Your charcoal is lying to you


 
JKalchik said:
Royal Oak is high on my list of do not use. Several years ago, I was getting a lot of non-burnables in Royal Oak lump, including better than a half lb. chunk of what I suspect was clinker (kiln lining.) I sent in a message to Royal Oak, and the reply I got back was more or less "too bad, so sad." Tl;dr: I got tired of paying for something that didn't burn.

I generally use B+B in my grill and Cowboy in my smoker. Cowboy tends to spark, and that just does not matter in my smoker. B+B doesn't spark, but for the last couple of years, seems to take a bit more incentives to start up in a chimney starter. Rockwood is also awfully good, but at $35/20 lb bag, is sort of out of my price range.
Click to expand...
Never had that problem with RO.
 
timothy said:
It's a natural product. I'm sure the company didn't purposely add 3% of another wood to deceive the consumer.
Click to expand...

Muhahaha, and this is only the first step of my plan, mister Bond.

IMO it can show careless production chain. I have yet to see a forester mixing up their trees by species. I am interestend in how other species come in it. Do they also package walnut charcoal at the same place, or do they truly have mystery wood pieces in their furnace?

But yeah, in the end, who cares. The aldi briketts I have, have a huge label on it: 0% rain forest! So? Is everything fine there? I can't check anyways, can I? Brikets made by child labor burn the same.

Unless you are lucky and know the people who actually produce the charcoal, you can't check.

timothy said:
I've used the same bag but from wally world with no issues.
Wonder if you had a bunch of uncarbonized pieces in there.
They are more brownish and smell like arse when lighting, thickish blackish smoke.
Click to expand...
Yeez, that's terrible.
 
Jonas-Switzerland said:
IMO it can show careless production chain. I have yet to see a forester mixing up their trees by species. I am interestend in how other species come in it. Do they also package walnut charcoal at the same place, or do they truly have mystery wood pieces in their furnace?
Click to expand...
Kilns burn more than one species. Royal Oak uses woods from here and South America, Mexico.
They bag them individually and prolly do separate burns but I could see some strays getting mixed in.
 
ChuckO said:
I’m quite happy with my WinCo brand charcoal @ $6 for 20LBS

I get mesquite and regular, I like the mesquite best
Click to expand...
I've tried their Mesquite a couple of times and had good results. I also use some of the off-brand pellets they sell and they work just fine. I wouldn't put them on the smoke tube or my electric smoker, but in the pellet pooper they don't impart any off flavors.
 
I used tons of different brands from cheap to expensive. Royal oak I've noticed the wood flooring scraps in there sometimes, really didn't bother me. Cowboy, it worked as well. I do think though when you get into B&B- JD and other more expensive bags there is a quality improvement and less trashy powdery mess and more solid intact pieces. I've had more problems with cheap briquettes not burning well and crumbling, we're talking about grocery store branded charcoal. If stranded on an island, I would want some JD.
 
something else.... while I have noted pieces of lump charcoal that clearly came from dimensionally finished lumber, I have never seen anything that may have came from pressure treated, stained, or painted wood. That'd be a great big "HECK, NO!", and some unpleasant conversations ensuing, not just with the vendor.
 
JKalchik said:
something else.... while I have noted pieces of lump charcoal that clearly came from dimensionally finished lumber, I have never seen anything that may have came from pressure treated, stained, or painted wood. That'd be a great big "HECK, NO!", and some unpleasant conversations ensuing, not just with the vendor.
Click to expand...
Agreed, I don't mind "mill scraps" as long as it's only wood. I would have the same reaction as you though if I found pressure treated, stained, or painted wood, as well any plywood, chip board, or similar.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top