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Lump Mesquite charcoal from Sams

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beaudreaux
beaudreaux Posts: 23
edited May 2012 in EggHead Forum
I just saw bags of mesquite lump from Sams. It is from Mexico, and wondering if anybody can tell me how they liked it.
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,961
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    I've beenn using it for over a year now. I personally love it. The pieces are huge and I like mesquite. I honestly don't find it to be different tasting than most other lump. Give it a try, I think you'll like (especially at .38 cents per lb).
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • eggo
    eggo Posts: 492
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    Beat of the west, can't beat it.
    Eggo in N. MS
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  • jaydub58
    jaydub58 Posts: 2,167
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    O have used Lazzari's Mesquite lump off and on; it's prety darn good.
    John in the Willamette Valley of Oregon
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  • FxLynch
    FxLynch Posts: 433
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    I'm 3 bags into it and see no difference in flavor between this and the Royal Oak I usually use.  The pieces are much larger, and seem more dense when you hold them.  And at half the price of RO, it's a winner for us.

    I think there is a big difference between fresh or dried mesquite wood to add for flavor vs charcoal made from mesquite.  Not sure there is any truth behind that, but in my experience it seems true.
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  • Doc_Eggerton
    Doc_Eggerton Posts: 5,321
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    From my first bag of Best of the West, last night.

    XXL #82 out of the first 100, XLGE X 2, LBGE (gave this one to daughter 1.0) , MBGE (now in the hands of iloveagoodyoke daughter 2.0) and lots of toys

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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,961
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    @fx, I agree that it does not seem to impart a big mesquite taste. I still use wood chunks when smoking etc because I don't. Price a big flavor being imparted by the lump. I like mesquite though so I could just not be noticing. Seems just like Most other lump to me
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,961
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    @ doc- curious as to how you liked it and how it reacted to your looflighter. There was a post a week or so back where a guy had a hero me experience with sparking and acrid smoke with a weed burner. I have never seen this but was curious how it responded with you.
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • reh111
    reh111 Posts: 196
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    I've been using it for awhile and the only thing I don't like is the inconsistency in the sizes of the lump from bag to bag - sometimes they're huge and sometimes they're really small - but I've never noticed a mesquite flavor even though they're from mesquite - I've smoked with mesquite before and it imparts a very distinctive flavor that I don't notice with the stuff from Sam's
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  • Doc_Eggerton
    Doc_Eggerton Posts: 5,321
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    @ doc- curious as to how you liked it and how it reacted to your looflighter. There was a post a week or so back where a guy had a hero me experience with sparking and acrid smoke with a weed burner. I have never seen this but was curious how it responded with you.
    Cook and temp worked just fine.  When I opened the dome for tonight I found the biggest piece still largely intact.  I did not taste anything different.  I suspect it is best to have some smaller pieces to light as a bed for those big chunks.  Second pour from that bag still had some good sized stuff, but not as big as the ones yesterday.  Grilling salmon direct, mixed veggies, asparagus, and mushroom caps tonight.  Pics to follow.

    XXL #82 out of the first 100, XLGE X 2, LBGE (gave this one to daughter 1.0) , MBGE (now in the hands of iloveagoodyoke daughter 2.0) and lots of toys

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  • SandBilly
    SandBilly Posts: 227
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    The Sam's in my area carry El Diablo mesquite lump. It seems like it never burns clean, maybe a mesquite thing. I let it burn for an hour and then threw on ABT's and corn in the husk. The ABT's were not bad but the corn tasted smokey, Like bad VOC smokey..
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  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 15,467
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    I think there is a big difference between fresh or dried mesquite wood to add for flavor vs charcoal made from mesquite.  Not sure there is any truth behind that, but in my experience it seems true.
    Must be; I learned back in my water smoker days that you needed to be very stingy with the mesquite, its quite acrid in larger quantities.
    I'll have to check my local Costco to see if they have it here.  
    _____________

    Remember when teachers used to say 'You won't have a calculator everywhere you go'?  Well, we showed them.


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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,961
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    I have to stop using my iPhone and drinking to post on here. Every post from today has some bizarre auto correct.....yeah, it's the iPhone's fault....that's the ticket.

    Anyhow- @doc, did it get overly sparky when you used your looflighter? and curious as to how the salmon was. I don't notice any difference with this lump over others, but I grew up with mesquite. Just wondering if you felt that it had an overpowering taste with fish. I can tell Mesquite chunks over others but not so much on the lump.

     

     
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • Doc_Eggerton
    Doc_Eggerton Posts: 5,321
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    Anyhow- @doc, did it get overly sparky when you used your looflighter? and curious as to how the salmon was. I don't notice any difference with this lump over others, but I grew up with mesquite. Just wondering if you felt that it had an overpowering taste with fish. I can tell Mesquite chunks over others but not so much on the lump.
    No sparky-er than RO, and I taste no difference.  Depending on availability I will be doing this or RO.

    XXL #82 out of the first 100, XLGE X 2, LBGE (gave this one to daughter 1.0) , MBGE (now in the hands of iloveagoodyoke daughter 2.0) and lots of toys

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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,961
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    Anyhow- @doc, did it get overly sparky when you used your looflighter? and curious as to how the salmon was. I don't notice any difference with this lump over others, but I grew up with mesquite. Just wondering if you felt that it had an overpowering taste with fish. I can tell Mesquite chunks over others but not so much on the lump.
    No sparky-er than RO, and I taste no difference.  Depending on availability I will be doing this or RO.
    that has been my experience as well. Thanks for the update. Cook looked really good.


    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • cssmd27
    cssmd27 Posts: 345
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    Dissenting opinion here. Very sparky and very smoky mesquite flavor that we're generally not fond of. Tree trunk pieces in general - which can be good or bad. I like it for grilling steaks or only after it has ashed over for longer cooks. I realize others feel differently.
    Dallas (University Park), Texas
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  • burr_baby33
    burr_baby33 Posts: 503
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    I wonder if Whiz rated this. Did not see it.
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  • BYS1981
    BYS1981 Posts: 2,533
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    A whiz review has been done,check under best of the west.
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,961
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    Cssmd- I have heard the same from a few others as well. Thanks for the input. That has not been my experience but it's obviously an issue in some cases.
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • Austin Egghead
    Austin Egghead Posts: 3,966
    edited May 2012
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    Thanks for the input on the lump.  We butt up against a recharge zone....wild and dry...don't what to set the hood on fire.

    Cen-Tex  how did you like the light show last night?  We received 2+ inches.

    Large, small and mini now Egging in Rowlett Tx
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,961
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    Yeah- it was nuts. We didn't get much rain but wow was the lightening crazy! Glad yiu got rain. We need it wherever we can get it.
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • BYS1981
    BYS1981 Posts: 2,533
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    I just did 2 pork shoulders with Best of the West and no complaints of an overpowering mesquite smell. I had the fire last approx 12 hrs and then added more fuel, but I blame myself for this. I am still learning and being my second cook, my fire wasn't as effecient as it was required. Overall, for the price I couldn't be happier. $15 for 40 lbs at my local Sam's. I need to ask Sam's if this charcoal is seasonal because if it is I will stock up before they stop carrying, ie maybe in winter.
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,961
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    It used to be seasonal here in Austin but they started carrying it year round. I would ask though because it's different in every area.
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • beaudreaux
    beaudreaux Posts: 23
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    Appreciate the input. Picked up 20 lbs here in FL for $11.00
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,961
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    OK- I read the review on Naked Whiz. It's 7 years old and I can say not congruent with what I see in today's product. I'll also say that I am an unabashed Whiz fan and I learned everything I know from that site so this is just a dissenting view of a respected source of mine.

    Here is what I see: Whiz says that 26% was shake and dust. I just weighed (in the 40 lb bag) the shake and dust from my last 40 lb bag. 4.8 lbs (or 9.5% including the bag). I also guarantee that there were pieces in there that most people would use. I never use smaller pieces so I throw out more than most.

    Also said ash production was high. Attached is a pic of my ash pan after a full load of lump was burned (top of the firebox). It was about the size of a deck of cards. 

    Lastly, it said that aside from the 26% of shake and dust, there were a lot of small, brittle pieces. See attached pics and you'll see that is no longer the case (in the 40lb bags from Sam's anyway).

    Pic 1) The first 4 pieces out of the bag. That is my size 12 shoe on the left and ash tool in front. These were all larger than a football and will need to be broken down for most cooks.

    Pic 2) The ash from a full box burn

    Pic 3) the pic of inside the bag AFTER the 4 Huge pieces in pic 1 had been removed.

    Pic 4) My lump for pizzas tonight. I just grabbed all this off the top of the bag. No small pieces here.

    Did not notice any abnormal amount of sparking when getting up to 700 for pizzas tonight

    So my guess is that things have changed in the 7 years since the Whiz review was posted. At .38 cents per lb, this is great lump in my book.Is it the best? Nope. Is it awesome for the money? Yep








    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,961
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    dangit. the pics reshuffled when I posted but you get the idea.


    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,961
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    Here are 3 pics taken 5 seconds apart at 650+. Not one spark and there have been very few (and no more than any other lump I have used).

    I'm done now. Just wanted to have a recent perspective out there on what I see out of this lump.

    Carry on.




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  • njl
    njl Posts: 1,123
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    Ironically, my local Costco is now selling the Vision BGE copy but sells no lump.  My local Sams Club, which only sells gassers, has this Best of the West Mexican mesquite lump in 20lb bags for $11 and change.  I went ahead and bought one based on the info I saw here, even though I'd read Naked Whiz's less than favorable review of it.
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,961
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    I did a pizza burn last night and burned an entire firebox. there was quite a bit more ash that the pic above (full ash pan). Seemed "fluffier" too> I would say the jury is out on the ash production but that's not a big deal to me. For .38 per lb, I'll sweep it out.


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  • NightwingXP
    NightwingXP Posts: 448
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    My local Sams have it for $8.88 per 20 lb bag. Stocking up!!
    Only 3 things in life matter. Family, Steelers and my BGE!!
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  • eggo
    eggo Posts: 492
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    I have burned two bags of best of the west and haven't noticed any more ash than with any other. Right now it's my favorite lump. Price helps. Your mileage may vary as usual. Seems lump is hard to produce with much consistency.
    Eggo in N. MS
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