Charcoal Recommendations

Fred19Flintstone said:

I use Royal Oak 

scmoose said:

I use RO as well.  Lights fast, and its cheap.  Just bought two bags at Home Depot for 12 bucks a piece.  Ive never tried the "premium" stuff.

I have never tried the premium stuff either... I'm too afraid i will like it

I really like Wicked Good. 

I used RO for a couple of years.  Then I switched to Rockwood.  Its well worth the extra money for me.  

my two cents - Rockwood is my number 1followed by wicked good.  Tend to burn better with less smoke flavor and gets HOT.  Order 5 bags of rockwood from Firecraft and get free shipping.  Worth every penny and don't look back...

For me Royal Oak takes a long time to heat up compared to BGE charcoal.

Here ya go...lol..

bcsnave said:

Here ya go...lol..

 

Ha.  That's like marketing a hot dog that's "All-natural Prime Angus Steak Cut".  You could even make it with Kobe or Waygu......it's still going to present and function as a hot dog and have some sort of filler or binder in it.  Clever marketing--and while true as to the source of the charcoal component in the slurry--still kind of a misnomer/oxymoron to have those words together. 

If only firecraft wasn't back ordered big time these days :( 

Or one could be much much much better and twice the price. But that is just one mans opinion. 

I used to use Royal Oak.  OK, but takes a long time to burn off the VOC's.  Then switched to some Rockwood, purchased through Amazon in 30 or 40 lb. bags.  Liked that a lot.  The last batch of Rockwood I purchased wasin smaller bags and was garbage.  Don't know whether it was the manufacturer or the shipping.  Had to throw about  1/2 of it away because it was dust.  Having a coupon at Ace Hardware, I decided to try Wicked Good.  That was an excellent buy.  I plan to choose that again.  Large pieces, slow burning, and few VOC's.  Very fuel efficient.

Try whatever lump charcoal you can find locally for starters, because whatever you buy (mail order, etc.), there'll likely come a day when you need to dash out and buy an emergency bag on short notice. And it's good to have a hardware store nearby that carries some that's decent 

i am less charcoal obsessed than many here. I stock up on Royal Oak when I can get it at a decent price. But i probably burn more frontier or cowboy than anything else because it's 1.) cheap 2.)easy to find [small town hardware store carries it year round] and 3.) fairly consistent

for about fifteen years running there has been a flavor-of-the-month charcoal that the forum has fawned over. Usually a round robin of rotating makers, with the infatuation lasting a year

every lump that has been maligned here has also been praised equally as vigorously. So. Fukkit

buy what works for you, try a bunch, and keep your head down when someone declares one is superior to another. It's all carbonized hardwood.  You'll get a crappy bag once in a while from everyone 

and realize that some preferences are two sides of the same coin. One guy will love a lump that starts fast, while another says it burns too quickly. Another complains his lump is hard to light, while someone champions it for burning a long time. You can't win, unless you just learn to burn what you have and enjoy it

see also the naked whiz's charcoal reviews. I'm on a phone or i'd link more easily. Just google it

Royal Oak is pretty good. I tried Rockwood and didn't notice a marked difference but am trying it again to see if it's my incompetance or if whatever difference there is isn't that important to me.