What brand?

[nascarchuck]

After doing some reading up on charcoal it seems that there are so many varying opinions on brands.

What brand of lump, briquettes, etc do you prefer? Are you happy with it? Any brands that you dislike and why?

[JamesB]

I use lump and charcoal in my WSM, Weber kettles and my UDSs. Also use it as a beging base of coals in my offsets. I tend to go with what is cheap!

I selected Royal Oak as the lump because that about the only lump I've used. For Charcoal, I'm really liking the Rancher. I picked up a lot of it on sale last summer. I think I'm down to 59 bags of it now...

Before the Rancher sale, I was using Royal Oaks briquettes that I picked up on clearance at Wallymart... I guess all in all, I like what I can get a good price on.

James.

[bowhnter]

I selected Royal Oak for lump, but currently use Kingsford for charcoal. Will try the RO...The rancher I had didn't get too good of reviews and that was the only constant factor I could figure, so quit using it.

[OSD]

Use Royal Oak for lump and mainly Kingsford for briquettes.

[Burnt Food Dude]

I try to use Royal Oak over Kingsford with Kingsford to light it.

[TX Sandman]

I use Royal Oak lump, and for briques it was Sam's Choice.

[honu41]

Aloha,

I like Kingsford for briq cause I can get it a Costco at a decent price. But I have been known to buy "house brands" when the sale is too good to pass up. Used some "Safeway" brand last week and it was good for the price.

I get mesquite lump from Cash and Carry. It is a large gunny sack for $14

I haven't seen any Royal Oak lumps in the stores. If I see them I will surely try them.

malama pono a hui hou

[JamesB]

The rancher I had didn't get too good of reviews and that was the only constant factor I could figure, so quit using it.

What did ya not like about the Rancher? The only two bad things that I've heard about it was that it didn't burn as hot as K and that some folks cooking in UDSs would have some flying ash issues from time to time.

It works great for me, but then again, I've only burned up about 600lbs of the stuff so far...

[bowhnter]

The rancher I had didn't get too good of reviews and that was the only constant factor I could figure, so quit using it.

What did ya not like about the Rancher?

It's not so much me as a couple members of the family. My wife started complaining about an off taste to everything, and she kept asking what I was doing different, what wood I was using, etc...I could not figure out what was going on.

I started eliminating things and the one constant was the Rancher.

When I stopped using it, everything got better. Glad I didn't buy 100 bags

I have seen a comment like this one or two other times around the forums, but for the 99.5% of the others it's all good.

I am anxious to see if HD will carry it again, and if so am going to pick up a bag to see what happens.

[JamesB]

When I stopped using it, everything got better. Glad I didn't buy 100 bags

am anxious to see if HD will carry it again, and if so am going to pick up a bag to see what happens.

Yeah, I bought around 100 bags of the stuff when HD was clearing it out for $1.99 per... maybe I've just convinced myself that it's OK..

If you want to try a couple of bags, let me know and we can arrange to get them to ya... Although, from what I hear, HD will not me marketing it again. I really have had no issues with it what so ever so your experience with it has my interest peaked.

James.

[perryranch]

When I first started and read about lump I tried kingsford and some other brand(can't remember) I like the K but it had a lot of sparks. So went to a site that I found somewhere and one of the brands recommended was B&B lump so I gave that a shot. I really like it and have been using it ever since. Not a lot of sparks and it burns hot. When grilling I use a mix of lump and walmart brand briquettes. I have found I like the 50/50 split better.

[bowhnter]

PR, I have never tried the walmart brand, But I hear people like it ok.

James, I might take you up on that sometime then....maybe a get together lunch for us in N TX.

[DATsBBQ]

The naked whiz seems to be consumer reports of lump. Think he has way too much time on his hands

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm

[nascarchuck]

PR, I have never tried the walmart brand, But I hear people like it ok.

James, I might take you up on that sometime then....maybe a get together lunch for us in N TX.

I tried that before and didnt get any response. Give that idea a whirl and I will try my best to be there!

[JamesB]

James, I might take you up on that sometime then....maybe a get together lunch for us in N TX.

Sure, just let me know... let's get something together. I will warn ya tho, my schedule is very fluid. It could change 3 times before I leave work today... Hard to plan much long range, but let's pick a date and I'll get it on the calendar.

James.