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Royal Oak or Frontier?

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TXEgger
TXEgger Posts: 20
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Hello all - planning to buy some more charcoal and wanted to get an opinion on which route to go.

Walmart's Royal Oak at $6.27 for 10 lbs. or Sams Frontier at $14.87 for 40 lbs. Both seem to be well thought of, but was curious if there is a reason not to get the Frontier at a little over half the price of the Royal Oak.

Thanks.
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  • AlwaysGolf
    AlwaysGolf Posts: 704
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    Saw that in Sam's also yesterday, but decided to pass until i got some opinions on it, seeing how I just got back. Will be interested in the replies you get as well.

    I did read on the back where I thought it said it was manufactured in Mexico, but I could have read it wrong.
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  • PhilsGrill
    PhilsGrill Posts: 2,256
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    Either one, take your pick.
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  • 61chev
    61chev Posts: 539
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    I am about 1/2 way thru a bag of Frontier I like it I think it has more ashes than RO but for the price wkat the heck is a few more ashes
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  • Egg Static
    Egg Static Posts: 11
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    Never used Royal Oak but I've been using Frontier for over a year and never had any problems with it. It's $7 cheaper than the BGE lump at my local Ace Hardware.
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  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
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    I too thought that there had been reports that the Sam's Frontier is not the same as the Frontier charcoal being sold in places like Ace Hardware.
    The Naked Whiz
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  • schmeetex
    schmeetex Posts: 69
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    The Sam's Club Frontier is made in Mexico while the Ace is made in America. I will never buy the Sam's Frontier again. Bag is made up mostly of small chunks with about 10 huge chunks (bigger than a softball). I also found quite a few insulation fibers in the bag. Worst of all, the Sam's Frontier burns down to small little chunks (marble size) that really clog things up.

    I just got a bag of Ace Frontier for the weekend and was pleased with my first cook. Jury still out, though, whether it will make my top five list. The Ace Frontier could use a few more larger chunks as it is all medium and small although very little dust.

    SchmeeTex
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  • oldfishinglure
    oldfishinglure Posts: 235
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    Ive still got part of the monster bag of Sams Club in the garage...Im not opposed to saving a buck and trying something new. It does create more ash..I cant be picky based on where I live and got the Sams bag on a meat run to the big city..Just doesnt feel like the same cook or control...More ash and doesnt light as well in my opnion..I still light the majority of my every day type fires with newspapers even after 12 or so years so my experiance may very based on how I cook...Matt
    www.finandflame.com

    www.oldfishinglure.com
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  • Kenny 13
    Kenny 13 Posts: 321
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    schmeetex wrote:
    The Sam's Club Frontier is made in Mexico while the Ace is made in America. I will never buy the Sam's Frontier again. Bag is made up mostly of small chunks with about 10 huge chunks (bigger than a softball). I also found quite a few insulation fibers in the bag. Worst of all, the Sam's Frontier burns down to small little chunks (marble size) that really clog things up.

    This^^^ I'm currently about 2/3 or so through a bag of the Frontier from Sam's. The first few cooks with some of the larger pieces I liked it. However it does leave considerably more ash than the RO and as mentioned burns down to very little chunks that really limit airflow. Now that I've used more than half of the bag I'm finding that I have a few very large chunks left and all the rest are those very small marble sized pieces.

    Even if I completely empty my firebox and go back with new lump, it's taking me about 45 minutes just to get a good fire going before I can think about getting up to temperature and stabilized because of all the small pieces. I haven't worried too much about it because I haven't had much time to cook anyway, but now that my son's baseball season is over I'm going back to RO. I'll probably mix tiny bits of the Frontier with the RO just to use it up.

    BTW, I've also found that the Frontier tends to pop a lot, sometimes having small pieces actually pop out of the top of the egg before I put the daisy wheel in place.
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  • oldfishinglure
    oldfishinglure Posts: 235
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    I thought it was just me but Im glad Im not alone in trying to get it up to temp....Had one day where I had to disassemble :blush: and reload to get it going. I feel much better now knowing it wasnt the pale ale..Matt
    www.finandflame.com

    www.oldfishinglure.com
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