Kingsford briquette vs. RO, I need to clarify something

[DavidD]

Regarding the Kingsford, I've read posts regarding the ash and the smell when using the MM. What is the bigger problem? Does the ash put the fire out or is it just annoying due to having to empty the bowl each time? As far as the odor, does it taint the meat flavor marginally or will most people never notice the difference?

The RO reportedly burns much faster, but I'm not sure about ash or odor. As far as briquettes go, is this a slightly better product for use in the wsm for long cooks?

For the record, I am not trying to create a big debate here, it is pretty clear, the majority of forum members seem to use lump of some sort. As a new wsm owner and someone who was less successful with the RO lump, I am going to switch to briquettes until i get more familiar with the wsm and temp control. At some point, i will likely switch to lump or at least a blend, but for starters, want to use a briquette. However, I've seen lots of posts regarding ash and smell, but frankly, haven't paid too much attention to them. They are always pretty negative, so i figured i'd get a better sense as to why before i purchase several bags. In the past, i always get the large double bag of KF, b/c it is priced right and i've always liked it for grilling. i realize the wsm and grilling are different enough I can't simply go with KF w/o exploring RO and other options.

Also, on my first cook, i got a lot of smoke from the lump, is that a natural difference between briquettes and lump? I liked it, noticed the difference on the grill when cooking chicken.

 

[Shawn W]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">As far as the odor, does it taint the meat flavor to the point of ruining it </div></BLOCKQUOTE>do you really think so many of us would use it and recommend it if it did? Seriously?

If you search through the bulletin board you'll find the odd reference to someone detecting an off taste, a few more that state 'someone told me' or 'I heard about someone who said they could taste it'.

(I have no intention of resurrecting that debate.) All I would suggest is if you think you notice a bad taste don't use Minion method, use fully lit instead.

As far as RO vs Kings briqs, I'll give you my two cents ... I use RO Plus briqs and I LIKE the smell of it ... it has uncharred wood in it and it smells a lot better than Kings IMO. Also, it may not have quite the burn time as Kings but not even close to a big enough difference to offset the fact that it only costs me HALF of what Kings briqs do.

So it's superior in my books, by my criteria.

 

[Dan H.]

I dont want to start a debate again either but I think both products are pretty good. The ash is just a pain to dump, sometimes can assist in clogging the fire, and yes smells different. To me its no big deal to dump out ash, i've never thought in clogged the fire very bad compared to being up against weather conditiong etc., and other things that could cause problems with your temperature, and I don't even mind the smell, or personally think anything that Kings is made w/ could possible put a taste on food (you can search for the ingridients on this board). That being said in support of a really cool, well made, product that outburns anything except like coconut charcoal (dont ask me I don't know what the heck it is, ask Larry R.)I think Kingsford is a great product. BUT I like Royal Oak much more, and use it much more, lol. For the reasons above.

 

[Shawn W]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Davidd:
Regarding the Kingsford, I've read posts regarding the ash and the smell when using the MM. What is the bigger problem? Does the ash put the fire out or is it just annoying due to having to empty the bowl each time? As far as the odor, does it taint the meat flavor marginally or will most people never notice the difference?

The RO reportedly burns much faster, but I'm not sure about ash or odor. As far as briquettes go, is this a slightly better product for use in the wsm for long cooks?

For the record, I am not trying to create a big debate here, it is pretty clear, the majority of forum members seem to use lump of some sort. As a new wsm owner and someone who was less successful with the RO lump, I am going to switch to briquettes until i get more familiar with the wsm and temp control. At some point, i will likely switch to lump or at least a blend, but for starters, want to use a briquette. However, I've seen lots of posts regarding ash and smell, but frankly, haven't paid too much attention to them. They are always pretty negative, so i figured i'd get a better sense as to why before i purchase several bags. In the past, i always get the large double bag of KF, b/c it is priced right and i've always liked it for grilling. i realize the wsm and grilling are different enough I can't simply go with KF w/o exploring RO and other options.

Also, on my first cook, i got a lot of smoke from the lump, is that a natural difference between briquettes and lump? I liked it, noticed the difference on the grill when cooking chicken. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>



Now that you've edited your post again, I'll try again. Now it appears you are asking about RO Lump compared to Kingsford briqs (previously it seemed like you were comparing RO and Kingsford briqs) and secondly what is the complaint people have about Kingsford?

Ash is a problem moreso with briqs in that it can choke down the fire, briqs tend to produce a lot more ash than lump. You can go a number of cooks before dumping the bowl when using lump (depending on lump quality), maybe two full ring cooks when using briqs.

I think most people that complain about the smell of Kingsford are complaining about the light up smell, some feel 'if it smells that bad I'm not cooking with it'. The light up smell (IMO) and billowing cloud of smoke does not persist during minion method in the restricted airflow of the WSM. Some lump smells terrible too BTW. At the very least it's safe to say the majority of us do not find any taste transfer from minion method at all, regardless of which fuel is used, lump or briqs.

Lump is generally superior to briqs, briqs are uniform and self piling with little effort. Packing lump requires a very little bit more labor.

Lump is generally less dense and you use less of it by weight than briqs to fill a ring. A packed ring of some lump lasts hours longer than briqs will burn for ... so it's not appples to apples or apples to oranges even, you sort of need to evaluate each product. Generalize and say lump is not necessarily expensive compared to the cost of briqs.

Briqs may be better from a temp stability point of view, they tend to burn more consistently where lump will vary a little more +/-. The variance with lump though isn't generally to the degree it will make any difference to your end result. Stability is not at all required to make fantastic food. I can't see any practical benefit of briq temp stability vs typical lump temp fluctuations.


*(It would be helpful and at least make the thread more readable if you'd respond by replying and/or quoting instead of continually re-editing your first post. thnxs)