What is everyone's favorite charcoal?


 
JohnTakahashi said:
Trying different brands is kind of expensive but I like to separate fact from marketing. I tried a generic briquette years ago, it had gravel in it!☹️

:blackkettle::summite6kamado:
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If you think charcoal is expensive, what about the price of beef!? I’d rather toss a bag of coal than ruin a good piece of meat! I think some of it becomes what you get used to as much as the charcoal itself...without gravel of course! 😉
 
Everything is getting expensive. I figured everyone could throw in their preferences to narrow down the field of what works for them. The quality of meat seems to be going down as the price increases. :cry:
 
JohnTakahashi said:
Everything is getting expensive. I figured everyone could throw in their preferences to narrow down the field of what works for them. The quality of meat seems to be going down as the price increases. :cry:
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John, I fell in love with Weber Briquettes. But since they stopped sales in the US, I have tried multiple different brands at different price points. I have used Royal Oak Chefs Select, Royal Oak All Natural, B&B orange bag, Blue Hog Briquettes, and B&B Char Logs. I love the Blue Hog Briquettes, really liked the B&B orange bag, but they are pricey. Then I tried Cowboy All Natural Hardwood Briquets because of the experiences of others here and I am amazed the how high of a quality this charcoal is for half the price of B&B orange bag and Blue Hog Briquettes. I have not found a charcoal that I think is near this good for this price. I put this right there with B&B orange bag, Blue Hog Briquettes. I will keep using this for as long as I can keep finding it.
 
I had a WSM 18. for years before I bought their grill and used both all the time. In the beginning I used KBB. The first lump I used was Wicked Good brand and was really blown away by the different flavor it imparted on that first cook (chicken) but over time I got used to it. Also tried Humphreys, Royal Oak and Cowboy. Cowboy was truly awful, sparked a lot and I actually found a piece a charred flooring in the bag. The best thing about some of these lumps is the ash. They have way less ash than Kingsford and for me, that was important as ash disposal where I was not easy. Also, there is a web site Naked Whiz, which evaluates and tests various charcoals and is a good place to start, especially if you are thinking lump.
After a couple decades of smoking (without water or water pan) I have switched back to Kingsford w/2 or 3 chunks of wood as this seems to help me get steadier temps. Simple is best.
 
Michael Richards said:
John, I fell in love with Weber Briquettes. But since they stopped sales in the US, I have tried multiple different brands at different price points. I have used Royal Oak Chefs Select, Royal Oak All Natural, B&B orange bag, Blue Hog Briquettes, and B&B Char Logs. I love the Blue Hog Briquettes, really liked the B&B orange bag, but they are pricey. Then I tried Cowboy All Natural Hardwood Briquets because of the experiences of others here and I am amazed the how high of a quality this charcoal is for half the price of B&B orange bag and Blue Hog Briquettes. I have not found a charcoal that I think is near this good for this price. I put this right there with B&B orange bag, Blue Hog Briquettes. I will keep using this for as long as I can keep finding it.
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Oh yeah, those Cowboy briquettes are pretty good, I just finished my first bag yesterday, I'll be going back to TSC for more! I have tried everything on your list, except for Blues Hog and B&B briquettes are my favorite, but they're hard to find in stock at Ace. Cowboy will be my go to if I can't get my hands on B&B.

Also, have you seen Jealous Devil XL Briquettes? Those look interesting, but pricey.
 
My favorite is B&B Competition briquettes. It’s out of stock at ACE so I ordered 4 bags of Blues Hog briquettes. Never tried them but figured I’d give them a shot.
 
Jeff Boudman said:
My favorite is B&B Competition briquettes. It’s out of stock at ACE so I ordered 4 bags of Blues Hog briquettes. Never tried them but figured I’d give them a shot.
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Before I started using Cowboy All Natural Hardwood Briquets, that is exactly what I would do, try to get B&B orange bag from Ace, and if I could not I would order Blue Hog. I would also always try to see if the B&B Char Logs we're available, I love those for the WSM.
 
I use to enjoy Trader Joe's brand but I don't see it around anymore. I know it is vaguely low brow, but I can't justify mail ordering charcoal and don't know where else to buy it locally. I have a bag of Jealous Devil which works well but don't need to run that hot unless I'm trying to do a sear.
 
Our Trader Joe's has charcoal around the spring time until it runs out. I haven't tried it but it's displayed outside when they have it.
 
I'm not gonna say what my favorite is cause everytime I like one they quit making it.
Rancher ( Original Charcoal Company ) and Weber are two that come to mind.
Stubbs was good ( and then it was gone) but now it's Cowboy all natural briquettes so that's a win.
 
Weber was 20 bucks for 20 pounds and no one wanted it. Then everyone started liquidating it and people bought it and realized they loved it. Now it's gone. I've got a little left. I really miss it. KBB works fine. I use B&B oak lump to start the coal bed in my offset. I've like Jealous Devil for searing steaks. That brown bag all natural Royal Oak seems to work well for me. Their lump was good, too. I'm not super band loyal when it comes to charcoal. I use different ones at different times for no particular reason other than I feel like it.
 
I like cheap lol! 😁
Since there's been no kbb sales, I bought 6 20# bags of off brand lump from the local Mexican market at $6 a bag. It's been ok so far, it's a little snappy at startup but smells good.
I splurged for a bag of Jealous devil a few months ago just to try it. It seems to last for 3-4 hh cooks, so the value is there. But I still find it difficult to pony up that much $$ per bag...
 
Brian_D said:
I like cheap lol! 😁
Since there's been no kbb sales, I bought 6 20# bags of off brand lump from the local Mexican market at $6 a bag. It's been ok so far, it's a little snappy at startup but smells good.
I splurged for a bag of Jealous devil a few months ago just to try it. It seems to last for 3-4 hh cooks, so the value is there. But I still find it difficult to pony up that much $$ per bag...
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A lot of Mexican markets have huge bags of Mesquite lump for cheap. I use it once in a while, great for carne asada.
 
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