Western Lump from Walmart review


 
Bob Correll

Bob Correll

R.I.P. 3/31/2022
Western lump has been discussed on this thread:
https://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?739...t-western-lump
My local WM must have received a few tons of this stuff, still over 200 bags in stock, marked down to $5 per 30 lb. bag, original price was $9.88, currently $7.88 at most stores.
I tried it yesterday for a couple of burgers.



Top of the bag:



When dumping it into a container I fished out a couple of weeds, rocks, and uncarbonized pieces.



Details to follow photos.







The burgers were great, no off taste at all.
My thoughts:
Not too much sparking, at least when using gas assist on the Performer. It seemed to take a little longer to get cranking, but once it did there was a fair amount of flames until I closed the lid.
Not much smoke, and the smell wasn't necessarily bad, but it wasn't the nice campfire smell I'm use to with other hardwood lump.
Once it was going good I didn't notice any smoke or smell, and the heat was high.
It worked great for grilling, how it will work for barbecue remains to be seen. I think it would be very good for pizza making.


The main downside for me is there's no country of origin (probably Mexico) or type of wood (probably mesquite).
I'm not a big time tree hugger, but not knowing how well the production of it is regulated does bother me.
At $5 or even $7.88 per 30 lbs the price is hard to beat, but I much prefer lump made locally from oak and hickory, and know its production is well regulated.


The star of last night's dinner was Jo's fresh peach cobbler.



Thanks for reading!
 
Thanks for the review Bob and please thank Jo for saving me a piece of that gorgeous peach cobbler!! :) For that price I'll pick up a bag. I tried to the other day when I read the first thread, the one you linked above. The link you provided was very handy. Brickseek showed 116 bags available at our Anderson store and 27 bags in Redding. I went to the Anderson store as I go by it every day. They didn't have any bags of the Western lump that I could find, just the usual assortment of more common brands and three bags of the Royal Oak All Natural briquettes. I checked just now and the brickseek numbers remain the same. I'll check again as I'd really like to try it. Thanks for the review Bob.
 
Cliff,
If brickseek shows several bags at a given store and you don't see any, then I'd ask about it.
I've seen cases where brickseek's inventory was more accurate than Walmart's, and I've seen the reverse of that too.

Better get here soon or your piece of cobbler will be gone. :)
 
Cliff I agree with Bob. Our store showed I think around twenty bags. Barb was going to Walmart anyways so she said she would pick up a couple of bags. She went to where all the charcoal was and no western, she asked a store associate and he said they had it on a pallet in the garden center which was no way near the other charcoal.
 
Thanks for the review Bob, sounds like it will work for what I want which is grilling mostly. We were going to try the lump last night but the sky's really opened up at 5pm and rained really hard until about 10 pm so it was a no go.

I do have a dedicated Kettle Pizza on my platypus grill. I'll give it a try in that too.

Jo's peach cobbler looks mighty fine too.
 
Last edited:
Thanks, you guys are welcome!

One note to add, for those not use to using lump, look for any pieces that aren't carbon black, usually some brown showing.
Those pieces can smoke and stink, and you'll find them occasionally in pretty much all brands of lump.
I once found a pretty big piece in Rockwood, that brand is about as good as you'll find, if you can find it.
 
Rusty James said:
How does this brand of lump compare to Royal Oak's All Natural briquettes, Bob?
Click to expand...
Rusty,
If you've used lump before then you'll know it's kind of hard to compare it to briquettes.
They both burn hot, the Western hotter it seems. There's a lot less ash with most all lump.
This being, I'm sure, made from mesquite wood it's more dense, meaning it should burn not only hot but pretty long too.
Not that the heat can't be vent controlled for low and slow.
If you can get a bag of the Western give it a try and let us know what you think.
 
Bob Correll said:
Currently I have a meatloaf going with a mix of the Western, K-pro-comp, and a chunk of cherry wood.
Click to expand...
The loaf of meat turned out rather well.
Right after I took this shot I added a small amount of bbq sauce to the top.

30118205698_151f55c0f2.jpg
 
Mighty fine lookin' loaf, Bob! Thanks for the review of the Western lump. Might have to pick up a couple bags soon.
 
Nice looking meatloaf Bob. If it ever quits raining at dinner time I'll get a chance to try it. Last night it was skillet pork chops cooked inside....Again.
 
Bob Correll said:
Rusty,
If you've used lump before then you'll know it's kind of hard to compare it to briquettes.
They both burn hot, the Western hotter it seems. There's a lot less ash with most all lump.
This being, I'm sure, made from mesquite wood it's more dense, meaning it should burn not only hot but pretty long too.
Not that the heat can't be vent controlled for low and slow.
If you can get a bag of the Western give it a try and let us know what you think.
Click to expand...

I'll do that.

Thanks!
 
I've been using it straight in the vortex and mixed with KBB or RO for grilling and have been quite pleased with it.
 
Brickseek is showing it for $9.88 here, but I'm sure a few weeks ago I saw it in my local store for about $6 per 30/lb bag.
If they over ordered like last year there might be some end of the summer clearance prices again.
 
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