Rockwood 10-year anniversary pics! Thank you Eggheadforum!

lousubcap

Thanks for the 2020 survival story.  Way to adapt and do what was needed to survive that lost year plus. 

caliking

I have *almost* as much lump in the garage as that warehouse pic

Kudos to you. Many here enjoy the quality of Rockwood. But, very Dickensian of you to lock up the kids, and make them load charcoal!

bradleya123

That's just awesome!!  We left St Louis in 2009, lived in Crystal Lake Park until our move to North Carolina!  St Louis is a great Midwest City!!  Congratulations!!!

StillH2OEgger

Awesome. Congrats on 10 years! There are enough variables when I'm cooking, I appreciate that my charcoal isn't anything I need to worry about. I've tried several brands, but none have been better than Rockwood.

johnmitchell

Congratulations and what a great story and achievement.

MaskedMarvel

JohnInCarolina said:

He won’t mention this so I will, but @stlcharcoal has consistently donated lots of lump and other goodies to events like Butt Blast and Brisket Camp, etc.  I’m pretty sure he did that without anyone asking him, too.  The man just shows up with bags and bags of lump, wood chunks, and Rockwood hats, just to name a few things.  It has been greatly appreciated.  

I only smoke with Rockwood.  

John’s not exaggerating. Jonathan LITERALLY showed  up for Butt Blast. I couldn’t believe he came all the way to NC. So cool. We helped so many in need that weekend. 

Who’s got those handmade tools!?!

To this day - if I need anything I just email the guy. 

My kinda people. My kinda company. 

My my my… we need another BB…

Corv

I tried three bags, bought at different times, and all I ever got was small gravel-sized bits. Is that what you all get?

I don't use it any more for that reason.

lousubcap

I routinely get a majority of what I would call playing card deck size or slightly smaller and also some much larger sized pieces.  The really small bits accumulate at the bottom of the bag but it all burns. 

Obviously how the product is handled during transport has a major impact on what ends up in the bag when sold.

I buy all mine (save one bag I picked up at Academy Sports) straight from Rockwood.  I'm guessing this cuts down on the total handling process but IDK.

FWIW-

ksmyrl

I always buy from Ace. Now there is a brand new ACE 3 miles from the house so I'm good for a while. I've never had a single issue with Rockwood. Gravel size pieces is definitely not the norm in my personal experience. 

ChrisSonn23

Congrats on 10 years! And many more to come! Happy to be a dealer of your great product. I recommend it to everyone who comes in the store

Langner91

Corv said:

I tried three bags, bought at different times, and all I ever got was small gravel-sized bits. Is that what you all get?

I don't use it any more for that reason.

I had one bag that ACE hardware must have rolled from the distribution center to my local store.  Otherwise, the literally 50 or so bags I have bought (from either ACE or my favorite grill shop) have been the perfect mix of large pieces down to small pieces.  The small pieces work great in my MiniMax, so even the "bad" bag that I got was completely usable.  

I use Kick Ash Baskets in both of my eggs.  Normally, there is very little in a bag of Rockwood that falls directly through the spaces in the basket.  Those pieces that do are usually thin and only fit through in one direction. 

Here is a photo of my most recent fill from a newly opened bag.

Fred19Flintstone

Congrats on the 10 years!  Thank you for extending the sale for Freddie-Come-Lately.  I hit a triple (three bagger).

Grogu

Langner91 said:

Corv said:

I tried three bags, bought at different times, and all I ever got was small gravel-sized bits. Is that what you all get?

I don't use it any more for that reason.

I had one bag that ACE hardware must have rolled from the distribution center to my local store.  Otherwise, the literally 50 or so bags I have bought (from either ACE or my favorite grill shop) have been the perfect mix of large pieces down to small pieces.  The small pieces work great in my MiniMax, so even the "bad" bag that I got was completely usable.  

I use Kick Ash Baskets in both of my eggs.  Normally, there is very little in a bag of Rockwood that falls directly through the spaces in the basket.  Those pieces that do are usually thin and only fit through in one direction. 

Here is a photo of my most recent fill from a newly opened bag.

Pricey fire starter you’re using there

kl8ton

Fred19Flintstone said:

Congrats on the 10 years!  Thank you for extending the sale for Freddie-Come-Lately.  I hit a triple (three bagger).

Well, well, well.  Look who decided to make an appearance.  Welcome back fellow Michigander.  

JohnInCarolina

Grogu said:

Langner91 said:

Corv said:

I tried three bags, bought at different times, and all I ever got was small gravel-sized bits. Is that what you all get?

I don't use it any more for that reason.

I had one bag that ACE hardware must have rolled from the distribution center to my local store.  Otherwise, the literally 50 or so bags I have bought (from either ACE or my favorite grill shop) have been the perfect mix of large pieces down to small pieces.  The small pieces work great in my MiniMax, so even the "bad" bag that I got was completely usable.  

I use Kick Ash Baskets in both of my eggs.  Normally, there is very little in a bag of Rockwood that falls directly through the spaces in the basket.  Those pieces that do are usually thin and only fit through in one direction. 

Here is a photo of my most recent fill from a newly opened bag.

Pricey fire starter you’re using there

I believe that’s just meant to be a metaphor for @Langner91’s divorce…

55Kevy

Thank you for sharing your story.  And for the great product and service you offer.  I love the 'tink' when I pour it into my egg.

Acn

Corv said:

I tried three bags, bought at different times, and all I ever got was small gravel-sized bits. Is that what you all get?

I don't use it any more for that reason.

That’s more of a comment on wherever you buy charcoal from than Rockwood.  I order directly from them and haven’t had excessive amounts of super small pieces.

smbishop

Congratulations and a huge thank you for providing the lump I use day in and day out.  

stlcharcoal

Corv said:

I tried three bags, bought at different times, and all I ever got was small gravel-sized bits. Is that what you all get?

I don't use it any more for that reason.

Sorry this happened, where are you buying it?  If that was remotely "the norm" we wouldn't have made it a year, if that.  We have sold over a million bags in retail since then and we ship tens of thousands of bags online now (and get good reviews on Amazon......very few complaints and returns to my surprise actually since I see how Fedex and UPS handle it.)

RW is carbonized to 80-85%+ which makes it very brittle.  That's the trade off, it's more susceptible to breakage.  While most other companies kiln to the minimum or underkiln which sometimes result in massive chunks of (which are still filled with water and wood fiber), we kiln longer to give the customer a higher BTU, less ash, less smoke, etc.  If that results in smaller pieces, that's just the nature of the beast--but that's what sets RW apart, and has worked for 10 years.  We shoot for consistently high CARBONIZATION, not size.  If you cannot break it apart by hand, it shouldn't be called "charcoal".

Everything at the plant is bounced a across a 1" screen and the fines fall through.  So, anything you're finding in the bag that is 1" or less happened AFTER it was bagged.  Some of this comes from stacking, some comes from the handling, some comes from just agitation, but in a situation like you describe, you're talked gross mishandling at some point......whether it be throwing/dropping the bag or box it's in, stacking something super heavy on top of a pallet, etc.  I wish I could stop it from happening, but there are some stupid people out there that throw it around like it's  grass seed, mulch, or kitty litter.

Once a dealer on the east coast called me and said one of their three pallets arrived and it was a foot shorter than the other two.  I figured the top layer got scraped off by the carrier, or someone stole 5 bags off the top (both have happened several times before.)  But they told me no, 6 levels of 5 bags.....30 bags total.  Then they found water softener salt pellets scattered around the top and nestled in the bags.  The idiots at the freight company set a 3000# pallet of salt on top of my 670# pallet of charcoal and bounced it down the highway for 1000+ miles......crushed the whole pallet into fines.

It doesn't do us any good to put fines in the bag.....#1- people don't like it; but #2- we sell the fines into agriculture for soil amendments, animal feed, etc.  We've also sold them to the US military for munitions, brass and copper companies for the foundries, other biofuel companies, etc.  The fines are worth nearly as much as the lump, so it's not like we're making more by dumping fines in the bag.  Every bag also has an extra 1/2# in there to cover for any rocks, or fines if you want to use it for that (no reason to not just burn those though.)

So, again, sorry this happened.  None of this is an excuse, just the reasons why it could have happened.  I hope you'll give it another shot as it's definitely not bagged that way, and 99% of folks are not that unlucky to have that kind destruction in the middle. 

caliking

One should note, that the owner of the company himself is apologizing for the freight company, or the last-mile handling, treating the product like bags of sand. 

 

Elijah

I'll also heap on the praise. The consistency is what does it for me. You can buy cheaper or more expensive charcoal and roll the dice on how long it takes to get clean smoke. 

Buckwoody Egger

Some sweet string music kicking off the Mother’s Day cook today. 

ksmyrl

I used up my last jealous devil pieces for my clean burn today to clean off all the pork butt grease from the grad butt cook. Then, reloaded with Rockwood for the Mothers Day filets. I hate having to use Rockwood for a clean burn. 

Corv

I'll try another bag, then, and this time order it from you. I appreciate your comments very much.

I'd gotten the bag from the bigger Ace hardware store in Boulder, Colorado, FYI.

Legume

Corv said:

I'll try another bag, then, and this time order it from you. I appreciate your comments very much.

I'd gotten the bag from the bigger Ace hardware store in Boulder, Colorado, FYI.

If you're talking about McGuckins, it's hit or miss there.  I have to pick up the bags to see if they're crushed or not and they often are (tbh, that could easily be them and not the carrier).  I haven't seen it anywhere else around here at all.  Ordering direct is easy, but I've thought about asking the ACE in Lafayette. I wish JAX stocked it.

Eggdicted_Dawgfan

@Legume Just a thought- you might try mentioning it to the manager/owner. My local ace use to have the same issue. To the point I drove to a different ace about 30 mins further for about a year. Finally one day I didn’t feel like going so far so I went to my local and bought a bag. I spoke with the owner and mentioned the issues I was having and told him I had started going to another ace when I needed lump. 2 months later I was in there for something else and saw him, he gave me a bag to try, would not let me pay for it. Night and day difference. It was a simple mishandling problem. They take it from one pallet to another and when doing so the employees were just tossing it around. Now he makes sure they everyone is aware that it’s brittle and can’t be tossed around like sand or mulch. Hopefully this could be a solution for you. I’ve never had it shipped direct but I would think it would be a little cheaper if you could source locally. 

Legume

Thanks @Eggdicted_Dawgfan, but these guys are really very proud of themselves.  It is a cool store, big and lots of interesting stuff, well beyond a hardware store.  Family owned forever and a real anchor in the community.  That being said, they don't take feedback very well.  They're over staffed and you pay for it.  They were an ACE for a hot minute but apparently that union didn't work out. I made the mistake of mentioning ACE about a year ago and one of the old timers sneered at me and said "we are NOT an ACE hardware." I had a good laugh, but then, hardware isn't my life.

I go there for some things, others I hit HD or somewhere else.  I'll pickup Rockwood when they have a good bag or two and order when I need to.

Eggdicted_Dawgfan

Understood. I didn’t realize this was not an ace. Too bad they aren’t open to suggestions, sounds like they have it all figured out.

R2Egg2Q

Congrats on the 10 year anniversary!  I enjoyed the pics and history.  Thanks for sharing it.

RyanStl

Congrats Jonathan, that's awesome you made it 10 yrs and going strong!