Hit the search function here and you will be bombarded with more lump info than you can burn.  BTW- lump discussions get hotter than religion or politics even in today's environment.  FWIW-
@danlbrown - to answer your question...The price.  

royal oak is bge lump in a much less expensive bag, just make sure its royal oak made in the usa which your bag is

danlbrown said:

Have been using BGE lump since 2012 when I bought the egg but like others on here, my local dealer hasn’t had it recently. My wife picked these up today. FOGO $29 is the alternative my dealer had and the Royal Oak $9 from Walmart. No doubt there’ll be a difference but was wondering if anyone has experience with either?

I usually have both of those on hand, along with others I come across. You'll probably notice the FOGO burns hotter, cleaner, longer and is a higher quality product. I tend to use RO for a lot of my cheap quick midweek cooks (chicken, pork, burgers, dogs) but will use the FOGO for most of the longer cooks or meat I care more about (smoking, steaks, briskets, seafood). I will use both interchangeably, but that's how I string any of the more expensive lump along a bit longer.

Yep, I've been using RO with no problems.

Maple Leaf Forever!!!

GMAC1 said:

Maple Leaf Forever!!!

Ya, getting almost impossible to find around here now though

Dad burned a lot of Royal Oak in his day. Not much issue with it. He did get the kick ash basket several years ago that solved the airflow issues he was having. Switching to that basket & using RO he could get it to 600-700 in no time for steaks!

I have used Royal Oak and Fogo, though neither since I switched exclusively to Rockwood. I would use both in a pinch, but there's no way Fogo is worth three times the cost of Royal Oak.

I started much like you, with the bag of BGE the dealer gave me on the way out of the door. Smelled nice and woody. All good. Luckily I read here that RO was the same so when it was time to re-up I bought that and saved. Still smelled nice, burned well. All good. 

Then I realized one day that my cooks all had a very similar flavor too them, even when cooking different animals with very different rubs/sauces, etc. I had read of others talking about the BGE taste you can get that some people don't like. I wondered if this was it.

So I tried what is most folks' fan fave around here--Rockwood. Could it possibly live up to the hype and higher cost than RO? It absolutely has. Sure, my car didn't have same mesquite adjacent smell on the way home from ACE, but man do I notice a difference in the cook flavor. Whatever wood you add, or rub you are using, shines right through. 

I still have an unopened bag of RO next to the four Rockwood. And I'd never hesitate to use it, but I just would prefer Rockwood. If you love the flavor you are getting with the RO, probably not reason to change. If you ever think things taste a little to charcoal-y, just give Rockwood a try. 

And if you love the Fogo and think it's worth the money, stick with that! I say to trust whatever your tastebuds and wallet enjoy!

2 bags B&B oak, $19.99 each.

danlbrown said:

Thanks everyone. Sounds like I may have unnecessarily spent a lot of money on BGE lump over the years. Fuel was never a variable I cared to mess with, as a believer of, “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” .

Not necessarily.  I'd used RO because that's all I could get here.  A new grilling store opened and I finally had a source for Rockwood.  The first time I tried it, I was amazed at how quickly the smoke cleared/went light blue, and I was always cooking much sooner since I switched.
Does it end up paying for itself?  No idea.   

Our platinum dealer here is now stocking rockwood and cowboy along with bge. I primarily use bge due to the bags supplied by my hungry friends. 

Anyone have any idea where I could get Rockwood in Canada....specifically Eastern Ontario?

As for Royal Oak, we of course get the Canadian version which is what I usually use.  Tried some Fogo but didn’t see much difference to pay twice the price.