to finish.

 

[PatioDaddio]

Great thread John...thanks for the side by side. I have used the comp k a couple of times and noticed it does burn significantly faster than the blue bag...especially for me when cooking at temps in the 325-350 range. I pretty much stick with the blue bag now...I can cook my butts and briskets on a single load as opposed to having to add comp k briqs to finish.

Yeah, at competitions I mix them (about 70% blue to 30% Competition) to
give me the best of both worlds.

John

 

[cliffcarter]

Yes, it was completely burnt and I let both samples sit for 48 hours before
I weighed the ash.



Well, if the weight of the Stubb's ash is 4.625 ounces, and the weight of
the Kingsford ash is 1.875 ounces, is that not nearly 250% more by weight
(4.625 / 1.875 = 2.46)? I guess it's just how you read, or read into the
results.

I posted my cipherin' earlier:



I used 12 briqs of each, so your starting weights are too low.

John

12 briqs of Comp K weigh 7.5 oz.
12 Stubbs briqs weigh 12 oz
Given yor results-
each Comp K produces .25 oz of ash
each Stubbs produces .385 oz of ash
Therefore the proper ratio to compare the weight of the ash is .25/.385, expressed as a percentage this is 64.9%, in other words the Comp K produces 65% less ash than Stubbs. As a point of order you can not have more than 100% of anything.

 

[PatioDaddio]

12 briqs of Comp K weigh 7.5 oz.
12 Stubbs briqs weigh 12 oz
Given yor results-
each Comp K produces .25 oz of ash
each Stubbs produces .385 oz of ash
Therefore the proper ratio to compare the weight of the ash is .25/.385, expressed as a percentage this is 64.9%, in other words the Comp K produces 65% less ash than Stubbs. As a point of order you can not have more than 100% of anything.

OK. You have the numbers, so interpret/express it how you wish,
but I stand by my results and statements.

John