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Arguing about lump charcoal.....

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dougcrann
dougcrann Posts: 1,129
in EggHead Forum
I am a bit of a gearhead. Used to spend a lot of time on a certain Mopar site...lot of folks on that site have, in my opion, a severe case of brand loyalty.  Thought that only existed in the car world but the more time I spend on smoking forums I see that Royal Oak has some of the same type of followers. Home Depot had it on sale, the 17 pound bags for under $10. Made mention, that pound per dollar it is still damn near double what I pay for what I use. And the stuff that I use has very little dust and.....hmmmm....questionable objects in it. Got several very harsh messages from folks over it...Damn, it is only wood....
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  • Nanook
    Nanook Posts: 846
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    Personally, I'm getting sick of the lump arguments....
    GWN
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  • BYS1981
    BYS1981 Posts: 2,533
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    People make a lot of noise about RO, it isn't my favorite lump, but I will use it no problem.  I am not a charcoal snob like many on this forum, lol
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  • MeTed
    MeTed Posts: 800
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    I love my Royal Oak!
    Belleville, Michigan

    Just burnin lump in Sumpter
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  • GregW
    GregW Posts: 2,677
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    I use B&P Charcoal most of the time.
    http://bandplumpcharcoal.com/
    The guy who sells it is local to Birmingham. The guy must have had at least 20 bulk sacks in his warehouse. Each bulk bag weighed around 1000 pounds.
    He re-bags this bulk charcoal into 20 pound bags that he sells to local stores.

    He told me he imports the charcoal from a south american country. At one time he was selling a lot of the 1000 pound bags to a metal foundry in south Alabama that they were using to make whatever metal they were forging.

    You can buy it from him for around $12. If you go to the local Green Egg places they have the same charcoal in a different bag label called Manor. They sell is for $18 a bag. Same Lump, the B&P guy just bags it with a different name so they can sell it for a premium.

    The good part of buying direct from him is he bagged it in his warehouse and it has had minimal handling to cause to break into small pieces.

    The B&P guy is really nice to deal with. He's a real BBQ guy. He always has some new brand of grill or smoker sitting in the warehouse. This is where I bought my Portable Kitchen (PK) grill a few years ago.

    If your in the area sometime look him up.
     
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,336
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    I grabbed three bags of RO at HD when I found it on the sale mentioned above. I don't go looking for it but if presented with a deal like that then I'm on it.  I use it for hot&fast cooks and it does the job.  And I have access to all the boutique charcoal most mentioned here and prefer them for low&slow. I can't get worked up over burning lump.  FWIW-
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
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  • DRKEgg
    DRKEgg Posts: 37
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    @GregW - thanks very much for the tip.  I am in BHM and will check out B&P.  It is sold at NY Butcher Shop so must be good.  I was unaware of the local connection. 
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  • Foghorn
    Foghorn Posts: 9,834
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    If we don't argue about charcoal, what are we going to argue about? 

    Oh, right -

    low and slow vs turbo
    fat up vs fat down
    etc, etc, etc

    At any rate, I prefer not to think of them as "arguments' but instead they are "discussions".  I don't learn from every discussion and not every discussion is worth my time.  But, in a lot of these discussions there is some wisdom that isn't obvious at first - and I don't realize it until I struggle with a cook and then it makes sense.

    So, even in the lump loyalty discussions there is often some reason for the loyalty.  I personally don't discriminate much with lump and will buy anything that is on sale - but I did discover that really good lump seems to make a caveman steak cook go better.  I only discovered it because on a vacation in Maine I went out of my way to find some Wicked Good lump because people on here raved about it.

    XXL BGE, Karebecue, Klose BYC, Chargiller Akorn Kamado, Weber Smokey Mountain, Grand Turbo gasser, Weber Smoky Joe, and the wheelbarrow that my grandfather used to cook steaks from his cattle

    San Antonio, TX

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  • onedbguru
    onedbguru Posts: 1,647
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    if it burns and is not briquettes, I'm good.
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  • BIll-W221
    BIll-W221 Posts: 279
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    I don't know what I don't know yet so I am trying different things till I find out what I know. Know what I mean ;)
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,336
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    I have no idea about what I don't know but I know I don't know all there is to know about lump but who does know?  :peace: 
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
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  • GregW
    GregW Posts: 2,677
    edited June 2015
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    DRKEgg said:
    @GregW - thanks very much for the tip.  I am in BHM and will check out B&P.  It is sold at NY Butcher Shop so must be good.  I was unaware of the local connection. 
    I had forgot about the New York Butcher Shop. I went in there one day a year or so ago. I was amazed at the prime ribeyes and was shocked by their prices. I think the ribeyes were around $30 a pound. And every steak would weigh over a pound.
    At that time their prime was about $10 a pound higher than the Piggly Wiggly at River Run. May have been worth it, I don't know. I scooted on down the road to the Pig.

    Here's the charcoal address:

    Dixie Data Business Products
    3231 11th Ave North
    Birmingham AL 35234

    They don't have B&P on the door.
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  • Simcan
    Simcan Posts: 287
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    I have often used RO but I think it depends. I have had great bags and some filled with as much rock as lump and the lump pieces were tiny.  I still used it all, rather than throw it out, but had to mix with other bags until it was gone.  So I guess if I have a problem with RO it is consistency/quality control.  Which might explain also why some people love it and others hate it.
    Toronto ON
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  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 15,467
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    You haters aren't respecting the heritage that my RO represents!  
    _____________

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


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  • GregW
    GregW Posts: 2,677
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    Botch said:
    You haters aren't respecting the heritage that my RO represents!  
    I've had some good bags of RO. It just really depends on how it's been handled. That's true probably of all brands. Walmart in my are used to carry the big bags of RO, now only the small ones.

    They are pushing Cowboy now. I've tried the Cowboy after many years of swearing it off. Needless to say it's still on the bottom of the list. Very inconsistent. Anywhere from 6-7 inch chunks to small logs to anywhere in between. Maybe ok for low and slow, but too inconsistent for even temps for high temp steak cooks.
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  • TN_Sister_State
    TN_Sister_State Posts: 1,130
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    Royal oak has become my go to due to price and speed of lighting. The bags I 've burned through have had 0 foreign objects or rocks in them. Probably been through 100 lbs or more. Ill sTay with it till there is a better option locally. That includes price.
    Franklin, Tn
    LBGE - Cast Iron Grate - Flameboss 300 - BGEtisserie

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  • Jeepster47
    Jeepster47 Posts: 3,827
    edited June 2015
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    lousubcap said:
    I have no idea about what I don't know but I know I don't know all there is to know about lump but who does know?  :peace: 
    You know I know what you mean ...

    Washington, IL  >  Queen Creek, AZ ... Two large eggs and an adopted Mini Max

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  • jaydub58
    jaydub58 Posts: 2,167
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    I am currently working my way through a bag of RO that is strictly five-star for large pieces, almost not dust.
    Terrific!
    John in the Willamette Valley of Oregon
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  • SmyrnaGA
    SmyrnaGA Posts: 438
    edited June 2015
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    I'm a cowboy...  On a ceramic horse I ride...


    Large BGE, Small BGE, KJ Jr, and a Cracked Vision Kub.

    in Smyrna GA.


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  • GregW
    GregW Posts: 2,677
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    SmyrnaGA said:
    I'm a cowboy...  On a steel horse I ride...


    I've never seen the Coyboy in boxes.
    Is it more consistent and less small pieces than the bags?
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  • Jeepster47
    Jeepster47 Posts: 3,827
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    SmyrnaGA said:
    I'm a cowboy...  On a steel horse I ride...

    Don't you mean ... "On a ceramic horse I ride" ... ?

    Washington, IL  >  Queen Creek, AZ ... Two large eggs and an adopted Mini Max

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  • SmyrnaGA
    SmyrnaGA Posts: 438
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    GregW said
    I've never seen the Coyboy in boxes.
    Is it more consistent and less small pieces than the bags?
    More consistent, small "block" pieces, very light, easy starting, and burns fast & hot.  It's got a nice mild smoke flavor that I like.

    i never tried recommending them to people due to their reputation and all.  It didn't stop me from trying it myself.  

    Large BGE, Small BGE, KJ Jr, and a Cracked Vision Kub.

    in Smyrna GA.


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  • SmyrnaGA
    SmyrnaGA Posts: 438
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    Jeepster47 said:
    SmyrnaGA said:
    I'm a cowboy...  On a steel horse I ride...

    Don't you mean ... "On a ceramic horse I ride" ... ?
    Edited...  :)

    Large BGE, Small BGE, KJ Jr, and a Cracked Vision Kub.

    in Smyrna GA.


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  • GregW
    GregW Posts: 2,677
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    SmyrnaGA said:
    GregW said
    I've never seen the Coyboy in boxes.
    Is it more consistent and less small pieces than the bags?
    More consistent, small "block" pieces, very light, easy starting, and burns fast & hot.  It's got a nice mild smoke flavor that I like.

    i never tried recommending them to people due to their reputation and all.  It didn't stop me from trying it myself.  
    Who sells the boxes?
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  • stlcharcoal
    stlcharcoal Posts: 4,684
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    Foghorn said:
    If we don't argue about charcoal, what are we going to argue about? 

    The problem is that everyone here has a BGE......kills the evol of the typical BBQ arguments

    -No charcoal vs. gas debate.

    -No type of charcoal grill debate.

    -No brand of kamado debate.

    What's left?  Brand of charcoal.

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  • clifkincaid
    clifkincaid Posts: 572
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    Our Home depot finally has the RO at 9.97 for 17lbs. Yes I bought quite a few bags. Choices here are RO..BGE...cowboy or this Lazzari stuff that I'm tempted to try but was hoping for some reviews on it first. I've been through many bags of RO and have only had 1 fist sized rock and probably a handful of little rock crumbles snd thats it. Pretty consistent bags and sometimes the chunks are huge and need broken down some. That's all I got

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  • njl
    njl Posts: 1,123
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    dougcrann said:
    I am a bit of a gearhead. Used to spend a lot of time on a certain Mopar site...lot of folks on that site have, in my opion, a severe case of brand loyalty.  Thought that only existed in the car world but the more time I spend on smoking forums I see that Royal Oak has some of the same type of followers. Home Depot had it on sale, the 17 pound bags for under $10. Made mention, that pound per dollar it is still damn near double what I pay for what I use. And the stuff that I use has very little dust and.....hmmmm....questionable objects in it. Got several very harsh messages from folks over it...Damn, it is only wood....
    So, what brand do you use, and where do you get it?  17lbs for $5-6??  I'd be willing to try whatever that is...as long as its not mesquite wood.
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  • SmyrnaGA
    SmyrnaGA Posts: 438
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    GregW said:  
    Who sells the boxes?
    I got mine on sale @ BJ's wholesale near Atlanta.


    Large BGE, Small BGE, KJ Jr, and a Cracked Vision Kub.

    in Smyrna GA.


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  • dougcrann
    dougcrann Posts: 1,129
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    I use Lazzari Mesquite. The white bag stuff. Cash & Carry. Believe it is the same as Smart & Final in the SW. 40 pounds for under $15. Opened 3 bags at once, only filled a 5 gallon pale about half full of dust/fines. Have used several hundred pounds of it. 0 rocks/junk. 
    Wife and I can't taste one species of wood to the next. 
    Used to use RO. My problem was the consistency of it. One bag was all decent size chunks, next bag lucky to find a piece bigger than a salt shaker. 
    Folks always talk about how great of a bargain it is. Even at the HD sale price it is still 21 cents a pound more than the Lazzari. I am disabled and on a fixed income.....
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