Lump charcoal

30yearegger

I don't have a Rockwood dealer any where near me and was wondering whats the next best brand. i've used Cowboy and of late it seems to be getting smaller and has what looks like broom sticks in it along with a few brickets.

timothyloerke

I just got some Good One lump charcoal and love it!  I heard Royal Oak is also good (I saw a 20lb back for $10 at Restaurant Depot).

Charlesmaneri

30yearegger as I said before I like Royal Oak I 1st started using BGE brand and got tired of paying almost $30.00 a bag so I tried Royal Oak and saw no difference then I researched on the naked wiz and found out that Royal Oak makes BGE brand lump Royal Oak costs me $9.99 a bag when Wallyworld has it on sale so I buy all they have and I'm set for about a year .I haven't  tried any other brand of lump thou 

cortguitarman

Humphrey

henapple

30yearegger said:

I don't have a Rockwood dealer any where near me and was wondering whats the next best brand. i've used Cowboy and of late it seems to be getting smaller and has what looks like broom sticks in it along with a few brickets.

Where are you located?

Skiddymarker

@henapple - his tag says Easley SC, so he is maybe 50-70 miles from the TN state line.....

Damn I wish you travelled to the PNW......

henapple

I can always be bribed... Where are you?

KennyLee

Rockwood is good, but Ozark Oak is the best if you can find it.

Lit

There is a lump you can order off amazon called fogo it ships for free if you have a prime membership. I bought 2 bags of Rockwood recently and I have to say I think fogo is better. I also think fogo is better than Ozark oak. Fogo is like the old wicked good only bigger pieces. Half of the 35 pound bag I got were pieces so big they probably wouldn't fit in a mini.

DMW

@Lit Does the Fogo burn clear quickly after lighting? I've become impatient lately waiting for the VOCs to burn off when baking bread, as I want the smoke to be a minimum.

Lit

Fogo burns clear quick after its lit but its like the old wicked good its very dense and slow to light. I always keep royal oak around for quick cooks and use fogo for anything 350 or below. Rockwood is much better than royal oak but I live in GA and Rockwood won't do pallet buys here anymore so the cheapest I can get Rockwood is $20 a 20 pound bag and at restaurant depot I can get 18 pounds of royal oak for $10 so its half the price. If I could get a pallet of Rockwood I would use it. I poured half the 20 pound bag of Rockwood into my XL the other day and saw no dust at all.

Hibby

I'm always figuring that people who say "XXXXxXX is best" haven't tried Humphrey's Lump Hardwood Charcoal.

rlnewman

First, go to Naked Whiz and see their ratings of all lump charcoal.  Here is the link: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/nwindex.htm.  Royal Oak is who makes the Big Green Egg lump charcoal but is a lot cheaper when not package as BGE.  It can be found a Home Depot and Tractor Supply Stores.  Usually runs about 12 bucks a 20 pound bag.  Another very good one is Wicked Good but seems hard to find lately.  Ace Hardware used to carry it but seems they have had a falling out of sorts.  Read the ratings at naked whiz and you'll find several "highly recommend" brands.  

Shiff

As others have said, I have also had great results from Humphrey Charcoal and like it far better than Royal Oak.  If you live in the Pennsylvania or Ohio area, group purchases can be arranged.

WeberWho

I'm a Ozark Oak fan myself. Royal Oak is decent and can be found at most bigger box stores. I was too lazy the other night to go grab some bags of Ozark Oak out in the shed and went with some Cowboy lump. I haven't used Cowboy in 4+ years since I first bought my egg. I gave Cowboy lump another shot for being only $3 per bag on sale. Figured I could use it for high temp cooks and save on the good stuff for other cooks. Wrong. That stuff is sparky, super smokey and takes forever to burn off VOCs. Night and day difference with Ozark Oak. Dad doesn't mind Cowboy so he gets the other 6 bags! You can really get spoiled when you find a lump you like.

caliking

Charcoal preference is very subjective, as you can see.

What matters to me are:

1. Big pieces - huge pieces can be broken down easily if needed. The bigger pieces work better in my tandoor.

2. Clean burning - not too smokey. Should burn off VOC's and other stuff in a short time. If I want a particular smoke flavor, i add wood chunks (peach, apple, cherry, pecan, etc) I like the fruit woods more.

3. Price - I'll pay $1/lb for spectacular lump. Would love to pay $0.50/lb or less. Usually end up paying about $0.60- $0.75/lb. 

4. Availability - I'm not interested in driving an hour to get charcoal. It has to be available reasonably close by. Wal-Mart, Home Depot, HEB, Kroger, and Academy are within less than 10mins driving from my house.

B&B charcoal fit the bill for  a while, then I tried RO again (after a hiatus of a few years) and I really like it. Kroger brand and Central Market brand are also quite good. I've tried Stubbs lump, and Wicked Good also - Stubbs was pretty lousy so I returned it. Wicked Good had supply and other issues. I have a big bag each of Fogo and Kebroak from Amazon which I am yet to try. I'm jonesing to try Rockwood, so I 'm working on using my current stash and then getting in on a group buy (maybe in January).  If @henapple happens to breeze through Houston, then some Ozark Oak may be in my egging future.

My $0.02  

robnybbq

I use Royal Oak for almost every thing.  I tried WG and I liked it but cant get it locally anymore. 

Restaurant depot carried the big bags of RO when on sale for ~$10/bag while I saw RO in HD the other day for $20/bag - nuts.

caliking

@robnybbq - really? RO was $12-13 for 18lbs here. 

30yearegger

Thanks to all that commented I now have some more brands to find and try.

stlcharcoal

caliking said:

Charcoal preference is very subjective, as you can see.

I agree 100%.

Just because something is #1 on TNW, doesn't make it the BEST charcoal on the planet, it just means its good stuff and people like it.  Everyone has their favorite, it doesn't make it better than anyone else's favorite.

For those of you that like Rockwood the best, thank you, I appreciate the support.  We are not necessarily *better* than any of the other favorites, unless you think we are.  Rockwood is the way I like MY charcoal--so if you think and cook like me, it will be your favorite too.

Any US made charcoal is usually a pretty good product unless they are using construction waste.  Some can occasionally be hit or miss on chunk size and carbonization though.  Try a bunch and find what works for you.

double_ds

I use royal oak that I get at wally world for about $6.50 for an 8.8lb bag.  the only problem is they stop carrying it here in atlanta during the winter.  I have 12 bags in my garage now because i found out the hard way they stopped carrying it in winter last year.  Does not look like i will make it though so might have to check out the fogo brand from amazon.