The "Rock" In Rockwood Charcoal?!

dbCooper

So I'm giving last nights lump a stir before lighting for this evenings cook.  Came across the biggest rock I've ever had in there.  This is my 2nd bag of RW, seems they are aptly named!

Pic after pulling it from firebox and one after giving it a rinse.....

EGGjlmh

Oh no......

cookingdude555

Oh crap, you are about to blow everyone's mind.  Well, I am sure its a really good rock and you should be thankful it chose you as the owner.  Cherish it.

JethroBodeen

At least its a big rock. Cowboy charcoal only supplies lots of small ones.....

kl8ton

You'll have that on occasion.  They overfill all the bags to account for misc. debris.  

smbishop

Here is my one and only after many, many bags of Rockwood.   Sh#t happens, quality product, awesome company.

Botch

I found my first "Rockwood" rock this weekend too, yours is much bigger (something I will rarely say ).  
I'm mounting it on a cheap gold chain and leaving it in my ex-GF's mailbox.  

dbCooper

smbishop said:

Here is my one and only after many, many bags of Rockwood.   Sh#t happens, quality product, awesome company.

Mine came in at 1.6# on the bathroom scale.  Me holding rock minus me not holding it, so not the most accurate.

Totally agree RW is fine quality product.  Burned Royal Oak for many years until recently saw RW at my local Ace Hardware and decided to finally try it, at over twice the price of RO.  I'm not going back to RO, RW is worth the premium for me.

Ozzie_Isaac

Weigh your bag, it will weigh min of 21lbs, even though you paid for 20lbs.  Any non-charcoal matetial less than 1lbs and you are money ahead Unless it is plywood or plastic bands like cowboy uses.

RRP

smbishop said:

Here is my one and only after many, many bags of Rockwood.   Sh#t happens, quality product, awesome company.

Your picture as well as that of the thread's poster both start measuring from a point other than at 0 thus making it appear the length of the subject matter is longer than it really is. Could that be from years of... oh - never mind...

Cornholio

RRP said:

smbishop said:

Here is my one and only after many, many bags of Rockwood.   Sh#t happens, quality product, awesome company.

Your picture as well as that of the thread's poster both start measuring from a point other than at 0 thus making it appear the length of the subject matter is longer than it really is. Could that be from years of... oh - never mind...

I took it as showing the scale for reference, kind of like the little mi/km scale at the bottom of a map.  Neither of them mentioned an actual length.  We could always ask to get the micrometers out though.  

milesvdustin

All lump will have some rocks in it, it's a natural product. 

speed51133

I read a review on ace hardware that one guy doing tongue and groove plywood in the rock wood

smbishop

RRP said:

smbishop said:

Here is my one and only after many, many bags of Rockwood.   Sh#t happens, quality product, awesome company.

Your picture as well as that of the thread's poster both start measuring from a point other than at 0 thus making it appear the length of the subject matter is longer than it really is. Could that be from years of... oh - never mind...

 @rrp   Seriously Ron?  It is for reference and I stated my support for the product,

FlyOverCountry

RRP said:

smbishop said:

Here is my one and only after many, many bags of Rockwood.   Sh#t happens, quality product, awesome company.

Your picture as well as that of the thread's poster both start measuring from a point other than at 0 thus making it appear the length of the subject matter is longer than it really is. Could that be from years of... oh - never mind...

LMAO an it’s even showin six inches!  Ha!  Someone knows how to jam the better half of the rooler into their gut to hit the mark!  

milesvdustin

Not sure who disagreed with me, but I'd like to know how you can get all the rocks out of trees 

FlyOverCountry

milesvdustin said:

Not sure who disagreed with me, but I'd like to know how you can get all the rocks out of trees 

What kind of idiot thinks rocks grow in trees?  Did someone hit you in the head with a big one when you were a kid? 

speed51133

Haha. Yeah. Are we making lump out of root balls??

stlcharcoal

Any lump charcoal can and will have the occasional rock in it no matter what the manufacturer claims.  It's just how it's manufactured.  Is anyone got to inspect every single piece.....hundreds of chunks in bags and hundreds of thousands (and sometimes MILLIONS) of bags every year?  Not a chance.  Besides, you'd have to x-ray every piece to find if it had a rock, nail, etc inside the chunk.

The only way I've ever been able to hatch up is floating the charcoal across a water bath.  A rock, or a piece with a larger pebble encased inside a chunk, would sink to the bottom......and the charcoal would float.  But then it absorbs water, taking on weight.  Between selling heavy/wet charcoal vs. the occasional rock in dry charcoal, take the rock and chuck it into the woods.

We overload each bag by at least a half pound, but the bag is also always full by volume.  So, hypothetically, if a 5# boulder dropped in there and the scale shut off the conveyor at 20.5#, and the bag is barely 3/4 full, then they'd sweep another few handfuls in to top it off.  I've picked up bags that have felt heavy and have been 23-24#.  Always error on the side of the customer.

Sorry those are over 1/2#, but you'll make it back in the next bag or two.  We're not out to screw anybody over, that's why we put the overage in there.  In the long run, a repeat customer is always going to come out ahead.

speed51133

I haven't bought your lump yet, but I will this fall. I appreciate your input and customer service. Thanks

RRP

smbishop said:

RRP said:

smbishop said:

Here is my one and only after many, many bags of Rockwood.   Sh#t happens, quality product, awesome company.

Your picture as well as that of the thread's poster both start measuring from a point other than at 0 thus making it appear the length of the subject matter is longer than it really is. Could that be from years of... oh - never mind...

 @rrp   Seriously Ron?  It is for reference and I stated my support for the product,

sorry, pal - obviously my attempt at humor flew right over your head when you were offended by my comment. I'll try to do better...

stlcharcoal

speed51133 said:

I read a review on ace hardware that one guy doing tongue and groove plywood in the rock wood

Yeah, an unverified purchase of course.  Then he posts a pic of something that isn't tongue and groove.  Makes you wonder what his motive was.

There's a lot of stuff that can end up in lump charcoal, but I know exactly what CANNOT end up in ours.  There is no way any tongue and groove, plywood, molding, or any other construction scrap ended up in RW.  All the wood is slabs or occasional cords......it comes straight from the wood mills doing rough cuts.  None of the wood is sourced from anywhere that would even have that kind of stuff.  You'll see 90 degree angle from the rough cut, but that doesn't make it lumber.  We get the knotty, warped, broken, short, and other pieces that cannot be processed further into lumber. 

If you see the metal bands in the pic below, that's where those can come from.  A big magnet catches most of that stuff, but not always.

speed51133

I thought that pic didn't look like plywood....

I have a fresh bag of fogo to use up this weekend. Then I'll get the rock wood. 

caliking

I’ve burned over a pallet of Rockwood so far. Have never found any plywood, flooring scraps, trim, tongue/groove etc. Fairly certain that I never will. 

Justacookin

My Ace in Bloomington Mn started carrying it a while ago all i buy now I have only found a rock not even the size of a quarter did not even add it to my mason jars of everything i have found in others brands. only brand i buy now because of all the good advice from all the good people on here thanks

KamadoTom

a member on another forum has been doing an epic charcoal comparison and I've been playing along at home so I just placed an order for some Rockwood and B&B Oak through Ace. I'm looking forward to trying the RW after learning so much about it on this forum, seems like a good company and a decent guy running it.

TN_Egger

BGEChicago

I'm a @stlcharcoal convert. Yeah very rarely get a not totally uncarbonized piece but after 19 bags I have noticed this twice, and rocks? I couldn't  fill a drink glass with them, I feel (and this is my opinion) that this guy cares about BBQ and is just trying to make a living off a business... I feel he is an honest businessman. Ok, off my soapbox now  

ArvadaMan

Started using my first bag of Rockwood this weekend.  I found a small piece of uncabonized wood (~2x6 inches) in the bag.  It smelled wonderful as it burned.

milesvdustin

FlyOverCountry said:

milesvdustin said:

Not sure who disagreed with me, but I'd like to know how you can get all the rocks out of trees 

What kind of idiot thinks rocks grow in trees?  Did someone hit you in the head with a big one when you were a kid? 

Not sure why I am replying to a troll, but trees pick things up sometimes as they grow. Sawmills xray their logs because of the things that can be in trees will destroy their blades. 

stlcharcoal

milesvdustin said:

FlyOverCountry said:

milesvdustin said:

Not sure who disagreed with me, but I'd like to know how you can get all the rocks out of trees 

What kind of idiot thinks rocks grow in trees?  Did someone hit you in the head with a big one when you were a kid? 

Not sure why I am replying to a troll, but trees pick things up sometimes as they grow. Sawmills xray their logs because of the things that can be in trees will destroy their blades. 

And guess what happens to the pieces they reject......to the charcoal plant they go.  You'll find nails, barbed wire, bullets, and even the occasional arrowhead.  Anything that's ever been shot or hammered into a tree many years forms a knot and gets encased in the wood, and then the charcoal if it doesn't break apart.