My New Kingsford Experience


 
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adam clyde

TVWBB Pro
OK, this cook is still in process. But, I thought I'd offer my experiences as yet another example. Since I've used exclusively kingsford in the past, I have a good point of reference to the old kingsford.

Bought a double bag of the new Kingsford. At 7 p.m. last night, I started up 1/2 of a chimney of the stuff to start minion method for a full packer brisket I have. Its cold - only about 20 degrees, so I'm starting with more briquettes than usual.

First thing I notice is that it has a different smell than the old, which makes me think they've somehow changed the formula. I noticed the slightly different smell from bag and also from the lit stuff in the chimney.

I fill the charcoal ring as full as it can possibly go, hoping it will take me through the cook. I hate refueling. Pecan wood is today's choice of smoke.

The stuff definitely lights more quickly. The chimney is ready in about 20 minutes.

I had some difficulty getting the charcoal up to temperature. In fact, it took me 2 hours to do so. I was a little too shy on the vents, since I didn't want to ignite the whole thing too quickly, given that the stuff lights more quickly. Shouldn't have been too shy.

To stop rambling, I'll get to the point. At 7 a.m. this morning, smoker was down to 180 and after stirring, I realized it needed more fuel. The sucker burned through almost an entire load of fuel in 12 hours without ever going over 240 (and most of the time in the 220 range). Lame. Even in cold weather, there's no way the old stuff would do this. I get 20 hours on a single load of old stuff in the same weather. So, I dumped about half a chimney of unlit on top of the remaining coals. It's now 7:40 and hoping this will last me through the rest of the cook.

So, my observations:

<UL TYPE=SQUARE> <LI>Lights faster, no doubt
<LI>Smells different
<LI>Same amount of ash produced (if they changed the formula, couldnt' they have changed that???
<LI>Burns through much faster
<LI>on a positive note, temperature fluctuations are minimal - keeps a steady temp like the old stuff.
<LI>You have to use a lot more charcoal with this new stuff. I've gone through 90%-95% of a 21-pound bag, for a single cook. So, about 19 pounds per cook. Now, with the old stuff, I could get 18-20 straight hours with about 12-13 pounds. So, the new stuff is far less cost effective. [/list]
Frustrating... no thanks. I'm moving permanently on to another source of fuel. I wish duraflame had a distributor nearby. Let's hope we get that shipment of extruded coconut...
 
OK, I did some calculations.

In real terms, the new stuff costs $4.90 per cook ($11 for the 42 pound double bag, requiring 19 pounds for a single cook).

The old stuff cost me $3.20 per cook ($11 for the 48 pound double bag, requiring 14 pounds for a single cook).

So, in practical terms for my purposes, the new kingsford is 65% more expensive. And much more work. No thanks.
 
Adam,

Much the same experience I had on an overnight pork butt cook. I was extremely impressed at how stable the new stuff was temperature wise. When it got to the 225-240 range it stayed there.

Not impressed with having to refuel after, in my case 11 hours. Never had to do that with the old.
 
Interesting.

I thought it smelled different too when I tried it but I'd come off a long series of lump cooks and (semi-)attributed it to having forgotten what the original smelled like. I just did a short cook but it didn't seem to last long to me either.
 
Neil - glad it is working for you. All I've ever used has been kingsford as well. I really, really wanted to think that hullaballoo about the new stuff was, as you mentioned, "much ado about nothing." However, my experience was anything but. a full, overflowing ring burned through nearly 100 percent after 12 hours and never got to even 240 degrees. On old, I never got less than 18 hours.

Anyhow, if the new stuff works, that's awesome. I wish it worked the same for me.
 
I'm thinking that the difference in burn time might be due to the ridges. If the material is the same, each briquette probably weighs less due to the groves. But the shape would take up about the same volume. Seems logical that burn time would suffer. I bet if you really packed the ring tight, you'd get something close to the "old kingsford" times.

Disclosure - I use lump.
icon_biggrin.gif
 
Neil - I've got lots and lots of experience cooking on the WSM with kingsford. I did a cook less than a month ago with old kingsford that had been sitting outside for a few months. The outside temp never got higher than 20 degrees. No wind. The smoker ran steady for 20 hours. Very typical of all my cooks.

Last weekend, the weather was in the low 20s as well. No wind. I loaded it as high as I could without bumping into the waterpan, shaking it to get it to settle as much as possible. I kept the temps low and I still had to refuel at 12 hours.

I have no complaints about how well it keeps its temperature. All I'm saying is that it doesn't last as long as it used to. If it lights faster and there is greater surface area, then there is simply no way it can last as long.

Jerry is right - same volume, less briquette, then add in more surface area resulting in more of each briquette that is engulfed at once, and you have a scientific reason why you can't get as long of a burn.

Glad you are getting good burns out of it. I can't. And it isn't just an anomaly.
 
Well here's my 2 cents on a well, but still debated subject. I don't believe it's possible for the new stuff to burn "faster and longer". I do believe it will burn faster, but accordingly, will be consumed quicker. That said, it's not the end of the world to add some more briqs along the way - at least for me. In checking around my less than "urban area", Kingsford is almost the only game around - so I expect I'll adjust.

Paul
 
I think the question is-

Does Kingsford really care what the BBQer's think about the new formula?

Does anyone know what percentage of charcoal is bought by BBQer's vs. Grillers?

Assumption -
BBQer's/Grillers buy 35%/65% of the charcoal
New Forumula
BBQer's unhappy/Grillers happy
Now BBQer's buy 30% less of the new formula/Grillers buy 20% more

Using these assumptions, Kingsford still sells more charcoal. This doesn't take into account that the charcoal costs more due to being consumed quicker.

As long as Kingsford makes money, the new formula is a success, regardless of how many disgruntled WSM'ers there are.
 
Allow me to add my experience to the many who are disappointed with new Kingsford.

I opened my first bag of the new Kingsford this morning here in CT, lit a chimney, and after it was fully going put it in the ring and filled the rest of the ring almost to the top (maybe an inch shy) with the briquettes. I had two small pork butts and three racks of ribs. I put the butts on at 8:20 am with the vents closed. Running grate temps of 220-250, by 3 pm I realized I had burned through most of the charcoal, so I added a few handfuls more. At 4:30, the temps dropped a bit, I took a peek, and I saw grates. Nearly all the new Kingsford was gone. I put in more, and now I have maybe 30 briquettes left in what was a full bag this AM.

My butts are only at 140, and the ribs (which I put on at 1:30) need at least another hour.

With the old stuff, no way would I burn through an entire bag on a cook. (And I've done much bigger butts than this one.) The new stuff does light faster, but it burns through faster. I have no issue with too-high temperatures--it seems to hold temp as good as the old--it's just that the new stuff isn't as hardy. I think those deep, deep groves mean greatly reduced mass, which hurts in a medium-length cook like mine, let alone a really long one.

Good thing I'm not doing a brisket.

Anyway, I think this is my first and only bag of the new Kingsford. I'm not happy here.
 
I did a 22 hour cook this weekend with the new stuff and did not need to refuel at all. Started at 1:00 on Saturday afternoon, cooked 3 racks of loin ribs for dinner, then put 2 butts on for an overnight cook. Burned all night at 250 - 260 (lid temp). I did not use a themo blanket or wind break over night. Air temps got into the high 20's as well. I foiled the butts at 8:30am and ended up taking them off at 11:00am when they reached 200 degrees internal. The WSM lid temp was still at 245 at noon on Sunday when I closed the vents. There was very little charcoal left in the ring, but I think 22 hours on 16 pounds of charcoal is more than acceptable.
 
I've never measured, but 16 lbs is a lot of charcoal in one load. How high was the charcoal mountain?

You probably used the weber water pan? Just curious.
 
I tend to agree with Russell's point. I personally believe Kingsford's direction with this product is towards the "Grilling" crowd. I am NOT saying that Kingsford does not care about us BBQers/Smokers, (Kingsford knows that we will buy more anyway!!) I am saying that Kingsford's main reputation and campain has always been, and will continue to be "Ready Faster" although the new stuff also says "Burns even Longer" If one really looks at the charcoal briquets, the Kingsford bag, Store displays, it would be very easy to see that the new Kingsford is manufactured primarily for "a quick outdoor cookout" I was really in a hurry the other day when I got home from work, threw a couple of chicken breast on the ole smokey joe, using the "new" charcoal, MAN that stuff really did start faster!! The grooves really improve startup times, but I could not tell if the charcoal burned less or about the same. I have a hunch as most of you guys do, that there will be a trade-off for the improved startup times of this product.
 
I still have 100 lbs of the old stuff left. Has anybody tried a mixture of the old and new in order to extend the lifetime of the old? I have not tried the new stuff, but from what I read, it may be ok for grilling, albeit more expensive....tom
 
Craig,

The charcoal was mounded a little bit in the center of the ring, I did use the weber pan (lined with foil and filled with water). the 16 pounds included the briquets I started in the chimmney to get the fire going. I did make sure to get as much charcoal in the ring as possible after reading the complaints here. I figured I would need to add more fuel and was trying to get through until morning.

Mike
 
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