New Kingsford Sucks!


 
I bet as soon as he (Chris) gets back from the test lab he'll be saying "I love new Kingsford, it's the best charcoal in the world" over and over again.

Anyone see the movie Zoolander?

I'm sure the head guy at Kingsford thought if he could brainwash Chris into saying there are no problems, we'd all go along with it and BUY more Kingsford
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Chris, just make sure you tell someone where you're going and what time to expect you back
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Anton
 
Chris,


Thank you for taking the time to go over things with the folks from Kingsford. Also thank them for taking the time to listen.I hope they listen to the thoughts of the people who have used Kingsford for so long , and are now finding new fuels to replace it. I am sure that getting replaced is not what they want. In this world we live in it is a never ending change, and we may all be changing from Kingsford if the product is just not what we need.


Thanks
Rick
 
Originally posted by Anton:
I bet as soon as he (Chris) gets back from the test lab he'll be saying "I love new Kingsford, it's the best charcoal in the world" over and over again.

Anyone see the movie Zoolander?
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Let's just hope it's not like something from Soylent Green...

"Kingsford is people!"
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OK, that's kind of twisted. Sorry.

Regards,
Chris
 
Originally posted by Chris Allingham:
Let's just hope it's not like something from Soylent Green...
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Or that you don't start referring to Mrs. A. as "the furniture"...
 
Chris,

Don't look into the light!!!

Seriously, it is a wonderful world we live in when a website/forum has the ability for cooperate America to want to take the time to see what the hubbub is about. I think this says lots about the professionalism about members of this site, the owner, and also to Kingsford.

I hope your findings will be what all of us have been seeing and possibly you can "convert" the R and D folks to the wonderful ways of the Weber Smoker.

Best of luck and a huge thanks from the bottom of my smoke ringed heart for doing this,

Joe
 
I did some chicken using indirect method in my Chargriller Smokin' Pro. This is the second time I have used the new kingsford. The first time, I did ribs in my WSM. I was really concerned at the size of the new charcoal and I thought because it lit faster that it would burn up faster too. I have to be fair, that was not the case. When I went to clean up my WSM, I found that there was enough coal to burn several more hours. Now, I have to do a really long cook but I plan to do that next week. I am going to cook a butt in the WSM and a brisket on my CG offset. I will know then what the real deal is. I have to say in retrospect that I have not be displeased with the results afterall. And NO - I dont work for Kingsford!
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Ribs Cooked on the WSM Using New Kingsford:


Chicken Cooked on the Chargriller Using New Kingsford:
 
Hi All

Looooong time listener, first time caller.
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I have been using TVWB for a couple years now and so far I have been using everyone elses advice, but haven't really felt the need to chime in.

Of course, a thread about new Kingsford made it necessary to join up!

Today is my first Minion Method smoke with the new Kingsford. My last smoke doesn't really count, as it was windy all day, and it burned up pretty fast.

I started last night at 8:30 pm, to cook two pork butts. I filled the ring much more full than I ever had. It was like a highwire balancing act when I dumped the lit chimney on there. It was so full, I think I heard a bit of crunching when I put the water bowl in. I have the Brinkman bowl, so it is kinda deep.

Anyway, the smoker held a perfect 250 for the first few hours and then backed off a tad. When I went to bed at 1 am, there was more unburnt coal than I was expecting (as I was a bit paranoid after reading this thread)

I didn't check it again until 9 am and the temp was reading 208. Not bad, I thought. After turning and basting the butts, and stirring the coals a bit, I put it back together and it climbed to 225 and has been there since.

My main worry at this point...there are plenty of coals left, but there is SO MUCH ash that I think the ash is going to hinder the remainder of the cook.

I have to wonder, if I had used less coals, would I have been better off? Or if I had used less, would they have all burnt up by 6 am due to not having been hindered by the ash.

I am happy that Kingsford is willing to look at the issue, but I'm not expecting miracles. It couldn't have been cheap to come out with the new stuff and you can't think retailers would be thrilled about a "New Kingsford" vs. "Kingsford Classic" scenario. The new stuff certainly DOES light faster, but I have to believe that it does in fact burn up faster than that old stuff...when using the MM at least.
 
Rick M,

I have to agree with you. I still have to do a long cook myself but I am pretty sure that I will be going to lump charcoal. Even the old Kingsford creates too much ash so it kinda defeats the purpose of filling the charcoal ring all the way full.
 
Originally posted by Tony Hunter:
Rick M,

I have to agree with you. I still have to do a long cook myself but I am pretty sure that I will be going to lump charcoal. Even the old Kingsford creates too much ash so it kinda defeats the purpose of filling the charcoal ring all the way full.
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I may have spoken too soon. Soon after my initial turn, I got back up to the 250 mark. It has been hovering around there since. There is a ton of ash, but the coals that are left seem to be doing OK. About 10 minutes ago, I threw 10 more coals in on top to try to keep the party going.
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I'll see how it goes, but I am thinking my original fears might not come true.
 
Even with the old Kingsford formula, it was not uncommon for me to have to gently stir the coals the morning after an overnight MM cook to dislodge ashes so the remaining fuel could burn better.

Regards,
Chris
 
Originally posted by Chris Allingham:
Even with the old Kingsford formula, it was not uncommon for me to have to gently stir the coals the morning after an overnight MM cook to dislodge ashes so the remaining fuel could burn better.

Regards,
Chris
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it's started, they've gotten to him already lol

I just finished a MM cook with Royal Oak Plus (red bag) briquettes. It was fine. Nice smell coming off those briquettes too. They needed a stir around the ten hour mark as well ... got about 14 hours of 225F from a full ring. I had picked it up in the fall on sale for about half of reg retail price of Kingsford ... I'd use it again any day.
 
I was reviewing material here in this thread as well as on the Kingsford website before tomorrow's visit with their R&D folks, and I noticed this recent addition to their website FAQ.

Regards,
Chris

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I noticed that the new briquets do not burn as long when used for smoking and "low and slow" cooking

Kingsford Sure Fire Grooves briquets should burn longer than our prior briquets, but when "low and slow" barbequing you may need to adjust your grilling process to help counteract the faster lighting effects of the new briquets.

While we know it will take some time to find the best combination, we suggest that you take the following steps: <UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>Alter vents to reduce airflow
<LI>Use fewer briquets in the chimney when beginning, to slow the initial rate of burn[/list]By experimenting with these changes you should get an even longer burn with Sure Fire Grooves than you had with our previous product.
 
Kingsford is a fine co. and well respected. Put two cookers under the same conditions and measure the results. Faster and longer? Hmmmmm.
It just kinda sounds like the stuff sold at 4am on cable....
 
Next thing they will be saying is Faster longer----and less ash!!! You are burning less product after all!!!
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Is there an opening in the marketing dep at Kingsford?
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Hi all,

I just got home from my visit with the Kingsford R&D folks. It was a very interesting and informative experience. I saw and learned so much that it's going to take some time for me to collect my thoughts and write something that is well organized and makes sense.

I was able to take some photos of their testing facilities that I think you'll find interesting, but I need to stage them online so Kingsford can approve them to make sure I don't publish anything they don't want their competitors to see.

They had me fire-up a WSM using the Minion Method the way I normally do it, and we tracked the temperature by computer for 2-1/2 hours in the 225-250*F range before I left. They will let it continue to burn and send me a graph showing the results.

There is a ton of science to what they do, and I will do my best to explain it when I do my write-up. The bottom line is they firmly believe they have a new product that in fact lights faster and provides more usable cooking time at your desired cooking temperature, and that they have the data to back up this claim. They attribute faster lighting to the groove design and more usable cooking time in part due to faster lighting and in part due to the use of more "high quality ingredients", which I took to mean more wood char in the mix (if I read between the lines correctly).

To Bill's comment about less ash, in fact that is correct. You are burning less product by weight and more low-ash-producing "high quality ingredients" which results in slightly less ash output. In fact, I saw a rig in the lab where they burn charcoal on a scale and measure the product weight throughout the burning process.

There's so much to tell you, it makes my head spin, so please be patient as I put it all together.

A couple of things I do want to share with you now, though. One is that these people know that Kingsford is an iconic American product, they firmly believe their product has been and continues to be superior to the competition, they thought long and hard about this and backed it up with a lot of science and customer testing before doing it, and above all else, they don't want to end up having ruined their reputation with customers in a charcoal version of "Old Coke vs. New Coke."

The other thing is that they genuinely wanted to understand how we use their product differently for low & slow barcecue compared to the way backyard grillers use Kingsford. They went to the effort to buy a couple of WSMs and did test runs in the lab and cooked pork butts in their own backyard at home to see firsthand how the Minion Method worked and to try to understand and replicate the temperature profile that Kingsford users have been accustomed to with the old product. So if nothing else, you've got to give Kingsford credit for reaching out to this community of niche users and trying to address our concerns.

Anyway, more coming in a few days...I'll start a new thread.

Regards,
Chris
 
I look forward to hearing all about Kingsford. If they could get rid of the amonia smell of the new Kingsford I would use it faithfully (for those that havent experienced the smell start your kettle then come back in a couple hours and take a whiff of whats coming out the top vent)
 
Yeah, what is up with that amonia smell? After the smoke from the smokewood has died down, I come back and smell it from the top vent as Chris said. Does all charcoal do this? I have only used Kingsford on my low and slow cooks...
 
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