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all natural hardwood briquettes?

guava greg
guava greg Posts: 139
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
just bought a bag at Home Cheepo says no coal or fillers, briqs made from hardwood lump.[p]Anybody try this one yet?[p]Thanks![p]Greg

Comments

  • Spring Chicken
    Spring Chicken Posts: 10,255
    Morning Greg...[p]If you're talking about Home Depot and the same briquettes many of us purchased a couple of weeks ago @ $2.99 per 20# bag then you are in for a surprise. It burns okay but it seems like about 10# of the 20# is filler. I have to clean my Egg completely after every other cook using the stuff. Lately, I've been mixing it with natural lump but I think I'm just going to use up what I have and stick with what I know works well... Natural Lump.[p]Another case of "You get what you pay for."[p]Spring "Taking My Lumps Over Briquettes" Chicken
    Spring Texas USA

  • BobS
    BobS Posts: 2,485
    guava greg,
    The Naked Whiz has done a couple of reviews recently and there are two brands (I think)of briquettes that are pretty darn good, but I do not remember the names.

  • Darnoc
    Darnoc Posts: 2,661
    guava greg,
    What Home Depot had in the states was from The Original Charcoal Co.in Charlotte NC.Be ready for lots of ash,otherwise I would use it for cooks up to two hours or like the Spring said mix some in with your lump.I am just sorry I bought to much of the stuff and if any one is in the Baltimore area I will be glad to sell some of it at the 2.99 price.Have a great day.

  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
    guava greg,
    Mahalo! Visit my product reviews page and you'll find a review of Rancher Charcoal Briquettes. Lots of ash, which is to be expected, and the briquettes seem to degrade significantly after they get hot, so it makes it hard to snuff them, stir and reuse, like you can with lump.[p]TNW

    [ul][li]Product Reviews[/ul]
    The Naked Whiz
  • FatDog
    FatDog Posts: 164
    Spring Chicken,
    I need to burn out my large egg (mold problems this time of year) so cheap briquettes sound good. Since I'll be doing a take-it-apart-and-vacuum-it-clean cleaning, the excess ash won't be a problem. And, if I can get the "natural wood" bricks cheaper than the K-word, why not! Now, if I only had some lighter fluid ...[p]

  • duckegg
    duckegg Posts: 267
    guava greg,
    I've got a little corn roaster grill thing built into the counter of my patio. I toss in a chimney starter of those into it and it works fine. Tried it in the egg but wouldn't do it again. My compost pile likes the ash.

  • Spring Chicken
    Spring Chicken Posts: 10,255
    FatDog,
    Good thinking on the burn-out but I know you're just joshing about the lighter fluid. [p]Lighter Fluid... That's the stuff Crankshaft blows up the neighborhood with every time he lights his grill (in the funny papers), Isn't it???[p]Spring "Ashes and Ashes and Ashes to Dust" Chicken

  • citychicken
    citychicken Posts: 484
    like others here i purchased some of the rancher charcoal briquettes when it was at home depot. of course it seemed like a good deal. most of my thoughts have already been articulated in posts to this forum and tnw's product review.[p]on my most recent cook with it though, i found myself fighting to maintain temps. this cook was to be a five hour baby back ribs with 50/50 mixture of previously used rancher charcoal briquettes which were stirred prior to the addition of fresh bge lump. [p]the cook ended up taking 6.5 hours and was quite frustrating. [p]what i have noticed is that the shape of the remains of previously burned rancher charcoal briquettes are very smooth edged spherical orbs that seem to like plugging the charcoal grate and the holes in the firebox thus starving the egg of proper airflow. [p] [p]
  • Smokey
    Smokey Posts: 2,468
    P5210021.jpg
    <p />guava greg,[p]Several companies at making all hardwood briquettes. I was sent a bag of Wicked Good 100% All Natural Hardwood Briquettes to test. [p]It was in my opinion good and worth keeping around. They gave off A LOT of smoke when lighting, but worked well.[p]They are not my first choice for low and slow, but are as good as several brands of lump I have used! If the price is right, I say get some!
    P5210022.jpg
    P5210023.jpg
    P5210024.jpg
    [p]Smokey
  • tjv
    tjv Posts: 3,830
    Smokey, no chemicals, additives or fillers, then how do they get the briquette shape.[p]Glad to see the mini woo in action....T

    www.ceramicgrillstore.com ACGP, Inc.
  • Smokey
    Smokey Posts: 2,468
    tjv,[p]Don't know about how they keep their shape, but not a bad product (in my humble opinion). [p]The ring on the mini the "da bomb". I love it. It actually provides more usable cooking space, as you can use the entire grill. Without it, part of the grill rest on the fire ring and does not get direct heat![p]Smokey[p]
  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
    tjv,
    They use a starch binder. Some brands use a form of wheat paste, some use a paste made from yucca. [p]TNW

    The Naked Whiz
  • YB
    YB Posts: 3,861
    The Naked Whiz,
    Hey Doug...Is that a Yucca aloifolia,gloriosa or filamentosa....haha
    Larry

  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
    YB,
    LOL! Larry, I think is is Yucka Patooey![p]TNW

    The Naked Whiz
  • YB
    YB Posts: 3,861
    The Naked Whiz,
    Good one.
    Larry

  • egret
    egret Posts: 4,168
    Yo Tom,
    That there woo ring looks like somethin' I need for my new mini.....Details?

  • FatDog
    FatDog Posts: 164
    Spring Chicken,
    I did use some lighter fluid last year to help a friend replace a grip on his putter. It turns out that the lighter fluid is a good solvent for the tape I use for gripping clubs ... and a whole lot cheaper than the proprietary fluid.[p]FatDog

  • guava greg,
    I bought a fair amount and use for most cooks. I did use all lump for my one and only overnight cook (I'm new at this) as I didn't want to worry. I have used the Rancher briquets for two daytime lo & slos, spareribs (6 hours) and brisket (8 hours) with no trouble. As others have noted, if you stir the briquets before next use, a lot will crumble - you get black "ash" - which is unburnt briquet (except the binder which may burn off lower). I do not disturb and just add fresh on top. If I am having trouble reaching temps, I use a 'wiggle stick' - which is a 16d nail in the end of a small stick in my case - to shake ash loose from the bottom. A lot will come out but it is all 'grey'. I have had no trouble reaching the so-called nuclear (700F) temps for pizza making with old previously used briquets. But treat them gentle after the first burn - they get fragile. [p]They appear to add no meaningful smoke flavor to food - very clean burning, which is good or bad depending on your preference. There is ash - hard for me to compare to lump- but I've run 40# of Rancher and have yet to clean the ash from under the firebox. I have an XL which has a humongous firebox - I fit almost 20# sack of Rancher on the initial fill into the firebox, which got it just above the rim of the firebox. There is a lot of ash currently under the grate, but not enough to constrain airflow. I would imagine I'll need to burn another two sacks (so 80# plus a load ~10# or so - of lump) before I get motivated enough to clean out the ash.[p]So your mileage may vary. We were at HD on the 3rd and I saw they had Rancher again at $3/bag - I almost bought some but SWMBO had the 'don't you dare' look in her eyes with about 12 bags still piled up in the shed (plus the dozen or so bags of lump...) As long as HD keeps the price in the $3-5 dollar range, I'll keep using. Again, overnights I'll go lump for the peace of mind, but everything else those briquets seem to work just fine.

  • Ottawa_egger
    Ottawa_egger Posts: 236
    egret,[p]I got one on order from Tom, along with one for my large. Hoping for them soon as people speak so highly of them.[p]Ottawa_egger
  • I just returned 6 bags of the stuff to Home Depot last weekend that I bought in a Memorial Day craze. After going through 40# of it (even mixed 50/50 with lump), the ashes and briquettes that disintegrate after using drove me nuts. The hassle is not worth the super low price to me. Just remember that you don't have to use up your stash, you can return it to Home Depot even without a receipt.[p]
    Jamey

  • guava greg
    guava greg Posts: 139
    allTheKingsMen, Thanks! Hey 3-5 dollars? It's over $9 a bag over here.[p]Cost of living in "parasdise" plus shipping![p]Aloha,[p]Greg
  • Spring Chicken
    Spring Chicken Posts: 10,255
    Jamey,
    Great idea. Thanks.[p]Spring "Why Didn't I Think Of That" Chicken