stubbs vs. royal oak


 
Jeff R

Jeff R

TVWBB Pro
My experience with charcoal drilling so far has been with stubs charcoal briquets. Always got readhot in the chimney and mostly stayed that way on the OTS. Just finishing a bag of royal oak and it seems to always cool down as soon as the lid is put on and everything takes longer. Clean bowl with no ashes to start. Is this difference to be expected and why so many like stubbs.
 
Hmm I dunno. I've used RO briqs and lump alot longer than Stubbs (I'm on my 12th bag of Stubbs) and quite honestly I don't notice that much of a difference between the two, besides the price.

Tim
 
Jeff, are your top and bottom vents wide open? RO runs hot. Temps do go down slightly actually when you open and close the lid. What are you grilling as an example? Steaks, I sear first on the hot side then move to the cool side, and maybe on occasion will put the lid back on , but only for a moment. But the temps will rebound with the lid back on, IF the vents are wide open. Usually I have to adjust the vents because the kettle maybe running too hot.
When I want to put the fire out, yeah keep the lid on close the vents and in an hour or so my kettle temp is down to about 150 degrees. Also are you using enough charcoal, say a whole chimney full? Because with a whole chimney your grill should be plenty hot if not check those vents
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Yep, all vents open. I believe the issue to be not letting the chimney fully getting lit. What are you guys avg time in the chimney
 
Avg time in the chimney is kinda a tough one. I use a propane torch too get it going (maybe 2-3 min) then just watch till the flames are lickin at the top.
With a natural fuel like RO or Stubbs you don't have to wait till the coals are completely ashed over.
 
Ah Jeff that could be it, not letting it go fully. But...let it go half way in the chimney, average time per say for me is about 10 minutes. However, the variables are if you have small or large pieces. Don't let it to go the whole way in the chimney or you will burn out a lot from your meal. It truly is the art of the fire/grill.
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When I see it really glowing about half way up in the chimney I dump it onto the grate. Again, it depends if you have larger or smaller pieces.
 
I like Stubbs, I use it for longs cooks but for short ones I use K. I recently found a local company that sells ro here in orlando, I bought a bag but I haven't had a chance to use it.
 
Oh Richard, once you try it you are going to LUUUVVVV it! My first cook I used Cowboy and threw it away, sparked and sputtered like a bad 4th of July. I wanted to wear a welding mask. I immediately bought RO and have never turned back. I use Stubbs also, with RO for long cooks. I buy RO at Walmart. Take a look at the website naked whiz. They have all charcoals and briquettes listed and they tested them. A great info site and interesting reading.
 
I like them both and use them a lot, but here are a few of my observations: Stubbs burns a little longer, but slightly cooler. Not enough to really make a difference, but I do notice it. Stubbs takes longer to "get going". With RO, I feel like I can start the flame on my Performer and turn it off 2-3 minutes later. And within ten minutes or so, I'm dumping the coals into the bowl and getting ready to cook. With Stubbs, I feel like I have to run the gas much longer and it takes longer to be ready. Could just be the extra air space in the chimney when using lump. Both have low ash, but RO has next to none.
 
Hmmm. It's been a while since I used the RO briqs, but I seemed to remember them having more ash and not burning quite as hot as Stubbs. I won't feel bad if I'm wrong though, as I bought three of the small bags that Tractor Supply Co. had marked down on clearance.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Regina S:
Oh Richard, once you try it you are going to LUUUVVVV it! My first cook I used Cowboy and threw it away, sparked and sputtered like a bad 4th of July. I wanted to wear a welding mask. I immediately bought RO and have never turned back. I use Stubbs also, with RO for long cooks. I buy RO at Walmart. Take a look at the website naked whiz. They have all charcoals and briquettes listed and they tested them. A great info site and interesting reading. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, I have reviewed the Naked Whiz website, you have to be careful in reading the label and make sure that you are getting the USA made or the Brazilian RO, the ones from Paraguay and Argentina did not score well. The bag of RO I found was from Paraguay, I am willing to give it a shot maybe they have changed their quality. I'm thinking about trying True Que(I think) from Home Depot if this RO does not pan out. I know to stay away from Cowboy. I was actually thinking of getting some Wicked Good. With lump it appears that you have to pay for quality. I know that Green Egg lump is packaged by RO, they charge a lot for it as it is grade a lump meaning a lot of good sized lump and minimal waste, at that is what the guy at the local bbq store tells me. Next time I go to Wally World I will have to check and see if they carry it.
 
Thanks everyone. I think the issue is I am used to cooking for two, and this week on vacation, It has been for 10. I wasn't letting the chimney catch enough, and then when I dumped them, I immediately starting cooking. Coals not hot enough and a full rack dripping killed me. Tonight I did a full chimney, waited until the top was half gray, gave it a little more time after I dumped, then covered the rack edge to edge with streaks. I ended up needing to close the bottom a little to slow it down.
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This week has been 15 pounds of pulled pork on my gas smoker, 40 some prices of RSC, a smoker of ABT's, and 12 gorgeous NY strips. It's been a good vacation.
 
Jeff, for some reason, I didn't catch that you were comparing Stubbs to Royal Oak LUMP, not RO briquettes.

Even though lump burns hot, I use more than just one chimneys worth if grilling a lot at one time. The lump just doesn't last as long as good briqs like Stubbs, so if using lump to grill a lot of meat on my kettles, I'll start with TWO chimneys at least 2/3 full, depending on the weather and what I'm doing.
 
No, I am using RO briquets. Letting them get hotter before cooking has seemed to help a lot. I do like the less ash from stubbs better.
 
I used to use RO briqs and lump exclusively, until I found a deal on Rancher at HD courtesy of this website a few years ago. That was great stuff, but when it ran out I stocked up on Stubbs. It smells better, lights quickly, and also produces less ash. I still use RO lump on the rare occasions I use lump, although it's Wegmans branded.

I can't say I've ever noticed any temperature differences, but perhaps the RO lights off a little slower than Stubbs and isn't up to temp yet?
 
Jeff R said:
No, I am using RO briquets. Letting them get hotter before cooking has seemed to help a lot. I do like the less ash from stubbs better.
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I have to say that this is a confusing thread. Although Jeff said to begin with that he was comparing Stubbs to Royal Oak briquettes, it appears that most of those who responded referred to Royal Oak lump.

Jeff, this is more than a year old now, any other thoughts about Stubbs vs. Royal Oak BRIQUETTES? I just tried RO briquettes yesterday for a 6 hour cook and found the worked fine, didn't smell like K and didn't seem to produce as much ash. I'll be buying Stubbs, Rancher (Trader Joes) or Royal Oak exclusively from now on. No more K at all and may just give away the remaining K I have.

Rich

Rich
 
I use Royal Oak Chef Select. It works good for me and I really like the flavor. Or for a substitute I use Kingsford Competition Briquettes. Both are 100% hardwood charcoal with no coal added. Both are great products! Just a matter of taste.
 
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