All kidding and razzing aside what do you have against Royal Oak?

Tbla

New EggHead here.   I have only used the BGE and now RO.    Not sure I can tell much difference between them.  Might be my inexperience.   I live in Woodbury, MN.   I'm not sure where to find other brands.  I did find Cowboy at the local Ace hardware.  Any help in finding other brands locally would be appreciated.  

Jeepster47

@Tbla ... go back to your Ace Hardware and ask if they can get Kamado Joe in the red bag.  If they can order it through the local distribution center, then give it a try.  Then tell the rest of us what you think of it relative to BGE and RO.

Eggcelsior

@lit all my RW makes the "plink" noise when I pour it. Back when I was getting RO, it basically did too with a few exceptions of uncarbonized wood. )

Lit

Eggcelsior said:

@lit all my RW makes the "plink" noise when I pour it. Back when I was getting RO, it basically did too with a few exceptions of uncarbonized wood. )

Plink and tink are different. When you pour OO in its a different sound. It's a high tuned pitch with OO. I know I need to go try another bag of the $27 a bag RW cause I got the only crappy 2 bags ever made. Didn't you find a good deal on the fogo smaller bags? I asked a local dealer that's really cool to try to find fogo. 

Lit

Oh and my last bag of OO actually had a non carbonized piece in it.

KenfromMI

You guys take the fun out of cooking on the BGE. LOL

DoubleEgger

Here's a home experiment/study. When you break open a new bag of your favorite lump, keep a log with the prices of all of the food you put on the egg for the duration of the bag. I have a feeling that it'll be like a smoker complaining about the cost of the Bic Lighter. 

Legume

When I was cooking on my gasser regularly, I drove 20 miles out of town to a little hardware store to get my propane bottle filled rather than do the blue rhino thing or go to the local u-haul or RV place. Their propane was less gassy, I think it was aged more.  It made a huge difference in my marriage.

Legume

...but then all of my friends and neighbors got mad at me because I would go on and on about this special propane.  Oh well, more boneless skinless chicken breasts and frozen hamburgers for me!

RRP

Legume said:

When I was cooking on my gasser regularly, I drove 20 miles out of town to a little hardware store to get my propane bottle filled rather than do the blue rhino thing or go to the local u-haul or RV place. Their propane was less gassy, I think it was aged more.  It made a huge difference in my marriage.

I assume you drove your pick'em up truck...

mroehl

I'm not a lump expert but RO works for me. I buy it in bulk at the end of summer and get it for a great price. never had anyone complain about taste. That being said if I could get another brand to try without paying shipping I would. I say cook with what you like everyone has different tastes ,no right or wrong IMO.

WeberWho

@Tbla I haven't had Kamado Joe lump but hear good results.  I know my local Ace carries it. (Southern Twin Cities)  We also have a Wicked Good distributor from Savage if I'm not mistaking.  I've been so spoiled with a friend that use to make a trip down to Alabama the past few years to bring back skids of Ozark Oak.  I don't know what I'll do when I run out.    

tjv

Doc_Eggerton said:

Oops, done with RO et al.

Hey Doc, also many done on CGS......thanks 

t

tjv

Jeepster47 said:

@tjv ... thanks for the detailed write-up ... very helpful. 

Well, except for the fact that now I've got to time my lump purchases to coincide with the winter months to maximize the carbon.

no problem, just trying to give new folks a broad picture on lump.  After all, ceramic cooker is not much good without it........lol

t

KenfromMI

I just looked, Naked Whiz highly recommends the American made Royal Oak. Not the one's from Central or South America. I looked at my Home Depot and they carry the made in the U.S. Royal Oak. I have Rockwood and Kingsford Competition to use up and then maybe I'll try it just so I have an opinion on it. LOL

henapple

tjv

henapple said:

watched it to long, can you snap your fingers and bring me out of the hipnotic trance..............

qprhooligan

I use RO most of the time because it is easiest to find. I like it ok.

KiterTodd

Roadpuke0

Legume said:

Roadpuke0 said:

Legume said:

@stlcharcoal does your charcoal get sold under any other brands?

Was this answered? 

No, I haven't seen a reply to this.

I think @stlcharcoal is either really busy and can not respond or we are on to something. Some send up drone to do some fly overs at the facility. Maybe rockwood is  royal oak:-) just kidding but I'm very courious. 

flynnbob

IMHO - Royal Oak is crap.  I tried many bags on many many cooks.  Takes a while to light, smokes like crazy, and is full of foreign stuff.  Makes the cooks too smokey for me.  I prefer Rockwood and OO.  Look, we spend a lot of money on our Eggs, accessories, meat, booze, and cigars so what is a few bucks more for lump?  If you like RO use it is dead to me.

Lit

I have not used an egg in over a month. Burning wood is so much cleaner tasting even way cleaner that Rockwood. My backwoods is running at 300 off white oak and apple right now and you can't tell its even going but will have 5 times more smoke flavor than lump. Have some wings in it.

henapple

@Lit .....you don't hate Rockwood do you? 

Lit

henapple said:

@Lit .....you don't hate Rockwood do you? 

I really don't. I need to find a good decent prices lump to replace OO. I just can't pay $27 a bag that's crazy and that's what it's going for here. I was getting OO for $11 for 20 pounds. I have been using B&B oak to warm up my backwoods and it seems decent. Dense and slower to light but burns clean and hot once it gets going. I didn't mean anything bad when I compared straight wood to Rockwood it was actually a compliment because it was a clean burning lump.

YouEnjoyMyEgg

EGGjlmh said:

CtTOPGUN said:

 Royal Oak is readily available here. It is also priced attractively. Once I learned to let it stabalize long enough I have never gotten complaints of the smoke/soot flavor. For the money(especially when on deal) I will continue to use it happily. Next Firecraft order I will try Rockwood to see what the differences really are.

  Jim

Be careful!  You will like RW a little too much and it will cost you!

I ordered some RW a year or so back based on the reviews here and I spent so much time trying to get it lit that I actually eventually threw it away.  It was so much effort to light I couldn't deal with it.  Did I get a bad batch?  (I bought two bags that behaved the same).

YouEnjoyMyEgg

SGH said:

Ron, hopefully without rambling to much.....

Too late. 

TLDR.  And paragraphs help?

LadyGT

I was in Kroger the other day and passed through the BBQ aisle. They sell lump too. Anybody try a store brand? 

RRP

LadyGT said:

I was in Kroger the other day and passed through the BBQ aisle. They sell lump too. Anybody try a store brand? 

No I have not, but I understand Royal Oak makes it for them.

henapple

DieselkW

Because of this thread, and yes I'm blaming you all, I bought two bags of Royal Oak on sale, $0.70/lb.

They might as well rename it Royal Smoke. I've been using better lump for so long, I'd forgotten how inferior this stuff really is.

This is a picture during warm up, about 150f dome: