Royal Oak Vs Rockwood Redux

Cookinbob

I have not had a problem burning off the VOC's to get clean smoke when I am burning just lump.  I can light up an egg of RO and be ready to cook as soon as it is up to temp.  Now if I add smoking wood, that is a whole different story - it takes me a long time to get "clean smoke" when I have wood in the mix.  And If I add the wood after I get "clean smoke", I no longer have clean smoke.
I do not find that I get much smoke flavor in the egg, particularly if I wait for the clean smoke.  I wish I had a "smoke flavor profile" to control as some of you describe.

I really don't think RW costs more than anything else, it is the cost of getting it.  I looked into a pallet buy once and the shipping charge was equal to the cost of the lump itself - made it impractical to me.  The big box stores are buying full truckloads of RO for their distribution centers, and delivering to the stores on their own trucks, so their cost basis is much different than the local retailer buying one or two pallets.  

With all due respect to @stlcharcoal, who I think has an excellent product, if I perceived a significant difference in the results with different lump, I would spend the extra, but I don't.  

stlcharcoal

Ozzie_Isaac said:

theyolksonyou said:

stlcharcoal said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

@stlcharcoal you should carry around business cards promising guys like that 1 free bag of RW.

I'm not one to give or accept unsolicited advice. 

 AKA STFU 

 point taken

LOL!!!!  Didn't mean it like that!

Meant more like the guy at the hardware store that looks in your cart, assumes what you're doing, and starts telling you what he thinks is better.  For all I know, the guy with those nasty briquettes could be using them to start a brush fire or cook meth.....a fine use for them!

ineggscape

RW for me. I get it cheap as I'm relatively close to St Louis maybe that's why. It's only a few dollars more a bag. 

dlk7

Rockwood has always done great for all my cooks - clean, neutral, and burns great at very high temps, mid temps and very low temps.  Fast to start and very little ash.  RO was always inconsistent for me - sometimes it seemed really sooty, sometimes really smokey, sometimes smelly, and sometimes ok.  With Rockwood, I get consistency and if I want smoke, I add the type of wood I like for smoke. 

nolaegghead

Maybe part of it is people learn to first cook on their egg using lump that they can find easily in the big box stores.  RO, Cowboy, B&B, etc.  Then they start reading the forum, learn about building a fire, how to identify "good" smoke....and the hype on the charcoal.  "Hey, I'm gonna put this information to use!".  So they buy some Rockwood, build the fire right, identify that bad smoke, not do anything stupid like put 5 pounds of mesquite on top and light from the bottm.... and....hey, the RO/Cowboy/B&B lump was the problem! 

BizGreenEgg

Those of us in the nether regions don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Thanks @jaydub58 for the heads up. I paid a bit more a few weeks ago for some bags. When @stlcharcoal needs to move some product up in Oregon, I can guarantee at least two heavy users. 

johnmitchell

Has anyone ever tried Anthracite, Coke, or just plain old coal in the Egg? Its hard burns hot and lasts forever.. Just a thought, something for the day drinkers to ponder..

joytreg

Please educate me. I use Royal Oak. Why do you prefer Rockwood?

Lit

I keep RO around for cooks that a little more smoke flavor are good for like burgers, dogs, sausages and pretty much any red meat. 

nth78

Has anyone tried Frontier lump?  Good or bad?  It is basically the same price as Royal Oak

Raymont

off all discussed, Frontier is the worst I've tried. RO is definetly better than Frontier. 

nth78

Raymont said:

off all discussed, Frontier is the worst I've tried. RO is definetly better than Frontier. 

Thanks, I will avoid it.

aukerns08

joytreg said:

Please educate me. I use Royal Oak. Why do you prefer Rockwood?

I said this in another post this week I think but the reasons I prefer Rockwood are the neutral smoke, it seems to take less time to burn off the VOCs and up to temp, I find the pieces are more consistent in size (you still get small pieces and dust from shipping and handling but what's left seems better), and I've yet to find a rock in a bag of Rockwood.  It seemed like I would find at least one rock in each BGE/RO bag I would use prior to Rockwood.  This last bit is just a personal preference of mine, I prefer to support small business over large corp when I can @stlcharcoal is a member of this community so I prefer my money go to his business over Royal Oak.

Dobie

To those who doubt, try a bag of Rockwood. If you cant tell the difference or dont want to pay the difference then carry on. I drink craft type beer and pay allot more for it than say Busch, but I have friends who dont appreciate the difference and drink the low end stuff. I will pay the difference and there is a difference to me. 

DieselkW

I get the love for RW, it's definitely a superior lump - I buy it when I see it, but I won't make a special trip for it.
Used RO for my first couple of bags on advice from the BGE dealer, who threw a bag on my initial order for "free".

Since then I've tried everything. Nothing, besides our dearly departed Ozark Oak, smells quite as nice as that burst of fragrance from a newly opened bag of Rockwood. It should be bottled and sold as cologne at EggFests.

That said, I buy my lump at Amazon, Quebracho comes in 40lb bags delivered to the door for $40. If RW is a ten, this stuff is a 9.5

ads75

joytreg said:

Please educate me. I use Royal Oak. Why do you prefer Rockwood?

I used Royal Oak for a couple years, and thought I had no issues. Then I tried Ozark Oak (probably discontinued) and Rockwood. I found Ozark Oak and Rockwood seemed to be more neutral, less smokey flavor than Royal Oak. I pay the higher price for them because I think its worth it. However, if I ran out of my preferred lump, would I still use Royal Oak, yes I would. I just haven't used it since I started using Rockwood/Ozark Oak.