Frontier Lump???

Wowens

What are y'all's thoughts on Frontier Lump? I'm new, so when my first bag of BGE was getting low I bought a bag of Frontier at Sam's, only $10 for a 20lb bag. So far I like it better than BGE. The BGE was to stron of a smokey flavor for my wife, the Frontier is much more neutral tasting. I did notice that the pieces were very different shapes, there were. Couple of big ones that looked to be from a fork in the tree, they were about the size of a softball. Let me know if I'm missing something, but so far I really like it.

4Runner

For $10 you can't really go wrong ....please report all the foreign objects you find. Something has to give.

theyolksonyou

Lump is like politics and religion around here. Find something you're happy with, experiment occasionally and keep egging.

Botch

Glad you're happy with it, I'm not.  Frontier is the only other lump besides BGE available around here.  Haven't noticed a difference in smoke from BGE (this is my first bag) but half the time I have to try to light it twice before it gets going, and there's a few lumps in the bag that are still raw wood, not "charcoalized" at all.

 

But, if its working for you, go for it!  The price is certainly right.  Maybe I need to try one more bag before eliminating it... 

travisstrick

It used to be cheaper than it is now. I think 20# for $9.99. At that price it was ok but any higher, it sparks and smokes too bad. It ain't the best but remember, it's all fuel and it all burns. Don't get too picky.

GreenWave36

I had an awful experience with a bag I bought from BJ's wholesale club last summer.

Wowens

There have been a couple of non carbonized pieces of wood, I'm half way through my second bag, and I've seen probably 3 pieces.

I haven't had a problem lighting, I use a propane torch, so that gets it going fine.

I'm not geting hardly any smoke from it.  It comes out nice and clear.

Doc_Eggerton

Frontier has worked OK for me the few times I've used it.  Only complaint was chunks that were too big and had to be broken up.

lowandslow

I used Frontier and would not recommend it.  It took forever for the nasty black smoke and horrible smell to subside before food could go on.  At least an hour.  The food had a strange taste.  I would have sworn someone ground up some tires and pawned it off as charcoal.

Basically, you get what you pay for.  

I am in NJ, so the best lump I have found is Wicked Good.

shucker

I use it on occasion.  The only lump I can get around here is Frontier, RO, Cowboy, or BGE.  So its a pick your poison kind of thing for me.  If Im going to pay for garbage, I might as well pay as little as possible.  

mmundy81

I also recently bought a couple a bags to try.  So far, I am very pleased. I have only done a couple of med to high heat cooks with this charcoal, but my observations so far are as follows.

    Fast lighting with the smoke thinning out quickly

    Reaches high heat easily

    Neutral

    Does not burn up quickly

I have not had an opportunity to do a low and slow, yet, but so far in my experience, it has been almost comparable to RW.  From what I can tell, from the whiz's website, there was once an American hardwood variety and a South American hardwood variety (the USA graded out really high while the other graded out as average).  From what I can tell from frontier's site, it looks like there these varieties are no longer specified.  I wonder if the discrepancy in quality among users has something to do with this or if it is just a luck of the draw type of deal from bag to bag.

NCEggSmoker

I have used about 2/3 of a bag of Frontier Lump.  I experienced similar issues as @lowandslow.  Nasty black smoke for nearly 45 minutes before it cleared.  It may be that I'm not being careful enough picking out pieces which haven't been carbonized. 

The remainder of that bag has been sitting in the garage for a couple months now.  I've gone through two bags of WGWW and two bags of Kamado Joe both of which I much prefer. 

Those are the best brands I can get here locally. The WGWW (brown bag) sells for $23-$24 for a 22 pound bag and burns nice and clean if a bit sparky.

The KJ sells for $19.99 at my local ace hardware for a 22lb bag (red and white).  Really nice sized pieces, no non-carbonized so far and minimal sparking. I think this will be my go to local lump. 

Haven't yet tried Rockwood or Ozark Oak.  I should really place a firecraft order, but I'm not sure about getting 100lbs of charcoal shipped.  Seems like all the large/heavy items I've had shipped lately have arrived looking like they were kicked off the moving truck onto the street and rolled up to my front door end over end.

AUCE

Look for pcs. That begin to burn. They will catch fire, not just like a charcoal burn but a wood burn because they aren't carbonized. I used 1 bag and won't again. RO At wally world is far better. It's also who packs BGE lump. I'm a noob too and have now been thru 5 different lumps. All are different..vastly different. I bought 200# of Rockwood as it has neutral characteristics. Out of all the lesser brands RO was my preference. Now that I've tried Rockwood I'll never go back..there is in fact a difference in lump regardless of commentary. I'm a student of about all I engage in and made it a point to observe what results were.....more smoke, faster burn, smokiness, non carbonized pcs. Etc.
Once you find what you like stick with it imo.
Its a **** adjusting how you cook because of various lump qualities.

Wowens

Interesting the different results from different people. I wonder if Frontier made a change. I've seen no black smoke, and very mild smoke flavor. I'll have to try some other brands for comparison.

caliking

@Wowens - +1 to what  @theyolksonyou said.

But, if you have Home Depot or Wal-Mart near you, then Royal Oak lump is pretty decent, except for the occasional odd bit of weirdness that gets in the bags. What about ordering from firecraft .com? Most of the quality lump brands will cost about $1/lb. Also, watch Amazon for Fogo. The price is up right now, but falls to ~$1/lb intermittently.

Cookinbob

I was buying Frontier in 34 lb bags for $20 at BJ's a couple of years ago.  My only complaint was size distribution in some of the bags.  One would be great, full of large pieces, another would have a lot of chips.  Never a complaint with lighting, smoke or smell though. 

I have tried Rockwood, and while many here swear by it, I found to many small pieces in the 2 bags I bought.

I mainly use RO these days, the price at HD is pretty good and i can always get it.

TylerA

I use it sometimes, its OK.  I like it as well as Royal Oak.  The True Value close to my house has it, and I buy it if I need some.  

BigGreenGator

Got no problem with frontier here ... It's been my go to for the last 4 bags I've bought ... Clean quick burns no bad tastes ... Long burn times ... Enjoy