Buyer Beware! Royal Oak Lump From Home Depot

1voyager

I have always had great results using Royal Oak Lump. The last 2 bags have been the exception. Lump is smaller than normal. It's so smoky that a neighbor banged on my door yesterday thinking my house was on fire. It takes almost an hour for the fire to stabilize and the smoke to clear. It burns hotter. It smells terrible.

I checked the bag and discovered that there are no "Made in the USA" logos on the right front corner and on the lower right side.  (No, this isn't a pro-USA comment. Just fact.) There are no markings as to where it is from.

Too late to return to Home Depot since I bought 18 bags in March.

Just a heads up. Check the bag before purchasing.

bikesAndBBQ

Maybe you just got two bad bags in a row?  I use royal oak all the time and never experienced anything like you describe. 

blasting

I too got fed up with home depot royal oak. About a year ago i returned 17 bags myself.  Fyi, i returned it no problem, without a receipt.

Lump was ground to dust, smoked like crazy, and took forever to burn clean.  I was a long time user of RO, the quality simply went way down.  Many here have had no issue with HD RO.

I'm exclusively RW now.  

1voyager

I've contacted Home Depot and asked them to consider exchange rather than a refund since it's outside their 90-day refund policy. I'll let you know if they accept my offer. 

blasting

Mine was a year old when i brought it back.

Carolina Q

I've never seen RO without the "Made in USA" label so thanks for the heads up. I bought several USA bags from walmart a few years ago. By the time I opened the first bag and discovered all the tiny pieces, I had long since tossed the receipt. Used it anyway, but started buying from Home Depot. Haven't had a bad bag so far.

I bought my last 10 bags (20 lb ea) from Wicked Good. $130. Can't beat that, premium lump for less than RO. But you do have to pick it up in MA.

GoldenQ

Just checked mine from HD      Older stuff was American last three not marked  
thanks for the heads up.

jaydub58

I am currently burning RO from the Depot.  No problems at all.

henapple

Another limp post? I mean lump. 

nolaegghead

Wait, RO is moving lump jobs to Mexico?! 

Someone call the Donald!!!

1voyager

henapple said:

Another limp post? I mean lump. 

Have another PBR. 

Fred19Flintstone

I'm still accepting bids on a two-bag lot.

Ozzie_Isaac

Just checked mine.  Bought on 4th July sale ... NO made in America markings.  Ironic.

Zeiger88

I bought two 8lb bags at menards today for $4.99 a bag plus 11% rebate they are marked made in the USA on them. 

henapple

1voyager said:

henapple said:

Another limp post? I mean lump. 

Have another PBR. 

That's a given. 

HeavyG

Fred19Flintstone said:

I'm still accepting bids on a two-bag lot.

Does the winning bid also get you to do a gasket install?

tjv

when needed, RO goes south of the border to keep up with demand......

t

bgebrent

tjv said:

when needed, RO goes south of the border to keep up with demand......

t

Explains perhaps why some dislike RO and others love it. Two different products. 

kweitz

Just checked the 6 bags I just bought from HD. All with made in USA upper tight hand corner. Thanks for the post, will definitely not buy any south of the border RO. 

RRP

Not sure where we could ever find it, but over the years RO has acquired a number of smaller charcoal kiln companies all over the country. In addition rumor has it some foreign kiln companies as well. Probably what happened here as HD places a large order nationwide and to deliver many of the kiln sites get into the fulfillment process.

lousubcap

With the outdoor grilling season winding down for much of the country it must be an inventory clearance thing going on.  Now is not the time to be bringing in new stock for the winter...  (unless you run year 'round with a kamado cooker, location be da-ned.) 

Tarpon65

The RO bags I purchased on Friday as well as a few months ago, from Home Depot in Sarasota, do not have the made in the USA label.  I have not noticed any difference in the RO I was buying from Walmart, before they stopped selling it 4-5 months ago, that was made in the U.S. 

RRP

Fred19Flintstone said:

I'm still accepting bids on a two-bag lot.

I'm keeping an eye on the bidding! I still have my stash of 12 bags of OO. Wife asked me recently why I was saving it and I said "I'm saving it for old age" and her comeback was "well you are already 73 so when will you start using it?" women....

Fastfish

I have also purchased Royal Oak from HD. Takes over an hour to clear the bad smoke. Terrible stuff. Never will purchase again!

Botch

Thanks for the head's-up, @1voyager .  I'm just finishing a bag of RO that has the USA label on it, it was fine.  The new bag (still unopened) does not and it doesn't sound too promising when I tip the bag (I don't use that much lump, and buy my bags singly).  
A new grilling store opened south of the base, they carry both Rockwood and Fogo, so I'll experiment with them before trying the last bag of RO.  And, if they go cross-border during peak times, maybe I'll have to start hoarding like the rest of you guys (assuming I won't like RW or FG for the price).  

Fred19Flintstone

HeavyG said:

Fred19Flintstone said:

I'm still accepting bids on a two-bag lot.

Does the winning bid also get you to do a gasket install?

If I can get my monkey to help me and a banana to fight over while installing said gasket, you can have a gasket installed with primo workmanship like mine.  That and the two bags of OO.

Powak

My wife has totally noticed a change in the flavor of my grilling lately. I've been using RO for almost 2 years and bought 2 bags a couple weeks ago at Home Depot  - the bags I'm into right now. She says everything  tastes smokey and kinda nasty. It's true I have noticed way more smoke with the recent stock of RO. Time to go RW? 

XC242

Powak said:

My wife has totally noticed a changed in flavor of my grilling lately. I've been using RO for almost 2 years and bought 2 bags a couple weeks ago at Home Depot  - the bags I'm into right now. She says every taste smokey and kinda nasty. It's true I have noticed way more smoke with the recent stock of RO. Time to go RW? 

This is the reason I quit using RO. To me it always made everything smoked and nasty. 

Gym

Trump's wall could have prevented this!

RRP

Powak said:

My wife has totally noticed a changed in flavor of my grilling lately. I've been using RO for almost 2 years and bought 2 bags a couple weeks ago at Home Depot  - the bags I'm into right now. She says every taste smokey and kinda nasty. It's true I have noticed way more smoke with the recent stock of RO. Time to go RW? 

Could very well be, but in 2 years now your egg has also built up a definite layer of creosote which came from your RO plus any wood chips/chunks you have used. I'm not knocking RW by any means, just suggesting you might want to try a clean burn out, IF you switch to RW and SWMBO still has a smokey taste issue! 

Gym

I built a kiln recently for reasons like this. I was tired of **** charcoal. Now I make a year's worth of coal each winter and I'm good to go.