Anybody have experience with sams choice brand charcoal?


 
A

Arturo

New member
I was at walmart today and noticed they had a sams choice brand charcoal, which was $2 less than kingsford original AND was 3lbs. larger. More coal for less money! But, how broad of a quality difference is there? Anybody have any experience with them?

I'm a new user of the WSM so I picked up 2-15lbs. value pack of kingsford original, 1-18lbs. bag of sams choice brand, and 1-10lbs. bag of royal oak lump. I thought I'd try them all out and see what works best for me.
 
Hi Arturo,
I live in the middle of nowhere. And my choices are Kingsford or Royal Oak Lump. The Royal Oak by far is better. The meat tastes better and there is much less ash from the lump.
 
Arturo - I bought three large bags of Sam's Choice last fall when it was marked down. I've used two bags - one in my WSM and the other in my Performer.

My observations are that it gives a decent burn time and ample heat output, but generates a LOT of ash.

George Curtis - a frequent poster on this forum - and a keen observer of such things - noted once that the Sam's Choice brand apparently was manufactured by Royal Oak.

Like so many things, fire up the grill and see what you think!

Pat
 
Arturo

I'll be curious to hear your take, on which you like better and why.

I'am currently using Sam's Choice, and it's seams to be doing the job fine. Can't beat the price.

Have in the past used Kingsford, as others don't like the smell while it's starting up.

If and when RO goes on sale I'l stock up on that , but in the mean time I'l keep using Sam's choice.

Good luck
 
i and others have used it with no real issues. yea it has a bit of ash but to me no worse than the blue bag kingsford. yes, its made by ro. i use it when i can't find ro. only real answer is to use it yerself and see.
 
I've used RO briquettes. They work fine so if the Sam's is the same thing I think you'll find it similar to a little better than K.

Out of the three, RO Lump is good stuff. With all the Rancher (lump and briquettes) I bought at a really good price, I haven't use RO Lump for awhile, but when I run out of Rancher, I hope I can find RO Lump.

Let us know how you like all three. Personally, I think you'll find the Sam's the best deal (price to burn time) and RO lump to have the best flavor. Use similar amounts and types of woods when you try the charcoal so you don't invalidate the results of your test.
 
Sam's Choice briquettes seemed in most ways comparable to using Kingsford to me. Similar smell on start-up, similar burn time, etc. In short, no significant difference, except Sam's is cheaper.
 
Well, it looks like I won't get to try them all really soon. I was just informed that it is illegal to use charcoal at an apartment complex in California! There has to be a way around this law, I have plenty of room in my backyard and its all cement. Does anybody have experience with this?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jefferey:
Anybody hear of Premium charcoal made by Frontier? It's on sale at Ace for 6.49 / 18# bag. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I work at ACE but havn't tried it yet, we just started carrying that charcoal this spring. I do like their lump better than the Cowboy brand (which is the only lump we carry except for BGE, which is too pricey for me). Once it goes off sale I plan on trying it (strange sounding but it will be cheaper for me when it goes off sale.)
 
Hello Arturo
Good question! I used it in a ECB and thought it burnt hotter than the Kings. But the Kings burnt longer. But it was used on a ECB with no control. I now have WSM
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And I now will give it a shot on here after see that the other members say it is made by RO! Read a the end that you are haveing a problem about burning coals in you town. So to hear that, I saw on another post somebody had the sam problem. Hope you can get around it.
 
I have been using the walmart large size brand charcoal that has the large briquets on my kettle. (claims on bag says 60% larger than regular) Has anyone used this larger briquet walmart charcoal in their WSM?
 
I have used the large size Sam's charcoal in the WSM. I did not really notice any difference other than that it produced more ash after it was consumed.

I do not use it often though as I usually buy the big value packs of Kingsford when they go on sale at Home Depot.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Vinny Grue:
Read a the end that you are haveing a problem about burning coals in you town. So to hear that, I saw on another post somebody had the sam problem. Hope you can get around it. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I am getting around it by only doing overnight smoke sessions! I start up the WSM when the neighbors are asleep. What they don't know won't hurt 'em!
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Arturo:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Vinny Grue:
Read a the end that you are haveing a problem about burning coals in you town. So to hear that, I saw on another post somebody had the sam problem. Hope you can get around it. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I am getting around it by only doing overnight smoke sessions! I start up the WSM when the neighbors are asleep. What they don't know won't hurt 'em! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Arturo
Thats great
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. Well what did you think of the sams charcoal. Was it the big briquets? I just bought 2 bag for my next smoke
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. I am thinking that 1 briquet of sam is the same as to 2 of kings? I us the MM method. 20 or so lit coal on cold days and 10 or so on hot day. keep in touch
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Vinny

18.5 WSM, 22.5 Weber Kettle
 
I haven't gotten around to using the Sam choice brand yet. They are the large briquets. I'll probably try them out in a couple weeks; I just need to decide what my next challenge will be...!
 
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