Lump charcoal

[camping1601]

Looking for some suggestions here. I was using Royal Oak with decent results but the last few bags have been horrible. I can get B and B delivered to a local hardware store so that's one I'm considering.

 

[S-3 ranch]

Amazon delivery

 

[TX_Diver]

I've heard lots of good things about B&B. Mixed reviews with royal oak although my experiences have been largely positive. But I tend to just throw a few lumps on top of briquettes to crank the heat on the kettle when cooking pizzas.

I have a bag of B&B that I just picked up last week to try now that I'm almost out of royal oak.

What kind of grill are you using it on and for what type of cooks?

 

[5MilesBack]

I've got a vertical charcoal smoker and the Royal Oak is all small bits and pieces. Walmart also sells Masterbuilt lump charcoal and it's always been large lump charcoal as you'd expect. Then I add different types of wood chunks to the charcoal as well for the right smoke flavor. I use a lot of hickory, mesquite, apple, cherry, and maple depending on what I'm smoking.

 

[camping1601]

I have a Kamato that I mostly do the norm like chicken, ribs, and beef. The last few bags of RO have been mostly small pieces yet pieces of bark as big as a hand and pieces of wood. A lot of it seems like it hasn't been burned into charcoal yet? Then there's the dried lizard I found in a bag.

 

[ETtikka]

I have good results with royal oak, I also cut hickory trees and make my own chunks to supplement the charcoal, I have tried all brands available in my area, can’t tell much of a difference

 

[JD Jones]

I’ve used quite a few and if money wasn’t an object I’d probably go to using jealous devil mostly. The lump was uniform and I had next to zero dust/chip material

Royal Oak is good as well and I usually switch between it and kamodo Joe

Big green egg I feel was the biggest rip off. Tons of tiny chips and had some matter that was not even wood

 

[jmez]

B&B is good. I used to use it and no complaints. I've been using Frontier from Sam's club. Always available and has the right mix of big and small chunks. Availability is a big deal here.

I have a Big Green Egg.

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[Olyhunter]

Jealous Devil is my go to

 

[Olyhunter]

 

[Curmudgeon]

I use either Jealous Devil Chunx or Fogo Super Premium. Our Home Depot carries Jealous Devil in stock and I can have Fogo shipped to the store. Both have long burn times.
nakedwhiz.com is a great place for charcoal reviews.

 

[MadDog4298]

We have a Royal Oak just down the road and before the original owners sold out to them we used to go there with a 50 gallon barrel and fill it up for $10. It seems to me with every brand the more it gets handles the more it turns into fines. I’ve bought bags that had 2 or 3 lbs of fines in them.

 

[Darryle]

I used to use the Royal Oak but it has gone to crap, now I just stop by the Mexican meat market and buy the biggest bag of Mexican mesquite lump they have. It's twice as good as Royal Oak and half the price.

 

[Rob960]

I used to use RO exclusively. Now there is refractory cement and other crap in it. Hell one day I found a big piece of metal banding material. Now I use Kamado Joe. One year Walmart had some no name mesquite lump, we are talking thick sticks and limbs. 30# bags for $9.99. That stuff was awesome for beef. I had like 5 bags of it. They never got it back in again.

 

[camping1601]

In defense of RO l sent them an email aboutmy issues and they sent me two coupons for free bags.
Its still not worth it to me.

 

[BigE]

In the past I would seek out and buy lump from all over for use (the "best" mentioned anywhere). Lately I've been happy enough with the local stuff from the mexican markets or hardware or feed stores and it's a lot cheaper than shipping. If you want to chase the "best" here's a resource that may lead you further down the rabbit hole. Lump database
Wicked Good charcoal worked well

 

[camping1601]

Grabbed a bag of this yesterday morning because it was convenient and all I can say is wow compared to RO. I never would have thought there could be such a difference but now I'll try many others for sure.

 

[Grumman]

Kamado Joe’s house brand has always been pretty good.


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[PNWGATOR]

This is the most objective and comprehensive charcoal testing I’ve found:

The Lump Charcoal Database -- Naked Whiz Charcoal Ceramic Cooking

Reviews of many brands of lump charcoal, with viewer ratings.

www.nakedwhiz.com

 

[DosAmigos]

Jealous Devil hands down
B&B second choice