When did kingsford switch from kettle to kamado?

Hans61

Hans61

I purchased kingsford professional briquettes today from Costco, on sale two 18lb bags for 15$

I saw the same  kamado on the bag as in the the above photo. 

Figured they'd have a summit looking kamado rather than ceramic 

HeavyG

Perhaps they are trying to subtly convince more people that it really is ok to use briquettes in their kamados.

stantrb

At least 2 years ago for the competition briquettes.  I've used them.  They do work really well, especially for long cooks.  Still more ash than lump though.

YukonRon

I have used them in the Weber, years ago. They were fine for briqs I suppose. Never any issues for me. Burns longer, gives a good temperature longer than the other briqs I had used back then.
No way I switch from lump and go back though, if I had a choice in the matter.

Hans61

Never used briquettes in the egg. 95% of the time I use them in my Weber

DMW

Hans61 said:

I purchased kingsford professional briquettes today from Costco, on sale two 18lb bags for 15$

I saw the same  kamado on the bag as in the the above photo. 

Figured they'd have a summit looking kamado rather than ceramic 

Cool, I got the Costco flyer that showed $5 off, but didn't show the original price. I'll need to pick some up, briqs work great in the PR72.

Botch

I saw Kingsford "Lump" charcoal (not briquettes) at the Commissary last week. May give it a try.  

pgprescott

Looks like an acorn to me. Weber is now making pure lump briquettes with vegetable binder. Naked whiz has reviewed similar with wicked good pure lump briquettes. I suspect they are one in the same as you can't buy the WG briquettes anymore. Burn clean and even less ash than lump. I will have to do a bit more research on my end. I have burned them in the slow n sear with great results I might do a Kamado test for giggles. 

Eggcelsior

pgprescott said:

Looks like an acorn to me. Weber is now making pure lump briquettes with vegetable binder. Naked whiz has reviewed similar with wicked good pure lump briquettes. I suspect they are one in the same as you can't buy the WG briquettes anymore. Burn clean and even less ash than lump. I will have to do a bit more research on my end. I have burned them in the slow n sear with great results I might do a Kamado test for giggles. 

I'm running low on lump so I might have to swing by Costco to stock up on this for "regular" cooks like grilling/roasting. Thanks for the nudge to the blue side. I did a rib cook at nolaegghead's place in a large with KBB and had no issue with fire control for the duration. The ash amount was something else, though, so I'd worry with going more than 6 hours in a kamado.

pgprescott

Eggcelsior said:

pgprescott said:

Looks like an acorn to me. Weber is now making pure lump briquettes with vegetable binder. Naked whiz has reviewed similar with wicked good pure lump briquettes. I suspect they are one in the same as you can't buy the WG briquettes anymore. Burn clean and even less ash than lump. I will have to do a bit more research on my end. I have burned them in the slow n sear with great results I might do a Kamado test for giggles. 

I'm running low on lump so I might have to swing by Costco to stock up on this for "regular" cooks like grilling/roasting. Thanks for the nudge to the blue side. I did a rib cook at nolaegghead's place in a large with KBB and had no issue with fire control for the duration. The ash amount was something else, though, so I'd worry with going more than 6 hours in a kamado.

Just keep in mind that, to the best of my knowledge, all Kingsford products contain contaminants such as Borax etc. in them. They are not "pure" by any means. This doesn't bother some people, but is paramount to others. Just want to make that clear. I know the Wicked Good briquettes did not contain these contaminants, and to the best of my knowledge the Weber ones don't either. I suspect that the Weber briquettes are the former WG ones. I don't know for sure. That said, KBB is not in the same class as these previously mentioned pure lump briquettes. Apples and oranges.  

lousubcap

Long before I transitioned to the world of lump charcoal and all the varieties I was a KBB snob.  Used it for everything-and it served me well.  I will have to look into the Weber briqs-to play around with in the barrel cooker.  Thanks for the insights.

pgprescott

lousubcap said:

Long before I transitioned to the world of lump charcoal and all the varieties I was a KBB snob.  Used it for everything-and it served me well.  I will have to look into the Weber briqs-to play around with in the barrel cooker.  Thanks for the insights.

They also reportedly are able to be reused and relit the same as regular lump. Most all briquette charcoal will take on moisture and also break apart into virtually unusable junk once lit. This is due to the high percentage of binders and contaminants. Anyone who has past kettle experience knows the inconvenience of these short comings. Good luck cap. 

DoubleEgger

DMW said:

Hans61 said:

I purchased kingsford professional briquettes today from Costco, on sale two 18lb bags for 15$

I saw the same  kamado on the bag as in the the above photo. 

Figured they'd have a summit looking kamado rather than ceramic 

Cool, I got the Costco flyer that showed $5 off, but didn't show the original price. I'll need to pick some up, briqs work great in the PR72.

Academy was offloaded briqs for $2/bag last week. You might want to look into it. @DMW

lousubcap

Again, Thanks @DoubleEgger for that Academy steer.  Picked up several bags to use in firing up the stick burner.  Worked fine on the first go-round.  

HeavyG

Botch said:

I saw Kingsford "Lump" charcoal (not briquettes) at the Commissary last week. May give it a try.  

Kingsford makes a product they call Lump briquettes. It is still briqs.

DoubleEgger

lousubcap said:

Again, Thanks @DoubleEgger for that Academy steer.  Picked up several bags to use in firing up the stick burner.  Worked fine on the first go-round.  

I heard Kingsford or RO makes it. Can't remember which one. 

Botch

HeavyG said:

Botch said:

I saw Kingsford "Lump" charcoal (not briquettes) at the Commissary last week. May give it a try.  

Kingsford makes a product they call Lump briquettes. It is still briqs.

But that's not what I saw:
 

 

HeavyG

Botch said:

HeavyG said:

Botch said:

I saw Kingsford "Lump" charcoal (not briquettes) at the Commissary last week. May give it a try.  

Kingsford makes a product they call Lump briquettes. It is still briqs.

But that's not what I saw:
 

 

Weird. The Kingsford website does not show that product. But they also do not show the "Competition" briquettes either.

According to http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/ Kingsford renamed the "Competition" briqs to "Professional" last year yet @Hans61 has some new bags of "Competition".

Come on Kingsford - what's really going on?

pgprescott

HeavyG said:

Botch said:

HeavyG said:

Botch said:

I saw Kingsford "Lump" charcoal (not briquettes) at the Commissary last week. May give it a try.  

Kingsford makes a product they call Lump briquettes. It is still briqs.

But that's not what I saw:
 

 

Weird. The Kingsford website does not show that product. But they also do not show the "Competition" briquettes either.

According to http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/ Kingsford renamed the "Competition" briqs to "Professional" last year yet @Hans61 has some new bags of "Competition".

Come on Kingsford - what's really going on?

I don't think Charwood is quite the same as lump charcoal. I'm not an expert though. The so called "natural" lump briquettes are not natural by most peoples standards. Like @HeavyG  suggests, they are still full of impurities.

DMW

DoubleEgger said:

DMW said:

Hans61 said:

I purchased kingsford professional briquettes today from Costco, on sale two 18lb bags for 15$

I saw the same  kamado on the bag as in the the above photo. 

Figured they'd have a summit looking kamado rather than ceramic 

Cool, I got the Costco flyer that showed $5 off, but didn't show the original price. I'll need to pick some up, briqs work great in the PR72.

Academy was offloaded briqs for $2/bag last week. You might want to look into it. @DMW

No Academy near me unfortutely

stlcharcoal

Botch said:

HeavyG said:

Botch said:

I saw Kingsford "Lump" charcoal (not briquettes) at the Commissary last week. May give it a try.  

Kingsford makes a product they call Lump briquettes. It is still briqs.

But that's not what I saw:
 

 

Holy crap.......I haven't seen a bag of that in 7-8 yrs.  It may be that old because the plant that used to bag for them is no longer around.  Does it look old or have a date code on it?  If it's old stock, don't worry, there's nothing wrong with it.  Lump charcoal has a shelf life of 1,000,000 years, and they did a good job at that plant.

stlcharcoal

pgprescott said:

Looks like an acorn to me. Weber is now making pure lump briquettes with vegetable binder. Naked whiz has reviewed similar with wicked good pure lump briquettes.

pgprescott said:

 

They also reportedly are able to be reused and relit the same as regular lump. Most all briquette charcoal will take on moisture and also break apart into virtually unusable junk once lit. This is due to the high percentage of binders and contaminants. Anyone who has past kettle experience knows the inconvenience of these short comings. Good luck cap. 

No briquette is ever going to be "pure" lump fines.  It needs a binder, which is usually corn starch, potato starch, or some sort of pre-gelatinized dextrin.  But then they start adding limestone, sodium nitrate, anthracite (coal fly ash), sawdust, and in some cases petroleum to the slurry.  Aside from petro, all of these can still be called "natural", because it all comes out of the ground.  Just like "organic", that word is not regulated when it comes to a fuel.  Anthracite is a higher BTU than lump fines, but it can contain sulfur and other things coal does--that's usually where the pungent smell comes from.  Borax (sodium borate) is usually necessary agent to get the briquette to release from the press, and I believe it's just on the outside.  If you look at the MSDS's for briquettes, so can see that borax is always a very tiny percentage.

The same should be for the limestone though-which they claim, "is to tell you when it's hot enough to cook on,"  Yet then why is it mixed in with the slurry???  Easy answer, it's heavy--and so is the water in the slurry.  Measure out 1-lb of regular briquettes and set them next to 1-lb of lump fines......looking at the volume, it will be blindingly obvious how much limestone and water weight are in briquettes.

It all comes down to BTU per pound.  Our lump is 11,500-12,000 BTU/#, so theoretically a 'pure' lump fine briquette using dextrin (which can be used at a MUCH small percentage than starch), would be somewhere about the same (or even higher if you bake the water out.)  I won't name the brands, but the BTU tests we had performed last year showed the store bought briquettes coming in 7000-8000 BTU/# with the ash content 3-5x higher than lump fines.  The factor.......LIMESTONE.  People complain about a few pebbles they fine in a bag of lump, if only they knew how much crushed rock they pay for in a bag of briquettes.  BTU/# on ANY lump or briquettes is what you should looking at when it comes to the value.