Anybody have experience with Royal Oak Chef's Select


 
Jon Tofte

Jon Tofte

TVWBB 1-Star Olympian
I am sad that I have used up my last bag of Weber briquettes and have been wondering what the best replacement would be. I am trying out B&B and like it fairly well. I saw this variety of Royal Oak and wondered if anybody has used it?

Royal Oak Natural Organic Premium Hardwood Charcoal Briquettes for Grills and Smokers, 20 Pounds

Read reviews and buy Royal Oak Natural Organic Premium Hardwood Charcoal Briquettes for Grills and Smokers, 20 Pounds at Target. Choose from contactless Same Day Delivery, Drive Up and more.
www.target.com www.target.com

Target calls it a "Sale" but they are hardly giving it away. But, if it really is a cut above...
 
Jon,
Yeah, I have four bags of Weber left, but that is being left for only long cooks. I have been uses RO Chefs Select as my go to for everyday cooks and medium long cooks in both the Master Touch and the WSM 14 for the last few months and really like the stuff. It is good, burns clean, just doesn't last as long in my WSM 14 as Weber does. It will continue to be my go to moving forward.
I also tried B&B briquettes and hated them, the two bags I got would break up super super easy. RO Chefs Select is the only thing that has come close to Weber, but hasn't matched it.
It's interesting because when I wrote an email to Weber asking them to continue making their Charcoal part of their response was to try Royal Oak that they make good products. There has been a rumor that RO made Weber Briquettes. I really like the brown bag RO All Natural and RO Chefs Select, but it is not the same or as good as the Weber. Got a pork shoulder thawing out in the fridge that Will get the Weber charcoal treatment this week, but tomorrow night's Road Side Chicken legs and bone in thighs will get RO Chefs Select.
 
Well, I ordered a couple bags from Target, will see if it can replace my Weber, which I'm down to my last three bags.
 
I've been using ROCS for several years and am quite happy with it, but I also don't have a big history with the Weber briquettes.

Jon, if you can snag a 20-lb. bag for a reasonable price it's worth a shot.
 
I am looking at the Royal Oak website and I can't find ROCS. I searched for it. The search returned several recipes that call for it. The recipes include a link to ROCS, but that link directs to the RO homepage.

Has ROCS been discontinued before I even had a chance to fall in love with it like Stubb's and Weber???:eek:

At least I still have 16 bags of Weber remaining in my stash.
 
Used to be able to order and ship to store at Do It Best. com but I don't see it on the web site any more.
 
J Grotz said:
I am looking at the Royal Oak website and I can't find ROCS. I searched for it. The search returned several recipes that call for it. The recipes include a link to ROCS, but that link directs to the RO homepage.

Has ROCS been discontinued before I even had a chance to fall in love with it like Stubb's and Weber???:eek:

At least I still have 16 bags of Weber remaining in my stash.
Click to expand...

Patty stocks it !!
 
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As I posted above, last year I ordered 5 bags of ROCS and each bag was packaged horizontally and shipped in its own box. In the past I've often noticed that bags I bought locally would have a fair amount of dust and broken briquettes at the bottom, but I just got to the bottom of the first ordered bag and noticed a lot less debris and a lot more mostly whole briquettes. I'm going to attribute that to the bags being stored, shipped and stored again in the horizontal position, where the weight of the charcoal on top is less than it is when the bags are stored vertically.

Just something to keep in mind.
 
Amazon has 20 lb. bags of ROCS for $20.99, or 40 lb. bags for $31.99.
Free Prime shipping on both.
I don't see it on the Do It Best website anymore.
 
I haven't sprung for the Royal Oak Select yet, but I was in Menards (a regional home improvement chain you may not have where you live) and picked up this bag:

Frontier Charcoal FRONT.jpeg
I don't remember what I paid, but it was not that high as I recall. It claims to be made from South American "Quebracho" wood. Notice the suggestion to use Royal Oak Tumbleweed lighters?

Frontier Charcoal BACK.jpeg

It fired up pretty easily and made a very hot fire. I just brought my old CharQ out of hibernation and used it for the first time since winter. I love the CharQ for fast, high heat grilling, but it's relatively limited air flow and ability to only have one layer of charcoal require charcoal that can generate the heat. After flopping with Weber charcoal, I previously had good luck with Kingsford Professional but can't find that anywhere near me since I moved. This stuff did just as well for heat and had a pleasant (to me) and maybe slightly different smell. I want to use it some more, but I think it might be a winner!

Steak on the CharQ with Frontier Charcoal.jpeg
 
Kyle found some of that Frontier in our local Krogers in January they were blowing it out for 3 bucks a bag maybe he can also comment on it. I never did buy any of it still have a good stock of Weber left but a friend of mine picked up 10-12 bags so will ask him how he likes it.

tvwbb.com

Clearance Charcoal @ Kroger: 12 lbs Frontier Briquettes for $2.99

Heads up, I found a good deal on some charcoal at Kroger. $2.99 for 12 lbs bag. Never used this brand before, but I still bought 10 bags. Figured if nothing else it'll be good for hot and fast cooks like burgers and wings.
tvwbb.com tvwbb.com
 
Same name, but a different logo. I've tried a Frontier brand name charcoal, and I generally don't care for it. Too many sparks.
 
Frontier is good stuff. I bought 10 bags of it. I haven't experienced any "sparks" in mine. I've been using my big stash of it for mostly hot and fast cooks.....wings, steaks, burgers, etc...

Have not tried using it for low and slow. I typically use my KIngsford Pro for low and slow because it's very consistent and I know what I'm getting with it....plus I have 7-8 bags of it in the basement. So no point in switching it up now.
 
Kyle,
Yeah, I think the Frontier "South American" briquettes are tailor made for the CharQ - fast, high heat grilling. The briquettes are on the small size, and I would doubt they would be a good choice for low and slow. Sure do miss Weber charcoal for that...

I wonder if JKalchik's comments are about Frontier lump charcoal which seems to be more common and for which sparks would make sense. These South American briquettes don't seem to be available in very many places besides Menards.
 
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