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Royal Oak going down hill? (Yes....another Charcoal discussion)

2

Comments

  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414

    robnybbq said:
    My last two bags of RO are all tiny pieces (Got these at Walmart).  The RO bags I got form another store were fine.

    Wonder if the big box stores are getting the cheap leftover RO
    I have experienced the same thing. The RO I get from Wegman's(store-branded) is much better than the RO my Dad purchased at Walmart.
    In terms of size-consistency, that is.
  • beteez
    beteez Posts: 548
    No issues with Royal Oak from Rest. Depot
  • This last bag from Wally World was not the best.  Lots of small pieces, lumber pieces and dust. Plus, our WW is having a difficult time getting RO.  It is a shame, RO has been pretty good lump in the past.
    Large, small and mini now Egging in Rowlett Tx
  • wicked good weekend warrior, I live in NE ohio as well.  I swear I saw bags of this lump at Giant Eagle Last week...

    So when is there going to be an EggFest in NE ohio???
    Large BGE
    Camp Chef 4 burner Griddle

    Near Cleveland, Ohio
  • +1 for NE Ohio EggFest
  • pmckinney4
    pmckinney4 Posts: 17
    edited September 2012
    wicked good weekend warrior, I live in NE ohio as well.  I swear I saw bags of this lump at Giant Eagle Last week...

    So when is there going to be an EggFest in NE ohio???


    I'll have to swing by Giant Eagle and check that out.   I stopped by Sam's Club at lunch today and the only Charcoal they had was your standard Kingsford match light briquettes.  

    The place I purchased my Egg at has an Eggfest every year.   I purchased my Egg in February, but I think the Eggfest was in May.   I didn't make it this year.   I got mine at Coalway, in Apple Creek.    Don't try looking up their website, they are an Amish outfit.  They do have a telephone.  You could probably call them next March or April and find out when it is.  
  • YEMTrey
    YEMTrey Posts: 6,829
    +1 for NE Ohio EggFest
    The mere thought of The Brew Kettle's Andouille Mac'n Cheese smoked on an Egg would make me make the drive!
    Clevelander's, make this happen.
    Steve 
    XL, Mini Max, and a 22" Blackstone in Cincinnati, Ohio

  • Royal Oak just fine here from WW here in Atl. Maybe it's all crushed up from shipping, don't know. No complaints here for everyday use. WICKED is the goto for slo n lows.
  • If you live in Ohio check out Humphrey Charcoal. They are based out of PA, but their plant is in Ohio. Great lump with nice big pieces. I recently did a group buy of 2 pallets and got 60 20# bags for $14.50 per bag. That included shipping. If you price it per # it is cheaper than royal oak. 1 pallet is about $16/ bag. About the same as RO
    Mark Annville, PA
  • Is it heresy to say that BGE lump is better than Cowbow? The Cowboy had too many small pieces.
    LBGE
  • Stoater
    Stoater Posts: 292
    I am in Canada and our RO is in blue bags, nice big chunks, do get the odd rock in it though, in fact I have been saving them and gonna take a photo and send it to RO and as for a replacement bag.  We will se how that goes.
  • I also have to believe that anything you buy at Walmart is second rate, one of ways to keep prices so low, they go to distributors and just say, give me whatever you don't want to sell to someone else.

    Royal Oak is probably perfect example, they probably put the better quality into bags first to other stores and all the crap at the bottom of their kiln goes to Wally world...
    Large BGE
    Camp Chef 4 burner Griddle

    Near Cleveland, Ohio
  • 4Runner
    4Runner Posts: 2,948
    edited September 2012
    Go for a pallet order and it is a good bit cheaper. I split it with several folks and it costs us $16.09 per 22# bag. Much better quality than Publix too. Owners of Wicked Good in Maine are very nice. I believe they are in the middle of moving locations but email them using the address on their website and they will respond. Tell them Joe in Columbia recommended the pallet and Lee Ann will most certainly get a kick out of that. Now, I will say, Publix is a nice in a pinch.
    Hmm.....looks like Wicked good doesn't have dealers in Ohio on their website.   I wonder if I can have shipped to the Ace 2 towns over.  I'll have to check it out.
    I had started thinking that RO was burning pretty fast here lately.  So I have started ordering Wicked Good online at Ace Hardware and have it delivered for free to my local Ace Hardware store.  Not a problem yet with Wicked Good.


    Joe - I'm a reformed gasser-holic aka 4Runner Columbia, SC Wonderful BGE Resource Site: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ceramicfaq.htm and http://www.nibblemethis.com/  and http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/2006/02/recipes.html
    What am I drinking now?   Woodford....neat
  • I also have to believe that anything you buy at Walmart is second rate, one of ways to keep prices so low, they go to distributors and just say, give me whatever you don't want to sell to someone else.

    Royal Oak is probably perfect example, they probably put the better quality into bags first to other stores and all the crap at the bottom of their kiln goes to Wally world...

    I dont shop there but I do work for a company that sells them almost $200,000,000 in product every year. It does not work that way. They don't cut corners or allow you to sell them crap at a cheaper price. Beleive it or not, They are actually very demanding. They buy cheaper through their efficiencies and they are ruthless about efficiency.
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • I also have to believe that anything you buy at Walmart is second rate, one of ways to keep prices so low, they go to distributors and just say, give me whatever you don't want to sell to someone else.

    Royal Oak is probably perfect example, they probably put the better quality into bags first to other stores and all the crap at the bottom of their kiln goes to Wally world...
    I dont shop there but I do work for a company that sells them almost $200,000,000 in product every year. It does not work that way. They don't cut corners or allow you to sell them crap at a cheaper price. Beleive it or not, They are actually very demanding. They buy cheaper through their efficiencies and they are ruthless about efficiency.
    200,000,000? We should invent some banking device so we get a fraction of that. Initech style
    That would be nice. We aren't even a blip on their radar though. it's a big place (@ 425 Billion we are 1/2 of 1% of what they do....wow). 

    I should have said as far as brands go they don't allow you to sell them crap or cut corners. There is plenty of cheap crap in there but we are a big national brand. They push us like crazy for better-faster-cheaper. 
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • bettysnephew
    bettysnephew Posts: 1,188
    edited September 2012
    I work for a major food manufacturing corporation and it is the same for us as far as the product we supply to Wal Mart or Sam's or Costco or anyone else for that matter.  Exactly the same product in the box as goes to other grocery stores.  Sometimes they ask for a different size box or a double pack for the big club stores, but the stuff inside is the same.  One of the most demanding accounts we have serviced is Disney when it carries their logo, but it is also a good feeling to work with a company that has high standards for products when their name is associated with it.
    A poor widows son.
    See der Rabbits, Iowa
  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,522
    edited September 2012
    Stoater said:
    I am in Canada and our RO is in blue bags, nice big chunks, do get the odd rock in it though, in fact I have been saving them and gonna take a photo and send it to RO and as for a replacement bag.  We will se how that goes.
    RO lump in Canada carries the name Star Grill and is in a blue bag. Generally, I've found it to be pretty good and if you weigh the bags they are always a pound or two heavier than the stated weight. It seems to be available in 4.55Kg (10#) bags at Wally World and 4.0Kg (8.8#) bags at Canadian Tire and elsewhere. I've used the 4.0Kg red bags from the US and found the quality to be the same, the only difference being the colour of the bag. Canadian Tire and Lowe's also stock the 8.0Kg (17.64#) bags. I have never seen the 4.55Kg bags anywhere but Wally World. 
    With all lump you will get the odd rock. Out of one bag I had one big rock, one huge chunk of concrete. The biggest i've ever had was this 5" "meteorite". (The squares are 1")
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
  • benny
    benny Posts: 109
    RO has gone down hill.  I'm finding heavy lumps of unburned/charcoalized and stones.  maybe i got a bad run/lot, i buy 15 20 bags at a time. but the last lot i got was sh@#$$ty
  • benny said:
    RO has gone down hill.  I'm finding heavy lumps of unburned/charcoalized and stones.  maybe i got a bad run/lot, i buy 15 20 bags at a time. but the last lot i got was sh@#$$ty
    That's funny. I only used RO for emergencies, like not being able to get Maple Leaf, but I've been buying it for a few months now. I find the pieces are consistent and there is very little spitting when I light with a mapp torch.

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • benny said:
    RO has gone down hill.  I'm finding heavy lumps of unburned/charcoalized and stones.  maybe i got a bad run/lot, i buy 15 20 bags at a time. but the last lot i got was sh@#$$ty
    That's funny. I only used RO for emergencies, like not being able to get Maple Leaf, but I've been buying it for a few months now. I find the pieces are consistent and there is very little spitting when I light with a mapp torch.
    Can't find Maple Leaf in BC, I have seen it Ontario and it was very good (only one experience at a family get together) Understand it is one of the cross border shopping items Americans come to Canada for. 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
  • Maybe we are the reason the quality is going down (if it is). Evidently, briquette sales have stayed flat, while lump sales have tripled in the past 10 years. Is it possible high demand has created the sale of product that is less than stellar? 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
  • Just picked up some RO.  This batch is small and dusty.  My Cowboy is huge and firm.  It has also been the other way around.  Lump charcoal production ain't high science.  You get what you get from the portion of the run from which it was bagged.  Want precise?  Mold formed; kiln cooked briquettes.  Keep the fire box clear and clean and it all burns just fine.
    My actuary says I'm dead.
  • I hope I never see the words "my cowboy is huge and firm" ever again in my life.
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • I bought two bags of Cowboy tonight to use for a boston butt and there were some huge chunks in there.  Filled up the bottom of the egg nicely.
  • I hope I never see the words "my cowboy is huge and firm" ever again in my life.
    Maybe if you are Mrs Cen-Tex......
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,951
    edited September 2012
    I hope I never see the words "my cowboy is huge and firm" ever again in my life.

    I've tried it. Didn't work
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • Maybe we are the reason the quality is going down (if it is). Evidently, briquette sales have stayed flat, while lump sales have tripled in the past 10 years. Is it possible high demand has created the sale of product that is less than stellar? 

    How can increased demand be blamed for poorer quality?  No.  If RO could not keep up with market demand then shame on them. 

    I'm sorry for straying for a second, but this kind of thinking drives me nuts.  Going to the extreme, after our country was attacked by terrorists, it wasn't uncommon for people to say: "Its our fault.  We angered them somehow."  The truth is we weren't at fault.  It was the terrorist that were to blame.  Not to put too fine a point on it, its unwise to blame yourself for the actions of another.

    I apologize for getting light-headed in the thin air atop my soapbox.

    Flint, Michigan
  • @4runner what part of Columbia are you from? I live about 10 minutes from Williams-Brice.
    Boom
  • Not to drag out this discussion, but found out today that a catering company two doors down from my office sells 20 Pound bags of Milas for $15.   Gets a decent review on the lump database.  I'm going to pick a bag or two up tomorrow to check out.