Is this normal for Rockwood?

ckali7

Just opened my first bag of Rockwood (from local Ace) and it seems to have way more butts than I expected. I poured it into my charcoal caddy and this is what it looked like 1/2 way into the bag. 

ckali7

The way folks go on about Rockwood I expected to have fist sized hunks of lump in there.... Granted it could have gotten busted up during shipping. 

Mattman3969

It's not about the size (I know I know) it's about how neutral it burns.  Frankly I wouldn't give what you showed a second thought.  I'm not seeing any fines or crazy small pieces in those pics.  Jus sayin. 

I'm really not trying to be harsh either 

sctdg

Looks good to me .Nice size for a controlled low and slow.

fishepa

Looks good to me. My bag of BGE lump is 80% tiny pieces. 

henapple

The problem? 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

that looks about right to me. 

buzd504

Why did you put it all in the garbage?

The Cen-Tex Smoker

ckali7 said:

The way folks go on about Rockwood I expected to have fist sized hunks of lump in there.... Granted it could have gotten busted up during shipping. 

bags of lazzari mesquite lump at RD for .28 cents a pound have log sized pieces in the bags. I have to break them up with a hammer just to get them to fit in my Egg. Half of them are unburned and it smells like an ash tray but the pieces are huge! 

lousubcap

@ckali7 - What you have is about what I have seen in the great majority of bags of Rockwood.  I moved to Rockwood when Wicked Good went thru a serious quality issue a few years ago.  At the time, the Rockwood pieces were definitely smaller (like your pics) but burned just fine.  I have stayed the course and, believe it or not, the Rockwood that I get via firecraft arrives with larger pieces than what I used to get from a dealer.   At the end of the day, its all burns.  FWIW-

The Cen-Tex Smoker

lousubcap said:

@ckali7 - What you have is about what I have seen in the great majority of bags of Rockwood.  I moved to Rockwood when Wicked Good went thru a serious quality issue a few years ago.  At the time, the Rockwood pieces were definitely smaller (like your pics) but burned just fine.  I have stayed the course and, believe it or not, the Rockwood that I get via firecraft arrives with larger pieces than what I used to get from a dealer.   At the end of the day, its all burns.  FWIW-

I've found the same thing. Pieces range from OP's pics above to a little larger.

ckali7

buzd504 said:

Why did you put it all in the garbage?

Lol, it's a charcoal caddy. Looks like a trash can though. 

slovelad

ckali7 said:

buzd504 said:

Why did you put it all in the garbage?

Lol, it's a charcoal caddy. Looks like a trash can though. 

Exactly the point... It's all relative ... Maybe the guys on here refer to fist size lumps... As elf fists... Like magic elf charcoal...

Lit

If you want large pieces and good quality try FOGO. You have to get the 35lb bag for the large pieces though. http://www.amazon.com/Fogo-FHWC35LB-35-Pound-Hardwood-Charcoal/dp/B009P166SU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453774389&sr=8-1&keywords=FOGO+lump

stlcharcoal

That looks about right for a bag that has traveled the distance it has.  I can tell by the color and reflection that it's probably 80%+ carbon like it should be.  That makes it brittle and it's going to break everytime the bag is moved.  If you ship a bag of potato chips or box Frosted Flakes, if doesn't matter how much bubble wrap you put around it, the agitation break it down.

In the US, you're going to be hard pressed to consistently find chunks of charcoal that are big and round because this industry uses slab wood.  You'll get some cord wood or thicker slabs, but a majority is thinner slabs.  Take a magazine and fold it in half longways--that's about the biggest piece you'll get on average.  You can thank the saw mill's technology, EPA, and DNR for limiting this.  In foreign countries they can afford to harvest trees to make charcoal, then slow burn in a kiln without the pull of a smoke burner.  So you get the big grapefruit sized chunks.  But I would wager the insides are not fully carbonized with the wood being as dense as it is.  I could be wrong, but I've never seen any testing results from independent labs on any other charcoal product.

We could guarantee larger chunks, but I'm going to be selling you a bag of
"charred wood" rather than "charcoal".  It will take less time to kiln, produce less fines, and use a small bag since it weighs more per volume.  Win-win-win for profits, but everyone is going to hate it since it's going to smoke like crazy and not achieve high temps until the wood burns out.

You'll do just fine with what is pictured.....you have a better fire grate, and that's all you need in the end.  Have fun!

Thatgrimguy

Looks great to me. 

YukonRon

I will take that all freaking day long. A neutral burn, any size is better than crappy taste from other lower quality stuff. 
Problem for some, not for me. Send it to me.
Not being harsh, and please don't think so, just used so much lump bull ****, I have learned to appreciate quality lump. Use what you got. It is difficult to beat.

StillH2OEgger

I'd be quite pleased with that bag. I like the Fogo I used a while back, but don't take particular joy in having to break down some of the chunks before using because they're so large. Nobody wants crumbs, but I don't dwell on the size of the lump unless it's dust and pebbles.

Mikee

I'm not on the Rockwood bandwagon. That looks similar to the bag I did purchase so I could have a reference when posting. I'd be happy with that as I was with my purchase. I've had bags of RO that were better and bags there were worse. I got a bag last month of Frontier. Not my go to. But there is a lot of big pieces on top. Only a 1/4 way down so I'll be interested what the bottom 1/3-1/4 has. Now If I can only remember what Ace store I bought it at?

I don't mind if the bottom 10% is small pieces if I pay 50% less for the bag. I can use it or chuck them and still wind up ahead of the game.

bgebrent

I like Rockwood a lot and do not understand the problem. Carbonized wood that will burn with a neutral smoke.  

4Runner

Size isn't everything.  

theyolksonyou

4Runner said:

Size isn't everything.  

She might've said that, but she was lying 

Darby_Crenshaw

Never understood why huge chunks are supposed to be good. 

I actually prefer smaller sized stuff for a nice bed of coals. And especially for a low, lots of contact and bridging for the fire to move and find new fuel

Mikee

theyolksonyou said:

4Runner said:

Size isn't everything.  

She might've said that, but she was lying 

So you're speaking from a hypothetical point of view or from a real point of view.  

Mosca

Since you are regulating air flow rather than fuel, the size of the pieces doesn't matter. 

jtcBoynton

Generally true, except if you have lots of charcoal dust and many small pieces it is possible that the lump can pack together so that it impacts air flow.  Larger pieces allow for air flow through the lump pile.  Charcoal dust burns fine if it can get air.

Mosca

jtcBoynton said:

Generally true, except if you have lots of charcoal dust and many small pieces it is possible that the lump can pack together so that it impacts air flow.  Larger pieces allow for air flow through the lump pile.  Charcoal dust burns fine if it can get air.

Absolutely. I was thinking in general. 

ckali7

jtcBoynton said:

Generally true, except if you have lots of charcoal dust and many small pieces it is possible that the lump can pack together so that it impacts air flow.  Larger pieces allow for air flow through the lump pile.  Charcoal dust burns fine if it can get air.

That was my concern, after using several low tier bags of lump I'm familiar with bits of lump so small that it chokes itself out. I'm still burning off the remnants of a bag of Publix lump (emergency bag) so I'll get a real feel for the Rockwood once I'm done with that. 

Ladeback69

jtcBoynton said:

Generally true, except if you have lots of charcoal dust and many small pieces it is possible that the lump can pack together so that it impacts air flow.  Larger pieces allow for air flow through the lump pile.  Charcoal dust burns fine if it can get air.

I don't worry to much about the size unless I am doing a long L&S cook.  Then I clean out the old, put in larger pieces in the bottom, then old on top.  Seems to work just fine that way for me on XL.