Charcoal recommendations??


 
S

Stephen Ranti

New member
I have a 22" WSM and have only used Kingsford Blue Briquettes or Royal Oak Lump. Does anyone use any of the High Dollar lump (Jelous Devil, Big Green Egg etc...) and do you feel it's worth the extra money? I'm really curious about this. Alot of these companies have compelling arguments but I k own there isn't much truth in advertising anymore!! Thanks!!
 
Can't help you, but very interested in your replies. I've seen quite a few posts by some who evidently prefer those more costly brands/versions.

I recently asked about the Royal Oak Lump I always use versus Cowboy lump which I can get for much lower cost at Costco. The response from what I gleaned was that actually they were similar but Cowboy had some wood pieces (is that bad?), rocks and sometimes even nails, etc. Well, when cleaning up yesterday after my rib cook, on the charcoal grate I found 5 (five!) rocks in my RO lump. So at this point, I'm looking at probably changing to Cowboy (comments folks?) and willing to consider other options. Though I do have to say that, finding rock in the lump is hardly a terrible defect from my point of view. (BTW, I currently have a full 15 lb bag of RO plus about a quarter of another bag, so not desperate.)

I've also used RO briqs and even called them to ascertain if they were all natural wood (not chemical) composition. I was assured (maybe 8 years ago) that it was all natural.

Many have only used Kingsford original, but after reading about the composition and smelling the product while starting, I basically just gave up on Kingsford altogether way back when I started. I realize that some of Ks alternatives like Competion, may be different (but I have no knowledge on this).
 
I love the flavor and burn of Kamado Joe Big Block....I also mix to varying degrees with Weber briquettes depending on if I want lower/stable burn or fast scorching grill power.
 
Personally for me the expensive stuff isn’t worth it. I buy whatever is convenient and economical at my usual stores without having to make a special trip somewhere - Publix, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart. Cowboy, Royal Oak, and the Publix brand are probably the most common. Have bought some of the more expensive brands in the past, but didn’t find it that different to warrant special trip to buy or it higher price. There is some VERY slight flavor differences among the different brands, but they all cook up good food. Hell I think I got a random bag from the Dollar General one time, it all got used. 😂 I also don’t use much smoke wood these day on my cooks, so the only wood flavor coming from the charcoal.

If you really want to go down the rabbit hole, see link below;

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm
 
I'm of the opinion that too much importance is placed on charcoal brand. I could pay 2x or 3x as much as I pay for charcoal and you know how many people I cook for would ever be able to tell while eating the food? Zero.

I have a large plastic tub with a lid and I buy KBB or B&B briquettes, or really whatever briquettes are on sale and I get them home and I open the bag and dump them in the tub. When it's time to cook I literally scoop by chimney in the tub to fill it up, light them, and cook meat with them. It's really a simple process.

The biggest thing I've purchased to help with WSM fuel usage is a hunsaker vortex plate. For the 22 WSM they make a coal basket with a vortex plate on top. My buddy got one for his 22 WSM and said he uses half the fuel and it actually burns hotter and longer. For my 14.5 WSM they make a plate that just goes on top of the standard coal ring. You take out the water pan.

I'm using it today, in fact. Put two small chimneys of coals in the ring and topped with a lit small chimney. Currently on 7 hours and had to shut down two lower vents and have the other two at 1/3 open to keep the temps below 300. Haven't had to touch or mess with the coals even once. It's amazing

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Did 4 hours with the butts then wrapped and put them in the q1200 to finish. Loaded up the wings and didn't have to do a single thing with the coals. This is my first time to use the plate so I'm going to let it burn even after the wings are done just to see how long it'll burn a normal load of coals

I'm not sure this answers your question, but I thought it was a relevant option to switching to expensive charcoal.
 
I only use JD in me WSK. When I had my WSM, KPro was my goto and it worked perfectly.

JD burns real hot and clean. A WSM doesn’t do hot cooks, really.

For my own money I’d stick with KPro and buy nice fruit woods and oaks and enjoy smoking up some good food.

I still use KPro on my WSK when smoking briskets. It’s just heat. That’s all.
 
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In my experience, there are only a few bad choices out there. Member's Mark briquettes from Sams Club for example was pretty terrible when I tried it a few years ago... Kingsford original is a solid choice but it does produce a lot of ash. I'm trying some Blues Hog briquettes right now and I really like it so far.

Generally speaking, I agree with Mike Lucky - choice of charcoal is not a huge factor in how the food turns out in my opinion. Fire building method, temperature control on the cooker, seasoning, watching meat temperatures, and overall technique are all much bigger factors than charcoal selection.
 
MikeLucky said:
I'm of the opinion that too much importance is placed on charcoal brand. I could pay 2x or 3x as much as I pay for charcoal and you know how many people I cook for would ever be able to tell while eating the food? Zero.

I have a large plastic tub with a lid and I buy KBB or B&B briquettes, or really whatever briquettes are on sale and I get them home and I open the bag and dump them in the tub. When it's time to cook I literally scoop by chimney in the tub to fill it up, light them, and cook meat with them. It's really a simple process.

The biggest thing I've purchased to help with WSM fuel usage is a hunsaker vortex plate. For the 22 WSM they make a coal basket with a vortex plate on top. My buddy got one for his 22 WSM and said he uses half the fuel and it actually burns hotter and longer. For my 14.5 WSM they make a plate that just goes on top of the standard coal ring. You take out the water pan.

I'm using it today, in fact. Put two small chimneys of coals in the ring and topped with a lit small chimney. Currently on 7 hours and had to shut down two lower vents and have the other two at 1/3 open to keep the temps below 300. Haven't had to touch or mess with the coals even once. It's amazing

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Did 4 hours with the butts then wrapped and put them in the q1200 to finish. Loaded up the wings and didn't have to do a single thing with the coals. This is my first time to use the plate so I'm going to let it burn even after the wings are done just to see how long it'll burn a normal load of coals

I'm not sure this answers your question, but I thought it was a relevant option to switching to expensive charcoal.
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Thank you! The Vortex sounds like a great tech gadget and at $25, worthwhile -- especially since I just got an $11.50 credit. 😁. Nice tip!
 
RichPB (richlife) said:
@MikeLucky -- what do you mean by "small chimney"?
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Teddy J. said:
Not sure if he means the smaller Weber chimney, but they make a smaller one thats about half the size of the regular chimney starter. I actually use the smaller on all the time vs the large one.
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Exactly. The small version. It's what I use when I'm using any of my portables or the 14.5 WSM.

Rapidfire Compact Chimney Starter https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009IH0ICG/?tag=tvwb-20

I have 2 of them. One for home and one that stows perfectly inside the Go Anywhere grill.
 
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I like the B&B charlogs for my WSM. I have the 14.5 WSM so I mix them with B&B briquettes since the charlogs are long cylinder shaped. I'll put on a pork butt around 8 am and typically done by 4 pm. There's always left over charcoal which I use in my kettle.
 
Stephen Ranti said:
I have a 22" WSM and have only used Kingsford Blue Briquettes or Royal Oak Lump. Does anyone use any of the High Dollar lump (Jelous Devil, Big Green Egg etc...) and do you feel it's worth the extra money? I'm really curious about this. Alot of these companies have compelling arguments but I k own there isn't much truth in advertising anymore!! Thanks!!
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So far, my experience with lump:
Royal Oak - Worked fine, biggest variance in sizes; some huge pieces, lots of medium and small.
BGE - Worked great. Consistent medium sized pieces. Best smelling in the bag, I think they spray a bit of liquid smoke in there….;)
Rockwood - Worked fine, but lots of flat pieces, maybe pallets? Dunno.
Cowboy - Not a fan, some clay, rocks and other bits of plastic and metal, has kind of a dirt smell to it. Too many small pieces limit airflow and make it hard to get going unless you weed them out.
B&B Worked fine, decent sized pieces.
Basques Sugar Maple burned super-hot (scientific term), lots of medium sized pieces. My favorite so far.

I may go back to Royal Oak and see how I like it after using these others. 30lbs is $20 at Walmart.
 
Thank you, @Teddy J. And @MikeLucky . I didn't know about this small chimney.

So far I'm glad to see this charcoal discussion resurrected. I'm getting real dubious about Cowboy -- especially a 50 lb bag. Also, I'm reminded of how much ash briquettes can produce. Not a good thought in the small 14.5. It's a good thing to have a some small reserve while piecing it out.
 
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