The BEST charcoal ?

Toolmaster · March 12

alabamatom said:

tech284 said:

I am going thru charcoal really fast is the (Green Egg Charcoal) the best one to use I would love to find bigger chunks so I wouldn't have to use soooo much

I used to use BGE charcoal, but now have switched to John Henry Food Company's Hardwood Lump Charcoal. To me anyway, the sizing is better than BGE's & more importantly it costs less. I get it at the BGE dealer .... & it supposedly comes from East Texas.

Where are you getting the John Henry? I
have only found it one time in bham. Last time I checked they only had BGE. I have been using RO and it seems to be ok but has often had rocks, clumps of dirt, metal straps. The dirt smell can upset a cook. The RO that I have used was sized at 0-3". The John Henry was more like 3-6". Wife is picking up 3 bags of BGE that I will use tonight with some chicken.

henapple · March 12

I've only found it at Harp's.

EggRacer · March 12

Ozark Oak is the best for me. My dealer always has a good supply and I like the way it performs during my cooks. Very little to no junk in the lump, burns clean and no popping.

michigan_jason · March 12

I just use kingsford match light....... =))

michigan_jason · March 12

"Shampoo is better, I go on first and clean the hair!"

"Conditioner is better, I leave the hair silky and smooth!"

Sorry, my twisted brain thought of this as soon as I started reading this post.

Carry on....

AlbertaEgger · March 12

Does any one use or have tried Dragin Breath lump, my dealer has some in? Currently I am using BGE.

dlk7 · March 12

AlbertaEgger said:

Does any one use or have tried Dragin Breath lump, my dealer has some in? Currently I am using BGE.

I really like dragon breath - Todd at Smokinfyrpit brought me 10 twenty pound bags last year when he was visiting relatives near Nashville. It has decent size pieces and burns really hot and works great on Low and Slows too. If I could find it locally, I would use it exclusively.

milesbrown4 · March 13

I have used BGE & Wegmans Lump - but Wicked Good is my go to lump. Gotta get some RO!

Eggcelsior · March 13

michigan_jason said:
"Shampoo is better, I go on first and clean the hair!"

"Conditioner is better, I leave the hair silky and smooth!"

Sorry, my twisted brain thought of this as soon as I started reading this post.

Carry on....

Oh really fool!

AlbertaEgger · March 13

dlk7 said:

AlbertaEgger said:

Does any one use or have tried Dragin Breath lump, my dealer has some in? Currently I am using BGE.
I really like dragon breath - Todd at Smokinfyrpit brought me 10 twenty pound bags last year when he was visiting relatives near Nashville. It has decent size pieces and burns really hot and works great on Low and Slows too. If I could find it locally, I would use it exclusively.

Thanks dlk7 I will try dragon breath out for the next bag.

Little Steven · March 14

This is kind of a pointless response but out of all the lump I've used, and that is a few bags, Maple Leaf is far and away the best. It's a pointless comment cause they no longer market it in the US. With that said, Costco sometimes carries Basques Nature Glo which is second best IMHO

Lit · March 14

The Basques is natures own right not nature glo? I have bought several bags at a local egg dealer and was happy. Like $15 for 18 pounds.

egger ave · March 14

Jellyworm said:

I have been using Stubs, bought at Costco. 32# bag is $16 and some change. I am on my third bag and have been very impressed so far. I like the quality and price over BGE.

Same here, it's decent lump at a good price. There is a lot of mesquite lump for sale here in Texas. I don't care for mesquite lump unless I am grilling steaks. I understand restaurants like it because it burns hot and fast. The flavor is too strong for chicken and fish IMHO.

Eggscriber · March 14

If you really want to get technical, it seems as if some charcoals are better for long cooks and others are better for a quick steak. Cowboy is super light and small which like sawdust lights fast. burns fast and hot which is ok sometimes. The better ones are dense and burn long but sometimes are harder to light. Certain grocery stores like Harris Teeter sell their own brand of lump. It's almost as dense as coal. It can can take a while to light and can spark but is cheap. I agree that the best I've used is Wicked Good and Ozark Oak.

Denevan · March 16

Denevan said:

I picked up some wicked good from Ace Hardware when they had a "spend $100 save $20 special". Five 22lbs Bags came to just under $85 with free shipping to the store. That works out to 16.99 per 22lbs bag -- not too shabby!

To clarify for Blewis212: I really like Wicked Good - its pricey but I got a great deal on it making it as cheap or cheaper than a lot of nomally less expensive and lower quality lump... if the sale comes up again and you can spend $17 on 22lbs of wicked good or $15 on 17.8 lbs of cowboy lump -- I highly recommend going for the wicked good!

chainsaw19 · March 16

Came across a metal band in my BGE brand tonight, don't like finding that kind of junk in my charcoal.

Jonathan1970 · March 16

I like Wicked Good the best. Been an Egghead four years and tried maybe 6 or 7 different brands. Keep going back to the Wicked Good.

WiltOnTilt · March 16

chainsaw19 said:

Came across a metal band in my BGE brand tonight, don't like finding that kind of junk in my charcoal.

Wow what a coincidence, I just found a metal band in my lump yesterday, but it was royal oak from Walmart not BGE brand. What the hell is going on with these?

mb99zz · March 16

WiltOnTilt said:

chainsaw19 said:

Came across a metal band in my BGE brand tonight, don't like finding that kind of junk in my charcoal.

I hate that too. Creeps me out and makes me wonder where this stuff is coming from. I had a bad experience trying Cowboy brand this week. Had a no-BS softball sized rock (may have been concrete) in the bag. The kicker was what looked like a tree branch that was a foot long and thick -- about 6" in diameter. Crazy stuff. The bad smoke lasted way longer than the BGE brand. I thought Royal Oak makes BGE brand lump.

I am eager to try Wicked Good. The closest dealer to me is the Dizzy Pig store (Virginia). I need to call them to see if they have any in stock. It may be worth the 40 minutes to get there and try it.

ccpoulin1 · March 16

I use RO because of availability. I have found that if you buy it at restaurant depot, it is cheaper (10.09 for a 17.6 lb bag, and sometimes goes on sale for 8.99) it is in a larger bag, and seems to have bigger pieces than the 8.8lbbag at walmart. I want to try WGWW, but nobody near me carries it, and i dont want to buy a pallet just to try it.

Charlie tuna · March 16

Yesterday i was at my local Sam's Club. They started selling "Best Of The West" lump about a year ago. I tried a couple of bags and threw the second bag in the garbage, it actually had 6 inch diameter tree limbs that would not burn -- like they were made of plaster!! Really was crap !! Well, the second pallet sat in the store with little change for the last six months. Yesterday they had it marked down -- Original price was $11.89 for a 20 pound bag, now it is $9.89. You would think an operation as big as Sam's Club would investigate a product before putting it in their store!!

Little Steven · March 16

Lit said:

The Basques is natures own right not nature glo? I have bought several bags at a local egg dealer and was happy. Like $15 for 18 pounds.

Yes...my mistake. When the Costcos have it it is much cheaper

Stoater · March 16

Wow, tried this today and loving it, hardly any dust nice pieces and burned clean very quickly, picked it up today at costco in st catharines, 10.99 a bag, lovley jubley.

Stoater · March 16

sorry that was natures own by basques.

mb99zz · March 16

Anyone ever order Wicked Good from Ace online and have it shipped to their local store?

Eggcelsior · March 16

mb99zz said:
Anyone ever order Wicked Good from Ace online and have it shipped to their local store?

A lot of eggers do. Free shipping to store.

dlk7 · March 17

Terrible experience with Humphrey's Lump Charcoal. I ordered four, forty pound bags from the Humphrey website $24.95 per bag and $52 to ship it to Franklin, TN. All four bags were filled with very small pieces and dust. I built a sifter with one inch chicken wire to save any pieces that wouldn't clog up my eggs. Out of the 160 pounds of charcoal they shipped, only 80 pounds was usable. I called their customer service line 3 times and left messages twice with no call back. Worst customer service ever. I would never order from Humphrey's ever again. You may be ok if you can feel the bag you are buying but I wouldn't trust them to send you decent lump sight unseen. Too bad because the half that was usable burns hot and has very little ash. The Wicked Good I get from Ace is always a good size and burns just as good as Humphreys with no hassle. Too bad Humphrey's doesn't care about customer service.

Denevan · March 17

mb99zz said:

Anyone ever order Wicked Good from Ace online and have it shipped to their local store?

That's exactly what I did - I bought 5 bags got $20 off. Took about a week to get to the store. They called me up and said your charcoal is ready -- super easy and great charcoal. I will keep going back.

Denevan · March 17

I just looked up coupons for Ace: this one came up -- ACERMN15J - give it a try and let us know if it works... ($15 off $100) so buy 5 bags and get $15 bucks off...

cortguitarman · March 17

dlk7 said:
Terrible experience with Humphrey's Lump Charcoal. I ordered four, forty pound bags from the Humphrey website $24.95 per bag and $52 to ship it to Franklin, TN. All four bags were filled with very small pieces and dust. I built a sifter with one inch chicken wire to save any pieces that wouldn't clog up my eggs. Out of the 160 pounds of charcoal they shipped, only 80 pounds was usable. I called their customer service line 3 times and left messages twice with no call back. Worst customer service ever. I would never order from Humphrey's ever again. You may be ok if you can feel the bag you are buying but I wouldn't trust them to send you decent lump sight unseen. Too bad because the half that was usable burns hot and has very little ash. The Wicked Good I get from Ace is always a good size and burns just as good as Humphreys with no hassle. Too bad Humphrey's doesn't care about customer service.

Wow, this is surprising to hear. I've ordered from them and my lump has been great. Nice big pieces consistently. I will agree that they're hard to get a hold of. You will always get an answer at the Brookville plant, but Lee Humphrey who handles shipping is not as easy. I have Lee's email address and he usually responds very quickly through email. It is unfortunate that you had a negative experience. I love Humphrey and use it exclusively.

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