Extra smoke with Rancher


 
J

Jay Turner

TVWBB Member
Sorry if this has been discussed before...

I bought some of the Rancher charcoal at Home Depot and like the way it burns. I also agree that there is substantially less ash. I love the idea of an all-natural product.

Have you noticed that it adds more smoke flavor than when compared to cooking with Kingsford? I did a high heat cook where I cooked some steak and veggies. The meat was smokey (no smoke wood added) and tasted great (I love lots of smoke flavor). The veggies tasted like ash trays. This was my first try with the Rancher.

For my second try, I did another moderately high heat cook. I made meatloaf. This time I put two small chunks of hickory. I got TONS of smoke flavor. I still liked them, but it was right on the verge of being too much. It was too much smoke flavor for some of my guests.

I did make sure that the charcoal was full lit and ashed over both times. I still think I can use it, I just feel like I probably need to adjust. Anyone else have similar experiences?
 
I'm not expert on this board, that's for sure, but i believe the consensus is that rancher produces much more ash, not less.
 
I don't think the rancher adds anything to the smoke. I forgot to add smoke wood on a cook about a month ago. In my opinion there was zero smoke flavor and zero smoke ring. Everyone has their own opinion though. The only thing I notice is when I walk up near the smoker I smell the butts or whatever is cooking, not the charcoal.

Like on the ash production of the rancher. Davidd I believe the consensus here at tvwbb is less ash. My opinion is though that it is pretty much the same as K. I have a magnum based off a 22 inch Weber kettle. I use a full bag of charcoal on long burns. The rancher is 20# and K is what 21.4# or something like that. I haven't used K for several months now. Anyhow after the full burn the ash is right up against the charcoal grate on both products.
 
I haven't cooked indirect without any wood chunks with just Rancher for fuel. But using Rancher in conjunction with wood chunks, I don't feel that I get smokier food than K + wood chunks. The aroma from Rancher as it lights is very neutral. No funky bad smell like K, but no pleasant aroma as you get from quality lump--just neutral.

As far as ash goes, I think it is about the same as K, maybe a little less. It certainly gives less ash per BTU, if that makes sense, since Rancher seems to burn longer than K. I think the main comments regarding ash is that it is more likely to get ash flying up on a windy day when you are cooking direct as compared with K.
 
I guess I thought more ash b/c it blows around and seemed worse to me on the performer, but i guess that does not mean more ash, just ash that blows around more.
 
Rancher definitely does not add any smoke ring. I can't pinpoint it but I feel it adds something to the flavor. For some reason, the meat I grill taste different than when I use K.

Now with ashes, I feel it's less. When I run my fingers through the ashes after a cook, it feels much finer than K, again, not sure why.
 
I've grilled and smoked butts and ribs with Rancher. Definitely less ash that K, but more than lump. The only charcoal I've ever felt gave a real smoke flavor is Wicked Good lump (I haven't tried their briquettes). I've found Rancher pretty neutral. For what it's worth.
 
I've used nothing but Rancher this summer except when I grill steaks I use Royal oak lump. I find it leaves about 20 to 25 percent less ash than Kingsford. Just make sure when you dump it out of the chimney you're standing upwind. It throws ALOT more sparks than Kingsford when you dump it. My 2 cents.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">'m not expert on this board, that's for sure, but i believe the consensus is that rancher produces much more ash, not less. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The ash is finer as noted and gets picked up and blown around easier.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top