Did Kingsford change their formula for KBB again?


 
B

Brian Thomas

TVWBB Pro
It appears that they may have.

I'm using one of the 20lb twin pack bags that I bought during last year's Labor Day Sale, and there are little white specs mixed in with each briquette and it makes a definite crackling sound after you light it and it starts burning.

Not only that, but there are considerably more sparks as well. I never noticed this with KBB before, so it seems odd. Maybe I just got an odd bag?

Anyway I'll have to take note of this when I start using the twin packs that I bought during the Memorial Day Sale this year.
 
They usually make a big deal when they make a change, "longer lasting", "faster lighting", etc. Haven't seen those claims in the last couple of years.
 
Anyway it's not a big deal. Just a bit strange that this bag is making that crackling sound and putting out more sparks than usual after start-up. Other then that, it's just fine.
 
I haven't noticed anything different from KBB, which is my go-to for 90% of my cooks. The only time I hear crackling/see sparks is when I use cheap lump. I have noticed white specs in some of the bags I've bought, though!

I've noticed on both the big kettle and WSM groups on Facebook that a large amount of people have sworn off KBB, being big detractors of the smell and mentioning distrust of the 'fillers' in the charcoal. I've never really had a problem with KBB, asides from all the ash it produces, and maybe I'm anosmic to the acrid smell they perceive.

My favorite charcoal, for a while, has been B&B, for not only how good I think it is but also for the value. However, I have only been able to find it at Academy, and the closest one to me is an hour and a half/2 hours away.

I received some Prime 6 Charcoal recently, and I'm going to give it a go when I come back from an upcoming trip.
 
Brian Thomas said:
It appears that they may have.

I'm using one of the 20lb twin pack bags that I bought during last year's Labor Day Sale, and there are little white specs mixed in with each briquette and it makes a definite crackling sound after you light it and it starts burning.

Not only that, but there are considerably more sparks as well. I never noticed this with KBB before, so it seems odd. Maybe I just got an odd bag?

Anyway I'll have to take note of this when I start using the twin packs that I bought during the Memorial Day Sale this year.
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I've noticed the specs and some crackling sound and sparks during light off on my last bag of KBB as well. They may be tinkering with the formula a bit. To Chris's point, I haven't seen any new advertisements. I could be that they have to change up their formula now and again to pass their internal quality/performance checks. I would imagine they do some sort of a burn test on their products to check quality and given "natural" variation" in their ingredients they probably have to tweak the recipe now and then.

I just hit Kingsford's website to see if there was anything about a formula change and saw several reviews that are consistent with our observations, here was one post where someone noticed a packaging/label change "We bought a twin pack of Original and it's not Original anymore! The bag says new BBQ flavor in small print. What happened to the just Original charcoal? Please take out the new BBQ flavor it's yucky! We will have to go to a different brand to get back that natural BBQ flavor." Basically, a lot of negative reviews on the KBB original lately.

But then..... if you look at the Kingsford website reviews, there are mostly positive reviews on the Kingsford "pro" and Kingsford "hardwood" briquettes. I'm thinking Kingsford may have cheapened the "blue bag" and maybe rebranded the original to something like Pro or Hardwood so they could make a few more $$$$ per bag. Maybe, they realized they had a superior product and could charge more $$$ for it? Unfortunately, KF Pro and KF Hardwood are probably harder for us all to find and cost a bit more per pound (I generally won't pay more than $1 per lb of charcoal). I see KF Pro on occasion at Ace Hardware, and have never seen KF hardwood anywhere.

Since we're talking charcoal.... I am no tree hugger, but I do believe in sustainable forestry. I am a little concerned about the emergence of new charcoal we import from Central and South America (Fogo and Jealous Devil). Has anyone researched the sustainability practices as they relate to imported charcoal? Brazil might have some regulations around their forestry/harvesting, but I would have my doubts about places in Central America other than Costa Rica. I may do a bit of checking on how they harvest hickory and oak in Missouri and maybe start a new string. Probably going to wait until the weather gets a little less pleasant outside before starting that research. ;)
 
John K BBQ said:
I've noticed the specs and some crackling sound and sparks during light off on my last bag of KBB as well. They may be tinkering with the formula a bit. To Chris's point, I haven't seen any new advertisements. I could be that they have to change up their formula now and again to pass their internal quality/performance checks. I would imagine they do some sort of a burn test on their products to check quality and given "natural" variation" in their ingredients they probably have to tweak the recipe now and then.

I just hit Kingsford's website to see if there was anything about a formula change and saw several reviews that are consistent with our observations, here was one post where someone noticed a packaging/label change "We bought a twin pack of Original and it's not Original anymore! The bag says new BBQ flavor in small print. What happened to the just Original charcoal? Please take out the new BBQ flavor it's yucky! We will have to go to a different brand to get back that natural BBQ flavor." Basically, a lot of negative reviews on the KBB original lately.

But then..... if you look at the Kingsford website reviews, there are mostly positive reviews on the Kingsford "pro" and Kingsford "hardwood" briquettes. I'm thinking Kingsford may have cheapened the "blue bag" and maybe rebranded the original to something like Pro or Hardwood so they could make a few more $$$$ per bag. Maybe, they realized they had a superior product and could charge more $$$ for it? Unfortunately, KF Pro and KF Hardwood are probably harder for us all to find and cost a bit more per pound (I generally won't pay more than $1 per lb of charcoal). I see KF Pro on occasion at Ace Hardware, and have never seen KF hardwood anywhere.

Since we're talking charcoal.... I am no tree hugger, but I do believe in sustainable forestry. I am a little concerned about the emergence of new charcoal we import from Central and South America (Fogo and Jealous Devil). Has anyone researched the sustainability practices as they relate to imported charcoal? Brazil might have some regulations around their forestry/harvesting, but I would have my doubts about places in Central America other than Costa Rica. I may do a bit of checking on how they harvest hickory and oak in Missouri and maybe start a new string. Probably going to wait until the weather gets a little less pleasant outside before starting that research. ;)
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Hello John,

I looked at my bag of KBB earlier today and it does say "new BBQ flavor" in small print near the bottom, so it does appear that they've tweaked their formula a bit. Yes, K-Pro can be hard to find. I get it at Costco when it goes on sale. If you don't live near a Costco warehouse I could see that finding the stuff could be a problem. Costco runs K-Pro sales about 3 times a year. The first one is around Easter, then on Memorial Day Weekend, and the last one is over Labor Day. Though a member here did mention about a week ago that he found K-Pro on clearance for $9.97 which is a great deal. They probably just wanted to clear out space with the holidays coming up.

I really like K-Pro and will stick with that and buy it when Costco has it on sale. Though if Lowes and HD go back to the great sales they had on KBB up to a couple years ago, I'll go back to stocking up on KBB. But it seems pretty doubtful that those sales will ever return.

That's a good point about the sustainability of products like Jealous Devil and Fogo. Let us know what you find out when you start that research.
 
It's the bags that commemorate the 100 yr anniversary that have the "now more bbq flavor" in small print near the bottom. This isn't listed on the bags from last year.

So I guess they tweaked the formula a little this year in lieu of the anniversary. The bags will be re-branded next year of course, so we'll have to wait and see if this little tweak is permanent or not.
 
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