Lump Charcoal


 
D

Dave G (Iowa)

New member
Looking for input on the best lump you have used and the worst you have used.

I liked Kingsford Lump
I had a bag of Green Egg lump, it was decent but 1-2 pieces were sappy and putting off black smoke and a bit pricy.
I have a bag of Western that smells funny.
 
Hi there to a fellow Iowan,

On lump I have used several with my other cookers, Cowboy brand which is easy to find but the quality and consistency is not always the same in each bag, Frontier brand but it "pops" a lot, The Good One brand seems pretty good but is a bit pricey, Royal Oak SteakHouse is cheap and pretty consistent I get it at Menard's it is in a green bag, and regular Royal Oak in the red bag is also cheap and pretty consistent and can be found several places but I get mine at Wal-mart.
 
Best lump I've personally come across is from Ingles, a local east coast supermarket. It comes in a brown and green bag, can't remember the name of it off the top of my head. Cowboy brand from Lowe's hardware is the worst, burns to fast. Seems like i was browsing a site that rated lump charcoals but can't seem to put my finger on the url.
 
I've tried four brands so far - here's my thoughts:

So far, I've used lump exclusively.
(I'm not a lump-snob - I do want to try some all-hardwood briquettes like Wicked Good or Rancher. Just unable to find any locally.)

BEST:
Grove Charcoal - it's a "local" brand in SE Wisconsin. I don't know if you'll find it anywhere in Iowa (how close to WI are ya?)

SECOND BEST (BUT STILL PRETTY GOOD):
Royal Oak Natural Lump - they make several kinds, from different places. The stuff I like said "Made in USA" on the bag - got it at Wally-World and also found some at Menard's.

Royal Oak "Steakhouse Lump" - From what I've heard, it's the same stuff as above - just in a Green bag / maybe bagged special for Menard's?

WORST:
Cowboy - hard to keep lit, provided almost no flavor (if you WANT neutral - to allow you to use more smoke wood, maybe this would work - otherwise, I consider it fecal material).

The website Patrick is probably referring to is:

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm
 
Best I've used is the Royal Oak Lump that I get from my brother, who gets it from Sysco for me. I've not tried the Steakhouse that Menard's stocks, but from feeling the bags, I think the chunks in the stuff I get are larger. From Sysco it comes in 25 lbs bags, which for lump is a big bag, therby affording the space for the larger pieces. I tried the Cowboy from Lowes and that stuff is like the 4th of July in the grill, popping and sparking and whizzing, but if you are worried about being bored standing around the grill, Cowboy is the way to go. Can practice some fancy footwork dodging flying embers.
 
Ive used Cowboy Lump and it was horrible, burned way to fast and threw the temp way off, was busy regulating vents all the time to keep up with the stuff!
The best I have used so far wowuld be a brand called Ozark Oak. Got it at a BBQ supply in Downtown Wichita here and it was excellent, was pretty consistent burning and lasted longer then most lump I thought.
Ive never been able to run into Royal Oak Lump,Where do most of you get your Royal Oak from? Ive been dying to try out different kinds of lump but some are store brands and sound off the wall haha But you'd think in Wichita they would have some good lump b/c of Kansas Cities notorious BBQ but no.......So Ozark Oak from our downtown BBQ supply works great for now
 
I just started using lump and got some Cowboy at HD. I liked the taste a lot better than K, and there are a few smallish chunks in bag (don't know if normal with other brands or not?) but I've had no problem keeping temp (all of 2 cooks using it.)

I've heard of high heat issues with lump so have been filling up h2o pan, but again no issues, keepin 225-250.

Would like to try some of the others mentioned here, but, as of now don't know where to go.
 
Originally posted by Rob N:
Where do most of you get your Royal Oak from?
Click to expand...
Rob - I get mine from Walmart, and in my area they sell a 10 lb. bag for $6.37 (before tax 63.7¢/lb.), which is not a bad price at all. That's been the best deal for the best kind of lump I can get in my neck of the woods without mail-order.

Barret
 
Afew years back we had three Barbacues galore stores here in vegas and I used their store brand lump almost exclusively. Well those days are gone as all of the B-galore stores have closed up here (still can't figure out why). Their lump was pretty good too cept for the ocasional large chunk that had to be broken up. After the closures I had to find another brand so as fate would have it I saw a huge pile of Royal Oak lump (red bag) at my local Wal-mart and have been using that ever since. For me lump works best for HH grillin' and smokes of 4 hours or less. For longer smokes I always use briquetts such as Kingsford (audience shudders) or Royal oak natural briqs. Today I purchased my first few bags of Stubb's briqs and will use them tomorrow. Have read nothin' but good words here about the Stubb's. I would't mind trying the wicked good charcoal but it seems rather pricey to me although I have always believed that you get what you pay for...
wsmsmile8gm.gif
 
1. Wicked Good/Insane burn time. High priced though

2. B&B Oak/ Very good burn time and smell. Reasonably priced

3. RO (USA)/ Good burn time and very available and priced well.

Heard awesome results from very credible sources on Ozark Oak and Humphreys.
 
Maple Leaf lump is the best I have used, unfortunately we can't get it here in the U.S., every time I go to Montreal or friends visit I get a couple of bags. Basque's is my second choice, which I can get here. I used R.O. once and hated it, sparking and popping like crazy. As for Briquettes I love me some Stubb's.
 
I will second Glen's endorsement of Wicked Good. It's, well, wicked good. Really LONG burn time but a little pricey.

Royal Oak is always a good standard.

Stay far away from Cowboy, the stuff is junk (in my opinion).
 
Royal Oak lump in the reddish bag and the RO steak house in the green is the same stuff. The reason for the new green bag is so people would not get confused with briquettes over the lump when buying their products. Vince B
 
Best lump (in order of overall consistent burn, smell, and size consistency)

humphrey's
ozark oak
wicked good
Dragon's breath

If above not available, I would use these (middle picks)

royal oak (made in usa red bag)
b&b mesquite
Ono


I stay away from these

cowboy
mali's

Luckily, I have around 70 lbs of humphrey's and ozark at the moment along with 8 bags of TJ's briqs (original charcoal).
I should also mention that humphrey's have some all natural briquets (starch binder based) that perform really well.

Mike
 
Trying to find a local source of Lump wood - I've used Ozark, but I wanted to try Wicked Good & Dragon's Breath

Any sources near Lawrenceville NJ (08648)?

Also, Anybody know a good source of wood in the area too - Any type, but prefer Apple and cherry.

Thanks in advance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top