Charcoal Briquettes


 
C

Chuck D

TVWBB Member
I have seen quite a few posts around that mention various brands of charcoal briquettes. Quite a number like Stubb's that can be found at Lowes. Others have also mentioned Royal Oak which seems a little more difficult to find. I am using Kingsford but am thinking of switching due to the fact that the briquettes are smaller. I discovered that my new 18.5" WSM came with a charcoal grate that had the gaps in it.

I happened to stop by Home Depot to check out replacement grates. The 18" grate that they had did not look like the one that I have seen posted elsewhere.

Does Stubb's do a pretty good job of retaining the heat?
 
Stubbs does an AWESOME job and produces significantly less ash. IMHO, beats the crap out of Kingsford AND Royal Oak, and I LIKE Royal Oak!
 
Chuck, If you try Stubbs, you will NEVER go back to Kingsford! Longer and hotter burning, and as Bill stated, less ash build up. I like it so much, when Lowes put it on sale a few monthe ago, I bought 20 bags of it!! Try it, you will be glad you did!
Tim
 
Thanks for the tip. I will buy some bags. I have a Lowes within 2 miles from my house. I use up my Kingsford when grilling on my 22.5" OTG.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Chuck D:
Thanks for the tip. I will buy some bags. I have a Lowes within 2 miles from my house. I use up my Kingsford when grilling on my 22.5" OTG. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Good decision, Chuck! LOL I did buy 160lbs of Kingsford at H.D. when it was on sale Memorial Day weekend but I only use it in my Performer. Although it's a real PITA emptying the ash catcher every other cook! Only Stubbs or Lump go in my WSM. Now if only Lowes would put Stubbs on sale for the 4th!
 
Yes I hope it goes on sale too. I missed the last one
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@ Chuck_D - I use two charcoal grates crossed to make all the gaps smaller. Gets the most out of any charcoal or lump you are using.
 
Anyone know where you can find Stubbs BESIDES Lowes? Lowes is pretty far away from me...Of course there is a Menards and Home Depot and Ace close to me but no Lowes...

(Oh and on a side note, has anyone tried Whole Foods charcoal? I saw it the other day and almost picked up a bag..it's their 360 brand..)
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Chuck_B:
I use two charcoal grates crossed to make all the gaps smaller. Gets the most out of any charcoal or lump you are using. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The wsm grate is thick as it is, so adding another grate thickness takes away even more precious charcoal room.

Also, even with Stubbs briquettes, you have a lot of ash (compared to lump), so it's better to have little in the way of grate underneath briquettes. Personally, if I was to use lump, I'd just start by placing some of the large pieces over the gaps, but that's just me. Maybe soon we'll all be able to get replacement grates with no gaps?
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Tom (Gunner):
Anyone know where you can find Stubbs BESIDES Lowes? Lowes is pretty far away from me...Of course there is a Menards and Home Depot and Ace close to me but no Lowes...

(Oh and on a side note, has anyone tried Whole Foods charcoal? I saw it the other day and almost picked up a bag..it's their 360 brand..) </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Tom, Lowes is the only place I know of that carries the Stubbs. If you can find some Rancher briquettes, try some of those. They were at HD a few years back, but I heard that Trader Joe's carries them...not sure if they still do. Don't think that Stubbs is the only good one. It's just got more wood char in it, 'cause the folks that make it rip off their lump customers, instead.
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dave Russell:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Tom (Gunner):
Anyone know where you can find Stubbs BESIDES Lowes? Lowes is pretty far away from me...Of course there is a Menards and Home Depot and Ace close to me but no Lowes...

(Oh and on a side note, has anyone tried Whole Foods charcoal? I saw it the other day and almost picked up a bag..it's their 360 brand..) </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Tom, Lowes is the only place I know of that carries the Stubbs. If you can find some Rancher briquettes, try some of those. They were at HD a few years back, but I heard that Trader Joe's carries them...not sure if they still do. Don't think that Stubbs is the only good one. It's just got more wood char in it, 'cause the folks that make it rip off their lump customers, instead.
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</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks Dave..Trader Joe's by me only carries Cowboy..and the Home Depot by me only carries Kingsford and Cowboy..I use K Blue which works great, I would just like to try Stubbs to see the difference...Less ash would be awesome...I have never seen Rancher anywhere either
 
I use a mixture of Stubbs and RO Lump in my WSM. I put a layer of Stubbs in first - just one briquette deep. This creates a barrier to keep the smaller pieces of the RO Lump from slipping through the grate. Smells great when it burns - very natural. Not all "chemically" like Kingsford. I also use Stubbs in my Texas Bar-B-Chef grill for grilling steaks and chicken and stuff like that. Stubbs can be hard to find if you're not near a Lowes - I couldn't even find any online. Don't think I'll ever go back to Kingsford.
 
[/QUOTE]The wsm grate is thick as it is, so adding another grate thickness takes away even more precious charcoal room.[/QUOTE]

Dave adding another charcoal grate is a fraction of an inch. really doesn't matter.
 
I'd say the same, Chuck. Even with the new 18.5 water pan (Smokey Joe adaptation) that sticks down so far, I just hollow out the center a bit and pile charcoal higher toward the sides. Has worked well.

I like Stubbs and RO lump. But Rancher is similar to Stubbs and Kroger Lump similar to RO (personal opinion based on only a couple of comparative smokes). I will avoid Kroger Briquettes from now on. Seemed to me to yield an off flavor and the briquettes were largely misshaped. The cook went ok, but I wasn't enthused by the resulting taste (and this was a multi-food cook like so many that I do).

I've heard that sometimes Lowe's puts Stubbs on an unannounced 2fer sale, so I check every sale notice and also go by on every trip to Lowe's. After my experiments with a few options, Stubbs and RO are now my mainstays (since none of the others mentioned are appreciably less expensive) with some backup K if I should run out that I obtained from one of the big sales ($.20/lb).

Rich
 
Rich (and Chuck), I often cook thirty+ pounds at a time for sixteen hours, so I want all the charcoal in the cooker that I can fit, since I HATE refueling. The Brinkman pan, Stubbs, and the OE grate works for me. Besides, the Stubbs briqs are fatter than K, so it's easier to keep them from falling through the two gaps.
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