Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

What happened to Cowboy Lump??

Options
Lizard Dragger
Lizard Dragger Posts: 99
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I mean for the better! I picked up a couple bags last week because the local Wally is out of RO. I'm really impressed with the 2 bags I bought, no scrap at all and medium to large pieces, the whole bags were usable lump. Did they change something??
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • jagweed
    jagweed Posts: 188
    Options
    i never had an issue with the scrap. i like the longer thinner stuff. makes for some hot fast fires. the wood isn't taken out of a demolition dumpster, it's just scrap.

    i had heard someone say that cowboy was going out of business, but it's still available around here... boston area

    never had a bad bag, frankly. always good sized pieces.

    i don't get too hung up on charcoal. my egg seems to cook just fine no matter what lump is in it.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Lizard Dragger
    Lizard Dragger Posts: 99
    Options
    I never cared that it was scrap but these bags have zero scrap, it looks just like RO. Alot of the pieces have bark on them, which I've never seen in a bag of Cowboy before.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
    Options
     
    Cowboy Lump for me, for the most part has always been medium to large pieces which look like wood flooring.

    CB lump seems to always burn well but that is probably due to the rectangular larger pieces allowing a good air flow up through the lump. I have read some posts say it doesn't burn as long but again I would think that is to the size and shape of the lump. RO and other lump has smaller pieces and will 'pack' well in the fire box, thus more physical lump.

    GG
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
    Options
     
    The 'scrap' I have seen in the bags is flooring scrap. If you are seeing bark, for me, that is something new with Cowboy. I will have to pick up a few bags to see if there is a difference from what I have had before.

    GG
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • jagweed
    jagweed Posts: 188
    Options
    you know... i just dumped some into my small to do a clean burn, and because i picked out the bigger chunks and put them back in the bag (no sense wasting the big chunks), i realized it did look like RO. plenty of bark, etc.

    nice sized chunks too.

    i'll pay better attention tomorrow when i dump out the next bunch and see what i see...
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • jagweed
    jagweed Posts: 188
    Options
    there's usually other S4S (surfaced, four sides) stuff beyond just flooring scrap. you know, dimensional lumber, whatever the kids call it these days. 1x1s, 1x2s, etc.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Rolling Egg
    Rolling Egg Posts: 1,995
    Options
    The last 200 pounds or so of lump I've burned has been 20 pound Cowboy bags. I have been completely satisfied. I've done long cooks as well as high temps. I have about 40 pounds on hand right now that I bought last week for 10.68 a bag. I will probably go back next week and buy about 100 more pounds to get me into the winter. My bags have been mixed well with large peices and small pieces that pack well. No complaints here.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • jagweed
    jagweed Posts: 188
    Options
    it doesn't burn as long because it's less dense....
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • oldfishinglure
    oldfishinglure Posts: 235
    Options
    Dont have an issue with Cowboy...Buy it at Lowes in between RO findings at Walmart...Dont have any good BBQ stores here in town have to go to the big city...Noticed Cowboy burns a bit faster than RO and burns faster quicker, but think its due to mass of the pieces of lump, a bit smaller than RO, but could be due to being smashed around on pallets as well.
    www.finandflame.com

    www.oldfishinglure.com
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Clay Q
    Clay Q Posts: 4,486
    Options
    Just thinking... I saw pieces tongue and grooved as flooring material in Cowboy lump. So that means kiln dried wood (culls/end cuts) getting carbonized into lump charcoal. Could be the reason for it's quick and hot fire is that Cowboy has less retained water therefor more volatile by weight than some other brands of lump.
    Just a guess.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • jagweed
    jagweed Posts: 188
    Options
    i thought the same thing at first, but i think the wood is just a combination of lighter woods (not all oak)

    the water is gonna be driven off all the wood though. the temps in a retort are going to drive out all that water
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • NoVA Bill
    NoVA Bill Posts: 3,005
    Options
    Cowboy is what I have easy access to. Have noticed bigger pieces of lump and less junk in last two bags??
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • NibbleMeThis
    NibbleMeThis Posts: 2,295
    Options
    They did lose a part of their operations due to a fire last year (news article). I swear I noticed a difference after that but thought it was just me.
    Knoxville, TN
    Nibble Me This
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • CaptainSpaulding
    CaptainSpaulding Posts: 368
    Options
    For any active or retired military, also note that Lowe's (at least here in Michigan) offers a 10% military discount. I just wish they had the 20 pounders here at my local store. I buy 5 or six bags everytime I stop in and keep 75 cents a bag due to my lovely wife's continued service in the Army National Guard.

    Joe
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Sundazes
    Sundazes Posts: 307
    Options
    It does burn alot faster than RO/BGE or WG. I really like WG. I just ordered 60#s of it. I use it for the good and long cooks and use cowboy for the quicker cooks.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
    Options
     
    The only way one can know for usre is if the lump is weighed before putting in the fire box then running a test.

    Because of the shape and size less physical lump will go into the fire box than RO or other lump with smaller and more roundish chunks of lump.

    GG
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • BobS
    BobS Posts: 2,485
    Options
    Cowboy used scrap materials to make the charcoal, which was a good thing from a recycling point of view.

    I heard this discussed last uear and it is my understanding that when the economy went south, last year, the turn down in the housing market drove down their supply faster than the demand for charcoal, so they had to switch to using supplies like slabs, from a sawmill.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Sundazes
    Sundazes Posts: 307
    Options
    How many find moon rocks and other foreign material in Cowboy? I just went through a 20# bag and had lots of very small ones in both eggs. I do clean them out well between cooks. But hey but for 10.99 for 20#, I can put up with moon rocks and tong and grove lump.

    The WG is 13.50 a bag, but by the time you add in shipping, it's back up to $20 a bag.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Options
    i can tell by picking it up, frankly. i have weekend warrior in the same cabinet with the competition blend, r/o and cowbpy. old school cowboy (with dimensional lumnber) is much lighter than the weekend warrior, and r/o is somewhere in between.

    you can tell simply by looking at the bags. a bag of cowboy is huge relative to a bag of weekend warrior.

    thopugh they way roguhly the same.

    densest charcoal i ever had was actually argentinian royal oak. heavier even than wicked good charcoal.

    you don't need to weigh it and check it's volume. just pick up a fist sized chunk. the dense stuff is noticeably heavy
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories