Charcoal shortage looming?

northGAcock

bubbajack said:

Local ace sold a pallet of Rockwood in 2 days.

Thanks for being our guy. Enjoyed the breeze of your back porch......and of course the chatter. 

bubbajack

Told you so...

RyanStl

CtTOPGUN said:

I have resorted to using briquettes for cooks that are not low and slow in order to conserve the lump I have. Supply is intermittent at best.. Of course I have to clean the ash out each cook, but otherwise it works.

Same thing happened to me this past weekend. My usual stops had no lump, so had to use "natural" briquettes instead.  They work, just don't like it near as much. Sure I could drive to an Ace seaking out the lump, but I didn't have time.

fishlessman

found royal oak at hd, they had 2 pallets

ChadMattington

Skiddymarker said:

@stlcharcoal notes an increase in demand and that goes for this side of the 49th as well. local retailer of Maple Leaf told me they had been shorted on the last two shipments, BC being about as far as we can get from the kilns in Quebec. He thought that there might be some shipments heading to the US. Price is still good for an 8Kg bag it is just under $15US/$19CDN. 

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread -

@Skiddymarker - Where do you buy Maple Leaf from? I’m in Langley, BC and I’ve been looking for it to try, especially at that price. 

@stlcharcoal - Do you have any distributors/sellers of in the Vancouver, BC area? I’m interested in trying your brand as well. 

Gulfcoastguy

Btw, I am presently trying Kamoda Joe big block, it smells like kerosene. I waited for the smoke to clear and then put the chicken on raised direct(Mickey’s). The smoke then dirtied up again? Chicken fat maybe?

alaskanassasin

I am going to have to drive to St. Louis pick up 3 pallets and break them down to dime bags... I will be rich!

Skiddymarker

ChadMattington said:

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Skiddymarker said:

@stlcharcoal notes an increase in demand and that goes for this side of the 49th as well. local retailer of Maple Leaf told me they had been shorted on the last two shipments, BC being about as far as we can get from the kilns in Quebec. He thought that there might be some shipments heading to the US. Price is still good for an 8Kg bag it is just under $15US/$19CDN. 

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread -

@Skiddymarker - Where do you buy Maple Leaf from? I’m in Langley, BC and I’ve been looking for it to try, especially at that price. 

@stlcharcoal - Do you have any distributors/sellers of in the Vancouver, BC area? I’m interested in trying your brand as well. 

Chad - Home Hardware was my source at 19.99/8kg, but they have started to carry BGE grills, so guess what brand of lump they now sell at $30/8kg bag? Added 5 bags of ML on special order for a $7 tube of LEXEL in January to make the drive over to South Delta worth it and get free shipping, or so I told SWMBO. Lowes also handled Maple Leaf, last year bought half a pallet, 15 bags. They too have moved to Kamado Joe as they sell their grills. 

CTC in Whalley had a few of bags of ML on Thursday, I grabbed four and there were some "been around the block a few times" bags left. Early days of MasterChef sure looked, cooked and smelled like Maple Leaf, later bags not so much. i wonder if ML is making and bagging for CTC?

Jonathan at St Louis Charcoal doesn't have any Canadian dealers to my knowledge, Rockwood is a good/great product which pre-COVID days was a quick trip to the ACE in Blaine or Bellingham. Now we are stuck. Haven't bought any since early last year. Good luck and let me know if you find a source. 

lousubcap

Rockwood website offers it.  Basques Sugar Maple is available as well on-line.  After that I don't buy.
No shortage for me.  FWIW-

SciAggie

I honestly wonder if in some cases it’s a case of changing consumer wants. At Home Depot they don’t sell any grills that use lump. Everything is for briquettes or pellets. That may be at least why they are not sticking RO as much as they once did. 

Just a thought. 

HeavyG

SciAggie said:

I honestly wonder if in some cases it’s a case of changing consumer wants. At Home Depot they don’t sell any grills that use lump. Everything is for briquettes or pellets. That may be at least why they are not sticking RO as much as they once did. 

Just a thought. 

Home Depot sells Kettles and some Masterbuilts that can use lump or briquettes.

RyanStl

Along the same line wood appears to be in shortage. This weekend we camped at St. Francois Missouri State Park. We arrived at campsite at 6pm, got all setup, and by 6:30pm the park was out of firewood to sell. Unbelievable. I had to drive around for nearly an hour looking for a gas station that sold wood.

EzraBrooks

PSA - my wife made a Kroger run today and stumbled upon 3 15 lb bags of Royal Oak.  She had been hearing my whining about not finding lump so she grabbed all three.  Honestly never thought to look there.  But my stash is now over 125 lbs so feeling good about getting by for a few months.

lousubcap

@EzraBrooks - you have no idea how lucky you are.  And I'm not talking lump buys here! 

EzraBrooks

@lousubcap for sure, we have a symbiotic relationship...she keeps me supplied (usually with groceries but now lump) and I make her favorites for her

GrillerReb

Are you all morally opposed to purchasing online? I’m just curious. I can buy directly from Fogo and I can buy Jealous Devil straight from Amazon.

RyanStl

GrillerReb said:

Are you all morally opposed to purchasing online? I’m just curious. I can buy directly from Fogo and I can buy Jealous Devil straight from Amazon.

No, just financially opposed.  Besides food, 75% I buy, I buy from Amazon.  However, I only do so if price is same or better than local big box. Charcoal doesn't fall into that category.

GrillerReb

RyanStl said:

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GrillerReb said:

Are you all morally opposed to purchasing online? I’m just curious. I can buy directly from Fogo and I can buy Jealous Devil straight from Amazon.

No, just financially opposed.  Besides food, 75% I buy, I buy from Amazon.  However, I only do so if price is same or better than local big box. Charcoal doesn't fall into that category.

Hey, I can definitely sympathize with that notion. I just see a lot of folks saying they can’t find premium brands like Rockwood and it’s available for direct online purchase. 

I use Jealous Devil for my long cooks and am able to purchase directly from Amazon with no problems. I guess I’ve been fortunate in that my local Kroger and Dollar General still also carry plenty of Royal Oak. Not my favorite but it works well enough for most purposes.

I live in the sticks of W Tennessee. It seems like we have a lot of kamado owners around here but I’ve fortunately had no issues with finding lump. 

carrda04

GrillerReb said:

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Hey, I can definitely sympathize with that notion. I just see a lot of folks saying they can’t find premium brands like Rockwood and it’s available for direct online purchase. 

This is definitely true. I'm a Rockwood guy, and I know I currently CAN buy it at Amazon, but at a higher cost to me, and not a higher net to the producer. And I'd rather the margin go to the family that owns my local Ace rather than the billions Mr. Bezos already has. I certainly will order if shipments don't reach the great white North of MN soon, though! Have been checking daily and there is only one store in the entire state with it in stock right now, and it's a couple hundred miles away. It'll come, eventually. 

billyray

bucky925 said:

@bubbajack.  He told me the same thing a few days ago except he is unable to get RO also.  I've been on him to carry Rockwood since he opened the store and he always told me he couldn't and sell BGE's

We are Ace Dealers and sell both brands.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

carrda04 said:

show previous quotes

GrillerReb said:

Hey, I can definitely sympathize with that notion. I just see a lot of folks saying they can’t find premium brands like Rockwood and it’s available for direct online purchase. 

This is definitely true. I'm a Rockwood guy, and I know I currently CAN buy it at Amazon, but at a higher cost to me, and not a higher net to the producer. And I'd rather the margin go to the family that owns my local Ace rather than the billions Mr. Bezos already has. I certainly will order if shipments don't reach the great white North of MN soon, though! Have been checking daily and there is only one store in the entire state with it in stock right now, and it's a couple hundred miles away. It'll come, eventually. 

You can buy direct from Rockwood. The 3 bag deal is as good as any online and it all goes toward new shoes for the Heslop family

stlcharcoal

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

show previous quotes

carrda04 said:

GrillerReb said:

Hey, I can definitely sympathize with that notion. I just see a lot of folks saying they can’t find premium brands like Rockwood and it’s available for direct online purchase. 

This is definitely true. I'm a Rockwood guy, and I know I currently CAN buy it at Amazon, but at a higher cost to me, and not a higher net to the producer. And I'd rather the margin go to the family that owns my local Ace rather than the billions Mr. Bezos already has. I certainly will order if shipments don't reach the great white North of MN soon, though! Have been checking daily and there is only one store in the entire state with it in stock right now, and it's a couple hundred miles away. It'll come, eventually. 

You can buy direct from Rockwood. The 3 bag deal is as good as any online and it all goes toward new shoes for the Heslop family

Damn right......and there are 8 of those little feet that require new shoes every 1-2 months.  These four little vultures eat through at least a box of cereal and bag of chips every day too.

.

carrda04

stlcharcoal said:

show previous quotes

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

carrda04 said:

GrillerReb said:

Hey, I can definitely sympathize with that notion. I just see a lot of folks saying they can’t find premium brands like Rockwood and it’s available for direct online purchase. 

This is definitely true. I'm a Rockwood guy, and I know I currently CAN buy it at Amazon, but at a higher cost to me, and not a higher net to the producer. And I'd rather the margin go to the family that owns my local Ace rather than the billions Mr. Bezos already has. I certainly will order if shipments don't reach the great white North of MN soon, though! Have been checking daily and there is only one store in the entire state with it in stock right now, and it's a couple hundred miles away. It'll come, eventually. 

You can buy direct from Rockwood. The 3 bag deal is as good as any online and it all goes toward new shoes for the Heslop family

Damn right......and there are 8 of those little feet that require new shoes every 1-2 months.  These four little vultures eat through at least a box of cereal and bag of chips every day too.

.

Well then, we're definitely cutting Amazon out of this relationship!

OhioEgger

After reading this frightening thread, I drove over to my local BGE dealer this morning. He had a full pallet of Rockwood, so I bought four bags, to my great relief. Apparently the shortages are randomly located.

rekameohs

OhioEgger said:

After reading this frightening thread, I drove over to my local BGE dealer this morning. He had a full pallet of Rockwood, so I bought four bags, to my great relief. Apparently the shortages are randomly located.

Just checked Brickseek for RO at area WalMarts.  About 2/3 of them show no stock, while others show limited stock or plenty of stock.  Looks like it is more of an inconvenience issue vs not being able to find any.

carrda04

Couldn’t wait for MN Ace’s any longer. What a beautiful sight to return to after an early morning walk! Not a huge stash, but enough to get through the Minnesota winter, as it affords less opportunity to cook outdoors in Jan/Feb...Big thanks to @stlcharcoal for the incredibly speedy delivery!

lousubcap

I recently took one for the Rockwood team.  I came across a solid deal on-line (not amazon) for Basques Sugar Maple lump.  Haven't ordered or used it in years but decided to pull the trigger thus reducing demand for Rockwood in the near-term.  

carrda04

lousubcap said:

I recently took one for the Rockwood team.  I came across a solid deal on-line (not amazon) for Basques Sugar Maple lump.  Haven't ordered or used it in years but decided to pull the trigger thus reducing demand for Rockwood in the near-term.  

Thank you for your sacrifice! 😉

I have heard others rave about it, but have never tried. Will be interested to see if you like it. 

stlcharcoal

carrda04 said:

Couldn’t wait for MN Ace’s any longer. What a beautiful sight to return to after an early morning walk! Not a huge stash, but enough to get through the Minnesota winter, as it affords less opportunity to cook outdoors in Jan/Feb...Big thanks to @stlcharcoal for the incredibly speedy delivery!

Ha!  I had to go digging for that Maple......you have four of the last five bags we had in the warehouse.

chard

Getting 4 bags of Rockwood delivered to my house on 10/15 from my local Ace in MN, so it is coming.