Jealous Devil Charcoal

briwald

Anyone have experience with this brand of charcoal?  I bought a bag that was on sale at my local Ace Hardware, and I must say, I have mixed feelings.  Seems to burn pretty good and hot...once you get it going.  Takes twice as long for me to get it going as with other brands, like BGE and other brands I have tried.  Just curious if anyone else has experience.

TEXASBGE2018

I do. It smokes like Hades guess that's where the name comes from. 

briwald

TEXASBGE2018 said:

I do. It smokes like Hades guess that's where the name comes from. 

Are you saying that as a good thing or a bad thing? 

TEXASBGE2018

briwald said:

TEXASBGE2018 said:

I do. It smokes like Hades guess that's where the name comes from. 

Are you saying that as a good thing or a bad thing? 

It was terrible. I won't use it again.

stv8r

never heard of it.   Must be a reason for that lol

littlerascal56

My local Traeger dealer is selling it.  He is dropping pellet grills, and is now a Napolean dealer. 

RRP

briwald said:

Anyone have experience with this brand of charcoal?  I bought a bag that was on sale at my local Ace Hardware, and I must say, I have mixed feelings.  Seems to burn pretty good and hot...once you get it going.  Takes twice as long for me to get it going as with other brands, like BGE and other brands I have tried.  Just curious if anyone else has experience.

It is not a real popular charcoal here, and I know I will never buy it again...but now watch how I as well as others get slammed with a Dislike...Get any idea what's going on? LOL

littlerascal56

I’m sticking with my Rockwood lump. Used it in my Bronco smoker today for a pork butt, and had lots of compliments tonight during dinner. 

fishlessman

if you google them be prepared for an aggressive email advertisement campaign

abpgwolf

It does take a long time to get to temp and produce clean smoke. But once it gets there it will burn hot and produce heat for a long time.

rekameohs

briwald said:

Anyone have experience with this brand of charcoal?

Naked Whiz has a review.
http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumpdatabase/lumpbag114.htm

Hoster05

abpgwolf said:

It does take a long time to get to temp and produce clean smoke. But once it gets there it will burn hot and produce heat for a long time.

for this reason I only use this stuff when I am making pizzas. 

stlcharcoal

fishlessman said:

if you google them be prepared for an aggressive email advertisement campaign

Year ago we had to send them a cease and desist because they stole pictures and graphics off our website.  They were using a picture of Rockwood to advertise theirs.  They couldn't even take a picture of their own charcoal!!






Here's an email from them where they'd send you a free bag if you left them a 5-star review on Amazon.  This practice is banned on Amazon, but in the end it nets them more money, so it's not like they enforce it.

TheBreeze

I used to use Jealous Devil and agree it takes a while to get going but burns fairly well.  It was OK.  

I have switched to Rockwood and much prefer it over JD.  It is excellent for quality and performance, made in the USA, and you even get some great info here on this forum from one of the company's principals. (even on this thread!)

briwald

Thanks for all the helpful replies.  I was wondering if I just got a **** bag or if I was doing something wrong, but evidence suggests it just takes longer to get going. I normally use Fogo, BGE or Royal Oak (which I gather is the same as BGE in a different bag), but this stuff was on sale for $24.99 for a 35 lbs. bag, so I figured I'd try it.  One pro is that it seems have less silt/charcoal dust, and more bigger pieces rather little tiny ones.  The big con is how long it takes.  All the other brands, I'm up and running in about 15 minutes.  Last night, it took nearly 40 minutes to get to 450.  Then there was a massive temp spike about 30 minutes later, I guess when the rest of the charcoal caught.  

UncleKeith

I’m not a fan of JD. My egg dealer comped me a bag when I bought my XL this summer.

I too am in the tough to light camp and I didn’t care for the flavor imparted to the food.

I am also in the Rockwood fold. I like it’s all around performance and flavor profile. I do add hickory or mesquite chunks. Not every bag is uniform re size of chunks but I have to imagine the bags are filled by a machine via conveyor belt or hopper. That’s got to make uniformity a challenge.

4TheGrillOfIt

I have used it and liked it OK.  Had a nice size, particularly for the XL.  I wouldn’t think think twice about grabbing it in a pinch.  I have tried just about every major brand and have settled on two that are head and shoulders above everything else: Rockwood and Fogo.  

Rockwood is by far the best.   Fogo black bag is second.  They both have a good size charcoal, not too big and not to small and both heat up fast.  

Nothing I have tried is carbonized as well as Rockwood.

Mark_B_Good

Isn't JD coal very expensive??

fishlessman

Mark_B_Good said:

Isn't JD coal very expensive??

stlcharcoal pictures it seems likely that the high price is from buying rockwood, getting it delivered to their plant, putting it in the jd bag, and delivering it yet again to their customers

danhoo

Rockwood is hard to find local. 

Looks like Ace hardware is starting to stock it. I'll have to try a bag.

I've cooked with JD and it was fine. 

stlcharcoal

danhoo said:

Rockwood is hard to find local. 

Looks like Ace hardware is starting to stock it. I'll have to try a bag.

I've cooked with JD and it was fine. 

You're in CA right?  Any Ace should be able to get it if it's not on the shelf.  Not much was shipping out that way during the panic buy, but they've been stocked back up in the two warehouses that supply all the CA stores for a while now.

danhoo

stlcharcoal said:

danhoo said:

Rockwood is hard to find local. 

Looks like Ace hardware is starting to stock it. I'll have to try a bag.

I've cooked with JD and it was fine. 

You're in CA right?  Any Ace should be able to get it if it's not on the shelf.  Not much was shipping out that way during the panic buy, but they've been stocked back up in the two warehouses that supply all the CA stores for a while now.

Yup I'm in CA. 

Thanks. I'd like to try a bag.  For a while Lazzaro Mesquite and Cowboy Oak & Hickory were all I could get. Late last summer other brands started to get back in stock, but I don't remember seeing Rockwood. I'll call Ace tomorrow. 

billyray

danhoo said:

stlcharcoal said:

danhoo said:

Rockwood is hard to find local. 

Looks like Ace hardware is starting to stock it. I'll have to try a bag.

I've cooked with JD and it was fine. 

You're in CA right?  Any Ace should be able to get it if it's not on the shelf.  Not much was shipping out that way during the panic buy, but they've been stocked back up in the two warehouses that supply all the CA stores for a while now.

Yup I'm in CA. 

Thanks. I'd like to try a bag.  For a while Lazzaro Mesquite and Cowboy Oak & Hickory were all I could get. Late last summer other brands started to get back in stock, but I don't remember seeing Rockwood. I'll call Ace tomorrow. 

If your local Ace Hardware store doesn't stock it, just ask them to check SKU #8400772 to see if their Distribution Center has it and if they do the store can special order it for you.

stlcharcoal

You can see if it's in stock on their website.  Just enter your ZIP and it will show the nearest store with it on the shelf.  Or you can order and have it delivered to the store in a few days.

Yno

@stlcharcoal
I was having trouble getting Rockwood during the hoarding rage. There are three Ace stores that I normally go to, depending on what direction my travels take me. One of the stores showed four bags in stock. I went in, but no, their inventory was off. I started calling every week, as  website kept showing four, but they always said "let me look" and came back and said "nope, inventory is off". Maybe they could have fixed the inventory???

4TheGrillOfIt

I’ve never seen it any of the stores here.  You can just order Rockwood straight from the source, which is what I do.  By in bulk and you get a little discount.  Once you start using it, you may find that you feel more comfortable having an ample supply.

lousubcap

Regarding Rockwood- a brief back story for the newer members of the forum:
For quite a while you could get Rockwood delivered to your door via Firecraft.com . Their business model cratered and they bailed on shipping lump charcoal (and it appears anything else).  Within weeks of that happening Rockwood stood up their own direct sourcing option.  Talk about rising to the opportunity.  
I have no affiliation with the company but I will support them at every opportunity.  FWIW-
BTW- website linked here: https://rockwoodcharcoal.com/  Go forth and support a great company and forum member who provides great insight.  

alaskanassasin

4TheGrillOfIt said:

I’ve never seen it any of the stores here.  You can just order Rockwood straight from the source, which is what I do.  By in bulk and you get a little discount.  Once you start using it, you may find that you feel more comfortable having an ample supply.

 I know its been said before but you can order rockwood on acehardware.com and pickup in store at your location. I did this for a few months and then they just started stocking it. that is a lot cheaper option than rockwood direct.

stlcharcoal

alaskanassasin said:

4TheGrillOfIt said:

I’ve never seen it any of the stores here.  You can just order Rockwood straight from the source, which is what I do.  By in bulk and you get a little discount.  Once you start using it, you may find that you feel more comfortable having an ample supply.

 I know its been said before but you can order rockwood on acehardware.com and pickup in store at your location. I did this for a few months and then they just started stocking it. that is a lot cheaper option than rockwood direct.

Yes, and hopefully it's going to show up in better shape too.  FedEx and UPS are not very kind to these bags.  Best way is palletized with nothing riding on top of it, but no way to guarantee that.

caliking

Amateurs order a few bags at a time

JohnfromKentucky

Glad I found this thread. I was thinking that Jealous Devil was good stuff and now I see that Rockwood is better. It appears that my local Ace Hardware is showing it in stock!