My experience with Kingsford


 
Jeff R

Jeff R

TVWBB Pro
Not looking to start a brand bashing or "this" is better than "that". Just wanted to share my learning of charcoal.

I have read many many negative post on the web about kingsford. Guess I started to believe in some of it, but with this weekends sale and all those that post on here about it I decided to give it a try.

I did find that it took longer for the chimney to be ready. Stubbs is the fasted, then RO.

Yes it does smell differntly than others when starting out, but once the smoke goes away it is clean smelling. No taste difference.

As for ash, Stubbs is the best, then KB, with RO having the most.

I felt it snuffed out and left better pieces than RO.

Overall I must say, I am quite happy with it. If I can ever hit a stubbs sale I will, but until then, the 160 lbs I just bought of KB will do just fine.
 
I use whatever I can find on sale.....within reason.

This means I use K Blue a lot. The Home Depot Deal is incredible, especially if you're grilling or smoking 3+ times a week.......or doing a lot of long cooks on the weekends. I loaded up when it was on sale earlier this year.

No one has ever complained about the flavor when I'm using K Blue........just did 40 pounds of PP over the weekend and everyone thought it was deelish.

Smoke On!!
 
100% agree.

I cook on my grill 4-5 times per week and smoke on a WSM every other weekend. I can't afford to load it up with Stubbs everytime, although I do love Stubbs.

Now if I only smoked once every couple months, I wouldn't mind spending the money.

Even with Stubbs on sale, it's not going to get to the $0.20/lb price that K has been getting to this year.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by JSMcdowell:
100% agree.
I cook on my grill 4-5 times per week and smoke on a WSM every other weekend. I can't afford to load it up with Stubbs everytime, although I do love Stubbs.
Now if I only smoked once every couple months, I wouldn't mind spending the money.
Even with Stubbs on sale, it's not going to get to the $0.20/lb price that K has been getting to this year. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> EXACTLY!
 
Guess I'm in the majority..I use KB a lot...because of the price.

If they would price Stubbs like KB, I'd use it exclusively! Sooooo much less ash.

Rarely use lump, but I think RO lump is good stuff.
 
Love it. Works every time in exactly the same way. They need to quit decreasing the weight in the sack while trying to leave the price the same.
 
I pretty much agree with all that Dad Cooks Dinner has to say about Kingsford.
He gives Chris credit for his post about it.

I like lump better for some things, and Stubb's for others, but Kingsford is cheap, versatile, and very consistent.
I would rather purchase everything that I buy from small local companies, but at least Kingsford does have a state-of-the-art plant here in MO.
 
Pretty much only use K and have never had any complaints. Sure, there's a lot of ash but it's consistent and you simply can't beat the price.
 
Kingsford def. provides the most bang for your buck.

I'm still a little bitter that the new "formula" seems to have reduced the quality.
 
I can’t cook. Put me in a kitchen and you’ll regret that day forever. When I purchased our first Weber it came with a small book of instructions and recipes. I followed the instructions as closely as I could. When it said put 25 coals in each bin, light them, wait 15 minutes, cook, then add nine more pieces of charcoal after 45 minutes, that’s what I did. Hell, I still do. Yes, I have a stopwatch. My product is “passable” but more important, my family enjoys what I make on the Weber’s. I still use K for indirect. It’s easy, predictable and what I learned with. I smoked my first pork butt last Saturday and used K. For direct, I like to use lump. I appreciate the additional heat and sometimes, it actually comes out pretty good. Last Sunday I purchased another 200 pounds of K at Home Depot. This should last through the winter as I supplement it with 200 pounds of chunk. It’s hard to beat something this cheap and this predictable.
 
I just bought 400 lbs of Kingsford - guess that puts me in the "like" group, also
icon_biggrin.gif
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Consistent results, lasts plenty long for indirect cooks, and the price is the final clincher!

Dale53
 
Kingsford Blue is the King of charcoals period. As for the amount of ash i like it, i never use a water pan in my wsm, so the fat the fire does not burn up the ash soaks it up nicely, never have greasy dirty bowl.
When i want to use lump i cut up fist size pieces of mesquite wood, pile the chunks of wood the same way you do with charcoal, light the wood and once the thick white smoke clears start cooking, lasts twice as long as store bought lump.
 
Kingsford rules! I like Stubbs but it's pricey and smells different. I guess it's a cleaner smell, but K smells like...grilling and bbq to me. As far as light time, it seems quicker than Stubbs in the times that I have used it. My only drawback to K is the ash.
 
KBlue does just fine by me. No funny taste, lights quick, burns long. Ok, so it ashes a lot...big deal. For the price and availability, I'll deal with the ashes.
 
I'm guessing you'll Kingsford-bashing elsewhere on the web. K-Blue is pretty popular around here. I'm not terribly experienced in the barbecue realm. I bought my Weber kettle last summer, a WSM about a year ago, and have been learning and experimenting pretty steadily since.

Anyway, I went through a short phase where I was trying different charcoals -- Stubbs briquettes, various brands of lump, et. al. -- just to try different things. I've noticed lots of differences and benefits to each versus K, but none of them involved flavor. I've done everything from long smokes to short cooks with several types of charcoal, and I've never noticed any qualitative differences in taste. I've come to the conclusion that the "off taste" alleged by Kingsford is largely a myth, probably influenced by: 1) the way it smells when it starts, and 2) the way everyone's dads used to light charcoal when they were kids. (I believe this is called "confirmation bias")

Then, I was really sold when I read Harry Soo's writing. The guy uses nothing but Kingsford. Does pretty well in competitions using nothing but Kingsford.

So, now I pretty much use nothing but Kingsford, and sometimes some Royal Oak lump when I want a hotter burn and/or less ash (I use it in my Smokey Joe Silver for the ash factor). It was a circuitous trip, but I discovered quickly that I don't need to waste money on expensive charcoal, and can still put out some great barbecue.
 
I really do like Stubbs, but I love Kingsford's price. I've used both and really haven't seen much difference in the end result as far as taste, only the amount of ash, amount leftover, blah blah blah.

Regardless of which 'coal I'm using, I'm still watching the smoker, peeking in the top vent to see how the meat looks, smelling the smoke, wishing it would cook faster, worrying it won't taste good, thinking about what I'll smoke next time, grabbing another beer, telling the family it's not done yet, selling the wife on how important it is to be standing by with a beer in hand just in case the temps spike, wiping the small ash particles off the top of the lid, making sure my gloves are handy, grabbing another beer......

Bottom line is I'll use what I have, and as long as I have something to burn that'll cook my food, I'm good.
 
Good comments by all. I knew this thread would stay straight. Guess that is why this place is so good. Although nothing wrong with sharing honest experience.

In the end, I'm with all of you and am going to love the .20 per pound price all winter long.
 
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