UDS Charcoal Comparison Test Burn

[KnucklHed BBQ]

Hmmmmm....keep drinkin the Kool-aid folks. Where's the barf smiley when you need it?

12th Av - my friend, constructive criticism is always welcome around here, however, slamming someone without any given reason is unacceptable.

If you have a better suggestion to share it would be appreciated. The only way for any of us to learn - yourself included - is to exchange thoughts and ideas.

Not trying to flame you or anything, would just like to know where you're coming from when you make a statement like that.

 

[12TH AV SMOKERS]

History...

 

[KnucklHed BBQ]

History...

Bro, you've now got 2 posts under your belt and neither of them make any sense...

"History" says nothing at all, even with the dots added in...

The guy has posted his observations of the burn times for 5 different charcoals - some lump and some briqs - your comments so far contribute nothing to the discussion.

What have you found to work best for you and why?

What part of his review do you object to? What would you have done to make it better?

Ryan

 

[Crüe-B-Cüe]

Hmmmmm....keep drinkin the Kool-aid folks. Where's the barf smiley when you need it?

History...

 

[Arlin_MacRae]

History...

'Splain, please. If you've got data to refute Eat's then post it up!

If not, please don't be a troll. Trolls don't last long. Members eat them. :twisted:

 

[riznfall]

What a great post. I usually use K. Just keeping it simple (it works for me). I will have to try the RO. The chicken and the legs look awsome

 

[leanza]

Despite the guy with the gas can....I really appreciated the run down that we got with this thread. To my knowledge no one else has taken the time, effort and money to do what was done.
I had no idea that the different brands of charcoal and lump would do what they do in the enviornmet they were in. That's why I gave it five stars.
The information provided was appreciated and needed. Thistype of thread is what impoves my cooking technique.

 

[FamilyManBBQ]

^^^^^^Agree 100%^^^^^^

Usually stick with the blue bags myself...was helpful to see K compared to other fuels. Thanks for taking the time to gather the info.

 

[pahutchens]

I remember making charcoal in HS chemistry class and a few smells. In searching I came across this bit:

"Recovery of acetic acid and methanol byproducts was initially responsible for stimulating the charcoal industry. As synthetic production of these chemicals became commercialized, recovery of acetic acid and methanol became uneconomical."

Working in photography I am familiar to acetic acid at high strengths (more than vinegar) Could the ammonia smell be the similarly pungent acetic acid, makes some sense as it is a natural byproduct of charcoal production that it may not have off gassed sufficiently. I'm not a chemist and I don't play one on TV​

 

[Babyboomerboy]

Thank you for a great test. I have a UDS and the only thing I have proved is that if you leave the remaining coals in the basket after shuting down from a cook and a few days later you go back and just top off your basket, you will not have a steady burn because the older coals have absorbed so much moisture they don't burn evenly. Maybe the dry areas of the country they can leave the coals out side and not have this problem, but in Kansas during a snowy, rainy, cold, windy, gray, and all around nasty day, it happens.. Iam just saying

 

[EatRBBQ]

I took some time and effort in trying to share some reasonably controlled UDS burn tests with a variety of brands and types of charcoal. I performed these tests with the intention of expanding my horizons. I posted and shared my experience, results, and opinions because these forums appear geared towards learning from sharing, in a friendly, no hastle environment.

I don't claim to be an expert, I don't claim to always be right. I'll post an experience, idea, or an opinion and welcome you to be the critics, to enlighten and educate me. I welcome input, ideas, concepts, and critics. However, I will not be baited into "I'm right, you're wrong, you're an idiot" agruments only geared towards making someone feel superior. If you don't like my threads or posts I invite you to use the Ignore feature.

It now appears more than one poster would like to bait me into going off topic by rehashing a past disagreement from a different forum. Out of respect for those who appreciated my effort and posts I will not do that in this thread. I apologize to all the Brethren that these attitudes have followed me here.

 

[bigabyte]

All I know is I definitely appreciated this thread, and the work you put in to the tests. +1 on the 5-Star rating. Keep up the great work.

 

[EatRBBQ]

update, ideas

The BBQ Widow had to stop at Lowe's before work today. She's followed some of the test results and decided to pay a visit to the grilling/outdoor area before getting what she needed.

She called and told me they have pallets of grills and supplies in the isles, spring stocking is in full swing. The charcoals, Frontier and Stubb's amoung others, are all now stacked on pallets on the ground level of the isle. The next isle over is grass seed and fertilizers on pallets, back to back to the charcoals.

I am really beginning to wonder if the scales were slanted against me due to the local Lowe's storage method.

I keep reading glowing reviews of Stubb's Briquettes.
If I take away the off smells following the burn, the Stubb's seemed quality made, lighting it was pleasant - smelled like wood not charcoal and it had very little white smoke, and the stuff produces so little ash.

I really had some nasty experiences with Cowboy Lump, IE: chunks of finished/varnished boards, furniture pieces some finished, melted plastic chunks, nails and screws. I've read Cowboy improved the product, but the most current reviews I find still aren't very good.

I'm more and more tempted to give Cowboy brand and their Stubb's Briquettes another chance. I don't think I have it in me to use their lump, but I'm going to keep my eyes open for the Stubb's. (as long as it's not stored next to lawn chemicals)

The Frontier lump produced some odd burning effects, blue and white flames, and was clearly produced from wood types I'm not familiar with cooking on. So even if I forget the ammonia smells and assume they came from the nearby lawn chemicals I won't be trying this stuff again.

Just MHO, YMMV - but damn that Stubb's had some nice qualities.

 

[riznfall]

Maybe try to find it at another store (hopefully with non chemical items around) and give it another shot

 

[Arlin_MacRae]

Tell you what, I think I'll be watching the storage of charcoal in stores a little more closely. I mean, you'll never know where it's been, but surrounded by fertilizer? Hmm..

 

[EatRBBQ]

Out doing some various running over the weekend I kept my eyes open for alternate sources of Stubb's. Didn't find a thing. I did however end up at a local Farm & Fleet, they were knee deep in organizing and stocking their expanded seasonal/spring area, including fertilizers/yard chemicals and plenty of outdoor cooking stuff, grills etc. I'm a chatty farker, so I asked if they'd ever heard of charcoal products absorbing odors or anything from other sources, the frosty old man said without blinking "what, like storing it next to lawn chemicals for that special flavor?"
He was being silly and serious, said they'd had complaints in years past and avoid storing those products near each other.

The wife was in the Chicago burbs over the weekend twice, what a trouper she stopped at two other Lowe's locations. Both places had Stubb's stored right next to or very near lawn chemicals and such, so she didn't pick any up.

Now, probably more than originally, I want to get my hands on some Stubb's that isn't tainted/poluted.


Last thought for my morning... I keep thinking about other charcoal filter devices and products. How does charcoal release what it absorbs? If the stuff you want to cook with was stored next to chemicals and absorbed some, what could you do to release it? Most likely answer IMHO - burn it. LMAO

Again, not an expert, not a chemist, but I can't think of any way charcoal would let go of some polutant or taint once it's there (beyond burning). Keep thinking of drinking water charcoal filters, air purification filters, and that sort of thing.

 

[sampson]

All I know is I definitely appreciated this thread, and the work you put in to the tests. +1 on the 5-Star rating. Keep up the great work.

What he said! Thanks...

 

[Eljay]

That's a bit disturbing about picking up the scents. A lot of fertilizers are ammonia based, or similar chemicals, for anybody who doesn't know.

Re: charcoal and filtration. That's an interesting point as well, although a lot of what makes the charcoal in filters (activated charcoal) special is that it's been processed to have an enormous surface area.

Still, it does make me think that not only is it a good idea to think a bit about how a given places stores their charcoal, but if you're storing your in the garage it might be good to think about what's near it.

 

[SirPorkaLot]

EatRBBQ: Thanks for the super post.
I too have had funky smells with Frontier briquettes (did one load, threw it away, and have never used it again), whereas their lump I have had good success with.
I have not tried Stubbs, but have tried Cowboy lump, and dislike it tremendously.

I will be trying Stubbs All natural briquettes, as my source tells me it is in fact an all natural product, with vegetable oil used as a binder.

I have used k-blue for years, and my personal thoughts are that K-blue has degraded over the years, and their new K-comp. is actually their old k-blue, as it seems to burn similar to what I remember out of k-blue years ago.

Kingsford does seem to create a lot of ash.
I have had inconsistent results with Royal Oak, so I stay away from it. I value consistency over ash content, as once I get a system down I like to stick with it.

However I just started using an UDS, so I cannot comment how a product might act differently in an UDS as compared to a stick burner or a kettle, but I can imagine that air flow has a lot to do with it.

My stick burner is all about proper airflow and draft (and it is a fuel hog for that reason - but it burns clean), where a UDS is much more of a closed environment, with a lot less air flow - so I could imagine any imperfections in a fuel source would be much more prevalent in an UDS than it would in any other type of cooker (WSM is of same type)

I will pay close attention to my results, and will post in this thread

 

[redhawk]

I have been noticing that Ammonia smell from Kingsford for years and didn't know what it was. I only notice it when I crack the lid the next day after a cook after all the charcoal has burned out to get reused for another cook. I never notice it in my food or on startup and I don't notice it everytime.

I recently picked up a bag of Stubbs and was really surprised in how uniform the pieces were, how long they burned and the taste they imparted on the food. They also started up really fast (I think faster than Kingsford did) and put off very little white smoke on startup and little ash (compared to Kingsford). But I did notice the ammonia smell after cracking the lid the next day. I'm not too worried about it though. As long as it doens't impart any noticeable taste on my Q, I will continue to use the product.