B&B Charcoal?

Mr_Bream · February 22

Thought I'd share my experience of trying a different charcoal recently.

I was in our local wallyworld last week to pick up some Royal Oak when I saw several 10 lb bags of B&B Oak lump and decided to try a couple of bags. I'd just cleaned my egg out and dumped in a load that came mid way up into the fire ring. First cook with it was a couple of pizzas at 500. The stuff sparked and spit and never really did settle down. Never really got clear smoke either. When I went to light it up again the next day I found that well over half of the charcoal had burned - never had that happen with ROcooking pizzas. The next cook burned through most of the rest the remnants along with most of the rest of the bag. (Burned 10 lbs of lump on 2 cooks? sheesh!)

This past Monday I dumped in part of the 2nd bag. Lit it up and it acted just like the first bag...but this time it smelled like coal...not charcoal...COAL. Again, it never cleared and our burgers ended up tasting 'coaly' as well. Now we love the flavor bood charcoal imparts but this stuff was just nasty. I still have half of the 2nd bag left and the remnants that are in the egg will be going back in the bag for disposal. Fortunately I had a chance to swing back by wallyworld yesterday to pick up some tried and true Royal Oak.

Anyone else here using B&B Charcoal? Whats your experience with been?

krames · February 22

That's about the only lump that is carried by the grocery stores around me and that's what I have use.

My experience with B&B is on par with yours. Maybe I need to find a new lump and a store!

Chubbs · February 22

I have had exact opposite situation in Columbia, SC. RO is terrible that I get. Burns like crazy and smells like chemicals for an hour before I can cook on it. It is even too strong a smell in the bag to ride with it in the truck cab.

B&B has been a lot better since WM started carrying it. One bag had a few sparks starting up, but burns cleaner, does not stink, and I literally get a hand full of cooks off of one load.

Crazy how different the experiences are across the country.

krames · February 22

@chubbs does it spark? I am in Texas BTW.

Mr_Bream · February 22

Chubbs said:

B&B has been a lot better since WM started carrying it. One bag had a few sparks starting up, but burns cleaner, does not stink, and I literally get a hand full of cooks off of one load.

Crazy how different the experiences are across the country.

Very odd. Wonder if I just got a couple of bad bags. Looking at their website I see they offer quite a number of live fire cooking products so it seems like they should know their stuff when it comes to charcoal. Maybe I'll give 'em another try someday but definitely not with the bag I have now. Noticed on the bag it says 'satisfaction guaranteed'. Maybe I'll send 'em an e-mail and see where it goes. Even if nothing comes of it I'm only out about $15 and a couple of lousy tasting hamburgers...could be worse.

Central_Bama_Egger · February 22

Mr_Bream said:
Thought I'd share my experience of trying a different charcoal recently.

I was in our local wallyworld last week to pick up some Royal Oak when I saw several 10 lb bags of B&B Oak lump and decided to try a couple of bags. I'd just cleaned my egg out and dumped in a load that came mid way up into the fire ring. First cook with it was a couple of pizzas at 500. The stuff sparked and spit and never really did settle down. Never really got clear smoke either. When I went to light it up again the next day I found that well over half of the charcoal had burned - never had that happen with ROcooking pizzas. The next cook burned through most of the rest the remnants along with most of the rest of the bag. (Burned 10 lbs of lump on 2 cooks? sheesh!)

This past Monday I dumped in part of the 2nd bag. Lit it up and it acted just like the first bag...but this time it smelled like coal...not charcoal...COAL. Again, it never cleared and our burgers ended up tasting 'coaly' as well. Now we love the flavor bood charcoal imparts but this stuff was just nasty. I still have half of the 2nd bag left and the remnants that are in the egg will be going back in the bag for disposal. Fortunately I had a chance to swing back by wallyworld yesterday to pick up some tried and true Royal Oak.

Anyone else here using B&B Charcoal? Whats your experience with been?

Exact same experience

six_egg · February 22

I am limited on my selection here to. I have tried RO and it was ok just burned to fast. I tried another brand from a local market and same burned fast. Both were cheaper up front but cost more to use. Taste was close enough to be a none isssue. I went back to BGE lump and still use it. It just last longer for me.

Mr_Bream · February 22

six_egg said:

I am limited on my selection here to. I have tried RO and it was ok just burned to fast. I tried another brand from a local market and same burned fast. Both were cheaper up front but cost more to use. Taste was close enough to be a none isssue. I went back to BGE lump and still use it. It just last longer for me.

Interesting...since BGE lump is supposedly made by RO. I've tried BGE, Wicked Good and a couple of others that I've been able to find locally and keep comong back to RO. Haven't really had anything against the others (except B&B, haven't tried Cowboy) but they didn't seen significantly better than RO that might justify the extra $$. Keep in mind, thats just my opinion...I have no qualitative or quantitative data to back that up.

Chubbs · February 22

six_egg said:

I am limited on my selection here to. I have tried RO and it was ok just burned to fast. I tried another brand from a local market and same burned fast. Both were cheaper up front but cost more to use. Taste was close enough to be a none isssue. I went back to BGE lump and still use it. It just last longer for me.

Exactly. The RO I get in Columbia burns up way too fast. I think it is because I have to let it sit there for an hour or more before it doesnt smell like chemicals.

Nature Glo is still the best I have found in Columbia by far. Naked Whiz has it as "Highly Reccommend" too. Extremely clean burn, large pieces, quick to light. It does not seem as efficient as the first 3 bags of B&B I grabbed though. The last time I cooked steaks with TRex, I barely used any lump. Pretty good considering I seared for 6 total minutes at 600-700 degrees.

GreenhawK · February 23

I have used B&B almost exclusively since the Academy Sports opened here. I have had excellent luck out of it. It does seem to burn a little faster than some of the others that are more expensive, but the better price more than makes up for the difference in burn rate.

I only get BGE brand when a local dealer has it for buy one get one free, and I also get Bayou Classic every now and then.

Charlie tuna · February 23

The "Best Of The West" lump i bought at Sam's Club($11.79 per 18 pounds) was junk! The lump was made from scrap plywood, and other assorted scrap wood -- looked like from a manufacturer's junk pile. Now you talk about burning up fast !! I never seen anything like it. I have been watching the pallet in the store -- they ain't sellin much of it anymore!!

JamRWS6 · February 23

Mr_Bream said:

Thought I'd share my experience of trying a different charcoal recently.

I was in our local wallyworld last week to pick up some Royal Oak when I saw several 10 lb bags of B&B Oak lump and decided to try a couple of bags. I'd just cleaned my egg out and dumped in a load that came mid way up into the fire ring. First cook with it was a couple of pizzas at 500. The stuff sparked and spit and never really did settle down. Never really got clear smoke either. When I went to light it up again the next day I found that well over half of the charcoal had burned - never had that happen with ROcooking pizzas. The next cook burned through most of the rest the remnants along with most of the rest of the bag. (Burned 10 lbs of lump on 2 cooks? sheesh!)

This past Monday I dumped in part of the 2nd bag. Lit it up and it acted just like the first bag...but this time it smelled like coal...not charcoal...COAL. Again, it never cleared and our burgers ended up tasting 'coaly' as well. Now we love the flavor bood charcoal imparts but this stuff was just nasty. I still have half of the 2nd bag left and the remnants that are in the egg will be going back in the bag for disposal. Fortunately I had a chance to swing back by wallyworld yesterday to pick up some tried and true Royal Oak.

Anyone else here using B&B Charcoal? Whats your experience with been?

I had the exact same experience except I only bought one bag as I was leary. Wally didn't have any RO so I tried this stuff. Never again.

Weshells · February 23

I'm in Augusta, Ga....there is an ACE Hardware that sells, lump charcoal, i works very well...no odors to be concerned with, burns good, and plenty you can re-use.

ratcheer · February 23

Actually, B&B is all I have used. As far as I'm concerned, it is fine. And you can't beat the price.

Tim

Mr_Bream · February 25

A follow-up

I cross-posted my original post over on the Barbeque Bible forum and one of the guys there suggested that I e-mail the B&B folks and let them know about my experience, as well as some of the other experiences I've read, both pro and con, on this and the BBQ Bible forum...so I did. The following is a copy of my e-mail and the response from B&B:

First, the e-mail I sent to B&B:

"Hi, I wanted to write to you about my recent experience with a couple of bags of your Oak Lump Charcoal (10 lb bag, purchased at Walmart). Hate to say it but I was not pleased with the charcoal.

I use a Big Green Egg. Last week while making pizza, cooing at 475-500 degrees I burned well over half a bag of charcoal making two pizzas. I've never burned anywhere near that much lump in the past. The next cook pretty much finished off the bag. I opened a second bag that I had purchased and noticed that the charcoal smelled more like coal than charcoal and ultimately imparted a coal-like flavor to the burgers we tried cooking with it. I evantually cleaned the remaining lump out of my egg and returned it to the bag and reloaded the Egg with another lump that I've had good results with in the past.

Any suggestions what might have caused the fast burn and coal-like odor. I've talked with other folks who have had similar experiences and also with folks who consider B&B Oak one of their favorite charcoals.

I would like to like B&B to have as an alternative when I can't find my regular charcoal but so far B&B isn't it.

Thanks,

Steve D"

Here's their response:

"Hi Steve,

Thanks for your feedback and we are very sorry for your experience. Honeslty in the over 50 years in this industry we have never heard of such an experience as you have described, with that said im not sure how to answer your questions.
We want to make this right for you somehow so we'll be happy to send you a couple free bags that will hopefully give you the #1 performance that has built our B&B brand out there as one of the bests natural lump charcoal in the market.
Please provide your shipping address and we'll get this going your way.
Travis Kainer
B&B Charcoal Inc. "

I know their bag says 'satisfaction guaranteed' so I hope they don't think I was just angling for a freebie. Since they're going to send me a couple bags to try I'll give 'em another try. So far their charcoal may not have impressed me but their customer service has.

Chubbs · February 26

I smoked a 8 lb butt at 300 dome / 260-270 grate for 9.5 hours today and still have half a firebox of B&B. FWIW.

Depends on the batch I think. Bought 5 bags at one time on the last. One of the five sparked the other four did not.

Mr_Bream · March 5

So the B&B story continues. When we got home from work this evening there were two HUGE boxes on our front porch addressed to me. I didn't remember ordering anything and Connie swore she hadn't ordered anything for me. Looked at the shipping label and it said C&C Wood and I began to wonder if it might be charcoal. I was going to open the boxes right then but I had agreed to cook supper while Connie took care of some other thing.

After supper I finally got around to opening the charcoal. Turns out they didn't send me two 10-lb bags like they said they would. Instead they sent two 20-lb bags! Hope I change my mind about it because now I have 40 lbs to play with (in addition to about 8 1/2 pounds of the nasty stuff that I don't know what to do with).

Jury may still be out on their charcoal but their customer service is great!

Chubbs · March 5

Just cooked my 6th cook on one full firebox in large egg. I like it personally. One of the cooks as mentioned was 9.5 hours and 3 have been high temp. And I have no gasket.

caliking · March 5

I usually use B&B as my staple, mainly because of the price. It sparks a bit, but usually works well for me. I bought 2 bags at a mom and pop type store and the pieces were mostly little chips. i think the bags had been tossed around the store a fair bit. Now I try to buy 20# bags, picked up from the pallet at Academy, since that probably means they have been handled minimally. The pieces are huge (most of the time).

I think that was pretty solid of the company to send you a couple of big bags. Even if you don't like their charcoal in the end, at least they tried to do the right thing. Wish the same could be said of many other companies doing business these days.

Howdy, Stranger!

Forums

B&B Charcoal?

Comments