Rockwood and Ozark Oak. A honest comparison.

SGH

Let me start off by saying that both of these are par excellent lumps. They are both now my go to lumps for different cooks which I will explain farther in this write up. Just a couple of weeks back I had used Royal Oak almost exclusively in my egg, offsets and my vertical cabinet. That all changed after getting to meet a few fellow forum members and what I now call personal friends. Here is my honest view of both brands.

A very special thanks to @Biggreenpharmacist‌ & @Thatgrimguy‌ for turning me own to these very fine products. Thank y'all very much my friends.

Rockwood.
It burns very clean and hot. Lump consumption is minimal. Ash production is minimal. The lump is very clean and debris free. It lights very very easy. It is VOC free in mere minutes after ignition. On it's own it imparts very little taste to what is being cooked. This is a huge plus when cooking certain things. Examples-Fish, bread, fowl,poultry breast and pastries. The only way that I know to put this in proper perspective is on a scale of 1-10.
Ignition. 10
Lack of ash production. 10
Overall quality and cleanliness. 10
Taste applied to food. 10
Burn time. 10
VOC retardation. 10
Lump size. 10
Produced BTU'S. 10
Vent response. 10+
As you can see the Rockwood performed exceptionally well in all categories. I found nothing to speak negative of. I gave it a perfect 10 for it's intended use.

Ozark Oak.
Almost everything said above for the RW can be said here for the OO. One minor difference that I noticed and would like to share. The OO produces a very sweet and pleasant smell when burning instead of the near neutral smell produced by the RW. This is a very clean and pleasant smell that I welcome. Rather than re type all the above categories let me just say that OO scored a perfect 10 in all the above as well.
Here is my preferences when choosing between RW & OO.
Pork & Beef. I prefer OO by a nose. Why? It has a par excellent oak smoke profile.
Poultry & Fowl. I prefer RW by a nose. Why? Perfect neutral taste.
Bread and Pastries. I prefer RW by a nose. Why? Perfect neutral taste.
Salmon. I prefer OO. Why? Incredible oak smoke profile.
White fish. I prefer RW. Why? Perfect neutral taste.
Let me sum up by saying I like these two lumps equally for different reasons. If you want to have absolute total control over the smoke profile then chose RW as it is very near neutral. If you cannot locate a good quality wood for smoking then chose OO as it imparts a par excellent oak flavor on it's very own. I was more than impressed with each and now use both for different cooks. Other than the neutral taste of the RW and the incredible oak taste of the OO they are near identical in all other aspects. Just for the record my performance tests were performed with a large BGE a mini BGE and my custom built reverse flow vertical cabinet. In the interest of both fairness and thoroughness both lumps were used on all 3 smokers. No matter which one that you chose you will chose a winner. They are both top tier products in my opinion. They both exceeded my expectations in all categories. Both earned and deserve a score of a perfect 10.
Here are the cookers that were used for this comparison of OO & RW in order of size and capacity. From the mini to the monster.

PNWFoodie

Now I just have to get you to try my beloved FOGO, lol! Although, I will say the two downsides I have heard is the lump is actually too big (ahem, I may have to argue about that) and if you pull from the bag rather than dump, your hands WILL get blackend. With that I can't argue...but Mama taught me how to wash my hands. Still working through my first bag of RW - nothing bad to say about it at all...just don't like it as much as FOGO. Will be opening up my trial bag of OO soon...

SGH

@PNWFoodie‌
I would love to try the FOGO that you speak of. Have never encountered it but if I ever do I will certainly give it a try my friend.

SGH

@PNWFoodie‌
Just for reference the RW & OO will turn your hands black as well!!! I think they all do that equally well. Even Royal Oak!!

SGH

The next 2 that I would like to compare to the RW & OO is Dragons Breath and WGWW. I have heard that each of these are in the same arena as RW & OO. Anyone out there have first hand experience with either of them? If so what's your thoughts on them?

saluki2007

@SGH  I can't argue with anything you stated above.  100% agree with your finding.  However, I feel the RW gets to the +500 degree range quicker/easier.  For this reason I will use RW for searing and high temp cooks and OO for my low and slows.  I also noticed on the low and slows that the OO does produce a little bit less ash, but nothing to really fret over.

SGH

@saluki2007‌
I didn't notice much difference in either as far as time to temp. If there was any difference at all it was very minor and I credited it to how I loaded the lump. No fault of the lump either way. On my large I could easily reach 1300 degrees+ with little effort and using only natural draft. No air induction of any type was used. As to ash production I found them to be dead even. No noticeable difference either way. They both earned a perfect 10 in my book. I highly recommend both as they are par excellent products.

buzd504

Fogo is a very soft charcoal, which is I think part of the reason it is so "sooty" before lighting (it really does make your hands blacker than the others).  It does burn well with perhaps a slight bit more ash than RW and OO.  It also has quite a neutral taste.  The typically very large pieces however lend themselves well to low and slow cooking as you can build a fire with excellent air flow that will burn for a very long time.  It is comparable to RW and OO in quality, IMO, perhaps outshining them in the long cooks, but I would probably use the RW/OO for everyday cooks.

Fogo is available via amazon if you ever want to try it. 

SGH

@buzd504‌
Thanks for the info my friend.

SGH

@buzd504‌
Thanks for the info my friend.

KiterTodd

SGH, what do you mean by neutral smoke on the RW?  Does it leave a natural lump flavor but just not an overwhelming one?

I like the smoke.

I also just bought 20 lbs of each based on your last post! 

SGH

@KiterTodd‌
What I mean by "neutral" is that it imparts a very subtle hint of smoke. A very pleasant and "light or mild" taste if you will. The OO imparts a true "oak" taste. If you were cooking bread you would want to use the RW to avoid over smoking. If you were cooking a massive primal or subprimal you would want to use the OO for the "oaky" smoke benefit . You will be more than pleased with either. You can't go wrong with either one my friend.

cook861

I use a pair of gloves when loading my egg (sorry for post hiesting)

KiterTodd

SGH, can you put that same 1-10 list together to compare it with what you used to use?  (RO, if I recall).   It's tough to compare a 10 to a 10.   "Ummmm, I'll take the 10!"   LOL

SGH

@KiterTodd‌
Royal Oak would rate a 4 or 5 upside RW & OO in all categories. Not total junk but no where near as good. Royal Oak was what I used for 2 1/2 years. No longer though. I have seen the light!

Skiddymarker

@SGH - good review, always nice to have the opinions of others. The use of smoke wood, chips or chunks, is a personal thing. Does not make sense to use a mild pecan or subtle peach smoke wood to add a distinctive flavour profile if it is overwhelmed by the natural smoke of the lump. 

For control of smoke profile the more neutral lumps are often preferred. No experience with either RW or OO, but in Canada, Maple Leaf is very neutral. 

As noted above FOGO is good, but to me the lump size requires breaking up the pieces, a much better problem than trying to stick a bunch of chips or dust back together. I think the fine dust maybe due to the shipping distance. I've always wondered about the forestry practices given it is made in Central America, but have heard nothing bad about the producers. 

Again - always good to share information. 

SGH

@Skiddymarker‌
I concur. Shipping, handling, loading and unloading play a huge role in the condition of the lump- Dust, crumbles, small pieces etc... This is beyond the control of the manufacturer and the consumer. That being said the RW & OO were still leagues better than RO in quality and consistency without question or doubt. They are par excellent products.

stlcharcoal

Skiddymarker said:

I've always wondered about the forestry practices given it is made in Central America, but have heard nothing bad about the producers. 

There used to be a Vanguard episode available on Amazon Prime called "The Charcoal People" that documented the slave labor used in South American charcoal production.  It didn't call out any specific companies or industries, but who knows where it was going. 

SGH

@stlcharcoal‌
As a seller of both products, do you find my assessment accurate of OO & RW ? Thanks in advance.

lousubcap

@SGH-eggcellent review of both and does a much better job of reinforcing my findings of the smoke proifle for each.  Being lazy and not wanting to deal with "this lump for this cook- and this for that", I have landed on Rockwood as my primary lump.  That said, I am always looking eggsperiment.  Right now I am using Afire Koko Coconut Charcoal that was a close-out sale from Williams Sonoma a couple of weeks ago.  Just trying to expand my data base.  FWIW-

Skiddymarker

Like @lousubcap - settling on one very neutral brand (Maple Leaf) for the majority of cooks just makes it easy. I still buy RO when it is on sale, family prefers it for pizza, adds that wood fire aspect - Maple Leaf is almost like doing the pie in the oven!

ALthough I have seen FOGO on sale currently on Amazon.com it is $41 a 35# bag, shipping included, on Amazon.ca it is $76 plus domestic shipping rates. Don't think they are selling too many.  

fishlessman

your comparison of oo and rw is pretty much how i would compare ozark to the old wicked good comp blend, with the old comp blend you could really notice the characters of different smoking woods. when i changed to weekend warrior it was a disappointment for me, its a good lump and right up there with the best but i was burning 400 pounds plus a year of comp blend at the time. most never noticed the difference.  that mapleleaf lump is the best and its the smell that sends it over the top for me, wish i could still get it rocks and all, rocks in every bag
  used to keep them for the ducks
)

mslaw

I've been cooking outdoors for years,years and more years. Maybe I'm being naïve  , but I think you cook outside in order to have a wood fired or smoke flavor. If I want something to taste oven cooked, I'll cook it in the oven.

Delicates such as fish or seafood are not going to be on the grill long enough to have a strong discernible taste one way or the other. Any other real meat cooked outside will have additional wood of some description added anyway, why, in order to add smoke flavor.

As for smelling like smoke, that's what cooking with wood does. That's why they make showers.I think that's part of the experience.

I,m not disrespecting your research in any way. It was well thought out and conducted Frankly, I've had excellent cooks usuing a cheap bag of Kroger brand lump Smelled like wood smoke and tasted like wood smoke. RO is the easiest for me to obtain so I'll probably continue that path. If I ever get a chance to try the other brands, I certainly will. I apologize for any offense, maybe I,m being stypid.

SeahawksEGGHead

Great write up.  Once I get over the price and convenience of Royal Oak, I'd like to try OO or RW.

stlcharcoal

SGH said:

@stlcharcoal‌
As a seller of both products, do you find my assessment accurate of OO & RW ? Thanks in advance.

We don't sell OO, and I had used one bag of it 10+ yrs. You don't really see it around St. Louis.

As far as your assessment of Rockwood goes, I can't complain about all 10s right?

shtgunal3

I've used RW and OO. I prefer OO. I can't get either one local and have to buy online. I know the way lump is handled and shipped makes a huge difference. I have ordered both from firecraft at the same time and it was shipped in the same box. It seams that RW has more small pieces and dust. I have tried 4 bags and got the same result each time. I have also tried one bag of Dragons breath (it was shipped with the RW and OO) and didn't like it at all. I would like to try a bag or two of WGWW. I don't mean any disrespect to RW at all. I prefer it over anything I can get local but I do like OO better.

stlcharcoal

That's one of the downfalls of producing a high carbon content charcoal, it's very brittle. With all the qualities you guys like ( low ash, neutral smoke, etc), brittle is the trade off.

The good news is, is that the small chunks burn the same as the big chunks.

Philly35

I've noticed the RW is a lot sparkier than the RO.

JRWhitee

I once had a bag of RO that I could only use for low and slow because it sparked so much throughout a direct cook I had ash on the food.

RRP

JRWhitee said:

I once had a bag of RO that I could only use for low and slow because it sparked so much throughout a direct cook I had ash on the food.

too late for you to check now, but the RO made from foreign wood is disclosed on the printed bag. The sparky stuff I had was from Paraguay. Country of origin disclosure is easy to see and avoid!

JRWhitee

RRP said:

JRWhitee said:

I once had a bag of RO that I could only use for low and slow because it sparked so much throughout a direct cook I had ash on the food.

too late for you to check now, but the RO made from foreign wood is disclosed on the printed bag. The sparky stuff I had was from Paraguay. Country of origin disclosure is easy to see and avoid!

Thanks Ron, I had bought 2 at the Restaurant Depot and they both sparked I never thought to look to see where it came from. I am on the Rockwood bandwagon now.