Kingsford vs Franklin Charcoal vs Royal Oak


 
M

M Strickland

TVWBB Member
I have been using Kingsford for over 20 years and know exactly how to use it. I generally add some chunks of oak or hickory and have been very satisfied with it. The only problem I have with it is the amount of gray ash left behind. I use the Minion method in my WSM.

I got a copy of Aaron Franklin's book "Franklin Smoke" for Fathers Day and was reading about his brand of charcoal. It costs $1 a pound. They claim that it is pure post oak with no fillers and that it leaves very little ash.

I've also read that Royal Oak is pure oak with no fillers and leaves very little ash.

Has anybody compared Kingsford to either or both of these other brands? Which do you like better? Also is there a difference in the amount of charcoal you use for the Minion method with these other brands?
 
SO that's pretty cool, but I wonder what it means to actual cooking and flavor/aroma performance. I've never made a secret of how I can smell Kingsford a block away because of the burning petrochemical smell. Did you note anything in differences between them like this?
 
I've never compared charcoal so I like the burn test example done by Chris above.

Kingsford blue bag is the only charcoal briquet I use. I've never noticed a problem with the smell of Kingsford. Maybe I'm just used to it, hahah.

What I usually do is place a thin layer of Kingsford briquets on the bottom of a charcoal basket or a chimney. Then I pile lump charcoal, usually Jealous devil, on top of that pile. The chimney I light with newspaper with a paper towel roll placed vertically in the chimney which speeds up the burn. A charcoal basket I light with a tumbleweed which works great - but lately I've been using Masterbuilt Fire Starters which I recently found at Home Depot which work even better- and cheaper! So the briquet / lump combination minimizes the ash since lump creates very little ash. And I think there's a flavor advantage too. I use the minion method. That is, I make a little indention in the pile on one side, place the starter, light it, and wait for it to fully ignite. Then I like to place a few pieces on top of the flames, being careful to allow enough air to flow up. After about ten minutes, I'm ready to cook.

If I'm using wood for smoke, I'll place chunks on the bottom of the charcoal basket rather than the top. This is recommended by Harry Soo. And he's right. If you are cooking low and slow and start with a small fire, the burn tends to favor the bottom of the basket. The burn moves along the bottom of the basket which causes the coals on top to fall down into the fire. So it makes sense to place the wood on the bottom. Sometimes during the cook I will periodically sprinkle some wood chips on top if needed.
 
I switched over to Kingsford competition few years ago what/with the Costco sales on it, and to me it seems to burn hotter and longer than the original with less ash. When that is gone going to try B&B via Ace discount. Like Mark I put chunks in bottom of baskets with Firelighters to ignite and are pretty cheap. Been using the baskets lately rather than chimney for more indirect and like the result.
 
Ever since Kingsford started calling their original "Original" it hasn't been as good as it once was. The Professional that you get at Costco isn't bad. I buy the knockoffs, for example WinCo's charcoal. I thought it was probably made by Kingsford, because it is very similar looking to Kingsford, but several people have said that it's Royal Oak. I'm very happy with WinCo's charcoal, especially their Mesquite infused charcoal
 
LMichaels said:
SO that's pretty cool, but I wonder what it means to actual cooking and flavor/aroma performance. I've never made a secret of how I can smell Kingsford a block away because of the burning petrochemical smell. Did you note anything in differences between them like this?
Click to expand...
Interesting that the odor is so unpleasant to you. I don't like the odor of the Matchlight version and I don't like using lighter fluid. I also don't like the odor of mesquite smoke wood. My favorite smoke woods are hickory, oak and apple,
 
M Strickland said:
Interesting that the odor is so unpleasant to you. I don't like the odor of the Matchlight version and I don't like using lighter fluid. I also don't like the odor of mesquite smoke wood. My favorite smoke woods are hickory, oak and apple,
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He's not the only one. I've disliked the odor of pretty much all briquettes, now that I've been using lump. I can't say that it transfers to the food, but I do prefer the burn of lump over briquettes. Unfortunately, that does come with the occasional non-burnable material.
 
They all have their advantages and disadvantages. Kingsford lights very quickly. It burns hot when it's at its peak. It doesn't last as long with the current formulation and it can have some off-putting odors.

Royal Oak has those grooves, so it lights fast, but it falls off fast. You can easily miss the window when they are at their peak. The briquettes are a little too small.

Franklin charcoal lights slowly, lasts a long time, and seems to give off a slight post oak flavor.

B&B is great but it crumbles easily. It's similar to the Franklin, otherwise. This is probably my go-to as I can't get the Franklin unless I'm in DFW or Central Texas.

Jealous Devil briqs light very slow, they don't put off as much heat probably because they are so big but they do really well in low and slow and have a clean taste for minion method. Unfortunately, they also tend to crumble which kind of kills their reusability.

For convenience, Kingsford is hard to beat. It's readily available. Ash is not really that big of a deal to me. If I want less ash I generally turn to lump.

I mainly use lump to kickstart the coal bed on my offset. It can be nice for a good steak sear, though, or a hot and fast smoke session. It's also good for direct heat barbecue.
 
Mark_E said:
I've never compared charcoal so I like the burn test example done by Chris above.

Kingsford blue bag is the only charcoal briquet I use. I've never noticed a problem with the smell of Kingsford. Maybe I'm just used to it, hahah.

What I usually do is place a thin layer of Kingsford briquets on the bottom of a charcoal basket or a chimney. Then I pile lump charcoal, usually Jealous devil, on top of that pile. The chimney I light with newspaper with a paper towel roll placed vertically in the chimney which speeds up the burn. A charcoal basket I light with a tumbleweed which works great - but lately I've been using Masterbuilt Fire Starters which I recently found at Home Depot which work even better- and cheaper! So the briquet / lump combination minimizes the ash since lump creates very little ash. And I think there's a flavor advantage too. I use the minion method. That is, I make a little indention in the pile on one side, place the starter, light it, and wait for it to fully ignite. Then I like to place a few pieces on top of the flames, being careful to allow enough air to flow up. After about ten minutes, I'm ready to cook.

If I'm using wood for smoke, I'll place chunks on the bottom of the charcoal basket rather than the top. This is recommended by Harry Soo. And he's right. If you are cooking low and slow and start with a small fire, the burn tends to favor the bottom of the basket. The burn moves along the bottom of the basket which causes the coals on top to fall down into the fire. So it makes sense to place the wood on the bottom. Sometimes during the cook I will periodically sprinkle some wood chips on top if needed.
Click to expand...
I use paper towels with my chimney starter too. I was out of newspaper once so I tried paper towels and noticed that they don't leave the large ashes like newspaper does. i usually put the wood chunks on the bottom of my WSM grate as well as some on top.
 
Very helpful! Thanks everyone!

Based on the burn test that Chris did, there's not enough difference in ash production among the three to worry about. For use in my WSM, I might be able to use a little less Franklin or B&B but the cost of using Kingsford is still going to be less. Right now, I can get 32 pounds of Kingsford at Home Depot for $18.

I'll probably pick up some B&B to try. I can get a 17.6 pound bag for $13 at one of my local Ace Hardware stores.
I can't find Franklin here so would have to have it shipped from Texas.
 
Our local Walmart has B&B now. Academy also has it. They both are cheaper than ACE typically. But I like Kingsford. I can see how the smell might bother some people but I like it. It's a nostalgia thing for me.
 
Dustin Dorsey said:
Our local Walmart has B&B now. Academy also has it. They both are cheaper than ACE typically. But I like Kingsford. I can see how the smell might bother some people but I like it. It's a nostalgia thing for me.
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I'll check there. Walmart and Academy are both closer to me!
 
Royal Oak All Natural briquettes are great in my opinion. They don't leave as much ash as most other brands do. Royal Oak lump is a great product too. Kingsford competition briquettes are not bad, but I do not use original Kingsford unless I have a stump to burn out.

B&B competition briquettes are plenty hot, but they have an acrid smell that turns me off, and the ash content is excessive too.
 
I quit using the BBK back in 06 when they changed the formula for the first time?
I'll buy a bag now and then just to try it, mostly for grilling.
RO used to be my go to but now it's cowboy all natural briqs.
 
LMichaels said:
SO that's pretty cool, but I wonder what it means to actual cooking and flavor/aroma performance. I've never made a secret of how I can smell Kingsford a block away because of the burning petrochemical smell. Did you note anything in differences between them like this?
Click to expand...
Kingsford does contain coal and has a distinctive odor when lighting that some people find objectionable, but many do not. There are some who say they taste a difference, yet thousands have won judged cooking contests over the decades using Kingsford. It’s completely subjective and there’s no right answer, just your own personal preference. That’s why when I do burn tests, I try to stick to objective measures like burn time, ash production, etc. and not so much subjective evaluation of smell, taste, etc.

By the way, for those interested, I’ve done other burn tests over the years:

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Burn Test: 1984 Kingsford vs 2020 Kingsford - The Virtual Weber Bullet

We conduct a burn test of 1984 Kingsford Original Briquets & 2020 Kingsford for burn time and ash production. Yes, we said 1984! Interesting results!
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