Restaurant Depot Carbon Del Sur Charcoal

GregW

I picked a bag last weekend and so far it looks good. It is tennis ball sizes and smaller. The lump is fairly high density and the broken sides are glossy.
It does tend to spark during lighting.
I see on Amazon it's $39.99, I don't recall what I paid for it at the Depot, but I don't think it was over $15
It only has 7 reviews on Amazon, but they are all good.
It did a forum search and didn't see where it has been discussed.
It does say it's hand made and the bag is a plastic nylon mesh.
 

Durangler

That lump won't disappoint.

rosco

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1169942/carbon-del-sur-lump-at-rd

JRWhitee

I bought some last week at RD, probably $12 or so. I liked it.

northGAcock

I saw on another post somewhere the question regarding membership to RD. Being I have a touch of lazy tonight after a big meal, was hoping to save myself of reading the fine print from a wesite. I don't have one in my city.....but headed to Charlotte this weekend. Is there a membership comparable to Costco / Sams Club? Is a reasturant affiliatin required? I am sure I can look all this up but hoping to get the skinny from those who frequent. Appreciate it in advance.

nolaegghead

I was happy with the couple of bags I burned.

Lit

I had issues with the popping. It actually popped around the plate setter and got ash on my food.  I will burn RO all day over this.

WeberWho

northGAcock said:

I saw on another post somewhere the question regarding membership to RD. Being I have a touch of lazy tonight after a big meal, was hoping to save myself of reading the fine print from a wesite. I don't have one in my city.....but headed to Charlotte this weekend. Is there a membership comparable to Costco / Sams Club? Is a reasturant affiliatin required? I am sure I can look all this up but hoping to get the skinny from those who frequent. Appreciate it in advance.

@northGAcock You don't need to be in the restaurant business but you do need a business tax ID to obtain a membership.  People also join Restaurant Depot through KCBS

nolaegghead

Lit said:

I had issues with the popping. It actually popped around the plate setter and got ash on my food.  I will burn RO all day over this.

You must have a plate setter with a serial number starting with 4833...  They're defective and allow popping lump to infiltrate the food.

JRWhitee

I am almost finished with the bag, no popping at all. Got mine at RD in Gwinnett.

northGAcock

WeberWho? said:

northGAcock said:

I saw on another post somewhere the question regarding membership to RD. Being I have a touch of lazy tonight after a big meal, was hoping to save myself of reading the fine print from a @northGAcock You don't need to be in the restaurant business but you do need a business tax ID to obtain a membership. 

Thanks...wify has one. 

beteez

Not bad I get the same amount of sparking from Rockwood. Great deal when you catch it on sale for <$10

Smokinpig

I had a bag. It is ok for the price. Would not go out of my way to get another bag but I would use it again. It is fairly smokey so I prefer rockwood. I also believe that this product is imported if that matters to folks.  

GregW

Sorry I overlooked the previous thread about the charcoal.
In Birmingham AL the memberships are free. With that being said, the RD down here is pretty sad.
Vegetables look pretty good, however the meat selection is terrible. The majority of the beef is select grade. They do have a very small 2 ft x 5 ft refrigerated case in front of the cash registers that has a few choice loins in it.

The primary advantage of a restaurant supply place is they tend to carry the same brands over time. Compare that to Costco or Sam's which constantly add and drop products from the stores. If your running a restaurant you need to be able to get the same products every time. Costco and Sam's can't provide consistency.
In my family's business we normally use Sysco and a local place called Wood Fruitcher. We can count on them to always have the brands we use.

As far as comparing Sam's to Costco, I prefer Costco. They carry a little better grade of products. Unfortunately Costco is a 30 min drive from me whereas Sams is  15 min away.