Charcoal availability and pricing


 
Darryl - swazies

Darryl - swazies

TVWBB Emerald Member
So there are many factors I am sure pertaining to my current predicament, I just want to point out something that is irritating and I just don't know what to do. I am being told lately that charcoal is in limited supply right now and it appears as though it is being priced gouged because of it. If anyone not to far away from me ( Woodstock area in Ontario ) knows where there is a good supply and a good price that would be very helpful. I don't know if posting links is alright or not but I just checked Walmart on the .ca site to see what they had to say. It surprises me.

 
Forget Walmart online. It is Russian roulette prices for anything.

Basically I think we Canadians have really 3 choices.

KBB at Home Depot or Home Hardware.
Royal Oak Ridge at Canadian Tire.
Jealous Devil from Barbecues Galore or Dickson’s.

Can’t think of any other values.
 
I would sell my new grill if i had to pay $100 for a 20lb bag of charcoal.....
my last buy was at Canadian tire, which they had that Quebec maple hardwood brand on a skid on the floor, they had raised the price on that by $5 a bag too $25 a bag for pretty good lump, I bought it but it was too expensive. I would have to go home to check the brand name of it. Basically my retailer choices are Lowes, Home Hardware and Canadian Tire. I also just have to get lucky they have some when I go. I get mostly lump but do also use a bit of bricks. If anyone here Canadian based sees a good deal lets be sure to share the good news please and thanks.
 
So I stopped at Canadian tire last night and they had 2 choices available. I picked up 2 bags of royal oak lump and 1 bag of this South American bricks I don’t know much about. It says pure only with charcoal and the binder....starch?.... in it, it also says the wood they use is specific and burns hot....not sure. The royal oak regular sized bag was just over 17 bones
 
Darryl - swazies said:
No that’s not it either, it says South America on a banner near the bottom and it’s green
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The bag on the left-hand-side is another South American Charcoal Briquets prepared in Paraguay for Walmart that really is pretty good here in Costa Rica. The bag on the right-hand-side is a Costa Rican Lump Charcoal that is also pretty good.
 

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This what I bought, just one though I wasn’t sure with this one....anyone else tried it?
 

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Picked up a couple more bags today to add to the stash "just in case" it's getting harder to find.
Now I probably have enough stockpiled in the garage to last a few years :LOL:

Always worth checking the inventory shown online for Home Depot or Canadian Tire before going into the store. Our HD and CT stores had no charcoal visible on the shelves in the BBQ section. They were stacked up elsewhere in the store.

I asked the lady stocking the HD shelves about the two dozen bags of charcoal they had listed online. She assumed the store maybe had a shipment just come in and suggested to check back in the next few days. Turned out there was an entire skid sitting above they just hadn't moved lower yet.

20lbs for $20 CAD for hardwood lump charcoal is a good price. Vision Grills hardwood lump #1001163171
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One CT store nearby had a full skid of like 50 bags of that Frontier South American Briquettes that Darryl showed above.
12lb bag for $17. Doesn't look like it's even listed on the CT product website.
They had a handful of the Royal Oak Premium Ridge bags left. $9 for 15 lbs is a good price.


Also be sure to check local Home Hardware stores for charcoal.
 
Yeah I have about 5 total full bags of charcoal handy, I am going through way less than I thought I would but I haven't had a major cook like a pork butt yet.
I am able to re use a lot of the charcoal, like last night was a hot burger cook and I used only coals that were previously used. The new bbq was built on Saturday just past, tonight is Thursday so 5 days later and I have had 4 good meals off of fit so far and going to attempt reverse sear smoked chops tonight. I have a couple thicker ones so I hope they turn out nice and smoky. Speaking of smoky, I picked up a bag of Alder wood from Amazon, I had no wood and needed some just to get going. It was very over priced but it was the only Alder I could find. This wood looks like I got ripped off and I was kind of upset spending that money on it but then I used it. It must have a very high moisture in it or something because I was cooking at 450 dome temperature doing some breasts, thought I needed 2 small pieces and it really smoked heavy and for a very long time. Wood was direct on the heat and it burnt for way longer than my WEBER apple chunks. The flavor was also very intense, the MRS. ate it but was amazed at how much smoke flavor was picked up in the 30 minutes it cooked for. The bag is small probably 15 to 20 pieces, so if you feel like spending too much money on what I thought after one use was good wood ( I am new to this don't forget ) then the link to Amazon is below.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B088G1VYMP/
 
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timothy said:
I don't know if you ever seen this, but gives honest reviews on different lump charcoal.
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I took a look at this, lots to read, I find most of these brands are possibly available in the USA but not so much here in Canada. I will read up on brands I am able to locate for sure, thanks again.
 
Let’s share findings. I am in need of stocking up. Going to break down soon and try Jealous Devil lump at reg price. Also gonna try Royal Oak ridge and lump and more Kingsford Original. Lastly gonna like try some Fugo Lump both regular and Super Premium.
 
I picked up FOGO black bag while shopping Amazon. Its considerably more money, something around the $35 mark for a bag that isn't large like I can pick up at CT for $20, but it is supposed to be premium, and I am a bigger fan of the lump and I like to do a lot of high heat cooks.....like wings and burgers and steaks. I haven't tried it yet though, still been going on the same 20 lb bag of lump I started with. Saving my bricks for my first butt....in a few weeks. Kingsford regular I guess, blue on the bottom white on top. As far as sharing info goes that would be the best....if something good comes up at a common retailer lets just post here!
 
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