Royal Oak Lump Charcoal

cgaengineer · Sep 14, 2013

sknabnoj said:
I generally use KB because of the consistency in my UDS. I just picked up 400lbs in 40lb packs at home depot for $4.88 each. They price matched their own store that was having that sale in North Carolina. $50 for 400 lbs of KB? Yes please!!Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4

I got the same deal here in Jawga, sent my dad back a day later with receipt and they denied it! 400lbs of Kingsford looks nice in my garage!

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy Tab 2

raydo1 · Sep 21, 2013

I use Royal Oak Lump & Briquettes Instituitional Charcoal which is by far the very best you can get commerically. Its what most restaurants and kitchens with wood/charocal fired stoves use. Research your immediate market and find someone who supplys these places and you'll have a source. It cost 25% more butt well wiorth it!!

dummy que · Sep 24, 2013

true que $UCK$ AT ANY PRICE nasty taste and smell

n2 bbq · Sep 24, 2013

sknabnoj said:
I generally use KB because of the consistency in my UDS. I just picked up 400lbs in 40lb packs at home depot for $4.88 each. They price matched their own store that was having that sale in North Carolina. $50 for 400 lbs of KB? Yes please!!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4

Now that's a sale right there I don't care who you are that's a sale worth jumping on! Sure wish I could get a sale like that here in Stockton.

vaquero01 · Sep 24, 2013

I can't argue with the prices y'all are getting on the briquettes.....now that's a deal! BUT....I can't bring myself to use them square chemically produced chunks in my smoker or on my pit. Perhaps it truly is all in my head....but I swear that I can taste the difference! I use lump and only lump. Yes, I know my rig is different than a lot of y'alls. But just the same, when I use charcoal (usually only to start the fire) I can smell it. And if I can smell it, I can taste it. When I am in IN I buy my lump from Gordon Food Services, when I'm home I buy lump from Publix or Royal Oak lump when on sale. I find that I find a little more garbage (iron nuggets) in the GFS and Publix brands but not by any significant percentage when compared to normal pricing.

dumasbro2 · Sep 25, 2013

I had thought GFS lump was Royal Oak, is it? A friend had some and it seemed very nice.

bigtexun · Sep 25, 2013

dummy que said:
true que $UCK$ AT ANY PRICE nasty taste and smell

Yeah, I won't use any lump, unless it says on the bag exactly what it is made from. Oak is what I try to use most of the time.

I would use briquets before I used some random-wood lump... THAT is where your weird chemical smells are coming from... Bunk wood!

vaquero01 · Sep 25, 2013

I do know that the GFS brand states on the bag...only made from sustainably harvested hardwoods and does not include any Rain Forest products, for what it is worth. I would be good with cherry lump if I could ever find it. Over the summer Publix started carrying "John Wayne Lump Charcoal" I have no freaking idea where it came from and at the price of dang near $8.50 a 6lb bag I only checked once. Very few grew up a bigger fan of the Duke than me, but at that price and the fact someone needs shot for peddling that sh*t, I can't imagine he's resting easy knowing some rat Bast*urd is cashing in on his name providing garbage charcoal at that price. Lot's of pebbles and iron chunk impurities.

zaksblaklabel · Sep 26, 2013

I have been using royal oak lump my last 5 smokes on my brinkman and love it. Burns long and clean so minimal clean up and with hickory wood chunks myself and my family love the flavor.

raydo1 · Sep 26, 2013

Royal Oak has an institutional premium line of charcoal they distribute through resellers and distributors to the commercial food service industry. They offer Chef's Select--a 40# bag of briquette charcoal and Natural Glo--a 20# bag of lump charcoal. Of all the brands I've used this line of either briquettes or lump burns the cleanest, hottest and longest of any. It's not sold retail in MN, I buy mine through a company that supplies food service enterprises. Royal Oak and Kingsford's retail charcoal pale in comparison, dramatically. If you can locate a ditributor , it's worth trying; I'll bet you'll never go back to another line. The one thing to remember is that it costs more than any of the comparable lines of Kinford--competition (lump or birquette) or Royal Oak's retail lineof charcoal, which is really limited and hard to find in MN!! However, the additional cost is more than compensated for by the improved quality the this line provides in heat, cleaniness/flavor and duration!!

hb99 · Feb 21, 2014

I have a WSM and have only used Kingsford so far. But today I saw what I thought was a great deal and took it.

A 16# bag of Kingsford was like $9.97 and the RO lump was only $8 for 17.6#. I got the only 3 bags they had at that size.

When the shelf stacker came by they thanked me for clearing out the area because they didn't need to do it later. She also told me that she had a whole bunch more in back if I wanted more.

(Thinking to myself that I've never tried it) I told her thanks, but this was all I needed at the the moment. If the weather improves this weekend I might give it a try for more pulled pork and burgers. I've made smoked burgers a couple of times and am really enjoying the flavor.

Bill

noboundaries · Feb 22, 2014

I'm a KBB guy; consistent, dependable, inexpensive on sale and when fired up correctly no bad taste. I tried Kingsford Competition and didn't like it all. Burned way too fast and less weight per briquette. Here's a test, drop a briquette of KBB in a pan of hot water along with a King Comp briquette. The King Comp briquette dissolves like an Alka Selzer, only faster!   The KBB dissolves much slower.  The Comp burns hotter and cleaner (less ash) because its air!

Now, that said, I do use lump or a mix of lump and KBB, especially when doing a 300F+ hot n fast smoke. I've tried RO Lump. Good stuff. Pricey. Paid $15 for 18.8 lbs off season. I scored 40 lbs of Lazzari Mesquite Lump for $6 when a grocery chain was closing out the product.  Sizes are all over the place but adding the extra charcoal grate at 90 degrees keeps the small pieces in the fire.  If loading my WSM with lump I still use KBB in the chimney.  No fireworks!  The Lazzari sparks like a campfire! Typically I put down a layer of KBB, then some of the lump, then dump a partial chimney load of hot KBB on top.

I like the Lazzari. I know that Costco has sold it in the past, 40 lbs for $13.50. Bevmo here on the west coast sells 40 lbs bags for $20; 20 lbs bags for $13. I'll have to watch them to see if they put it on sale during the "season." At 50 cents a pound though I'd still buy it.

Unfortunately I don't have enough charcoal in the garage to get me to the Memorial Day KBB sales. I've got about half a bag of RO Lump, 20 lbs of the Lazzari, and less than 60 lbs of the KBB in the garage. I hate paying off season prices but the good thing is that I'm being much more efficient at how I'm loading my smoker.

bgosnell151 · Sep 25, 2015

overground said:
You just gotta wait for the sales. I stock up on KB when Lowes or Home Depot has sales...usually during the big holidays between May thru Sept. $10-$13 for 40 lbs.
If you get yourself a KCBS membership, that will grant you access to Restaurant Depot which have stores in Van Nuys and other areas in SoCal.

Curious what the benefits of Restaurant Depot are. I have one near my house. So the KCBS membership is $35, is there a membership cost for RD? Is it worth paying the $35 to go?

john 4 21 ribs · Sep 26, 2015

bgosnell151 said:
Curious what the benefits of Restaurant Depot are. I have one near my house. So the KCBS membership is $35, is there a membership cost for RD? Is it worth paying the $35 to go?

I just got back from RD & they had USDA Choice Brisket for $2.79/# & Pork Butts for $1.19/#

flip me over · Sep 26, 2015

I've been using RO lump for a couple years. Love it! I get 4 or 5 hours out of a full pan, not much ash, and hot. Costs 14 bucks for the 17.6lb bag at Home D here. But, the way I use it, it a bag lasts quite awhile.

Scott

bodbob · Sep 26, 2015

Dan,

I have to agree with you. Royal Oak seems to have a lot of small stuff, and a lot of dust too. I'm trying out Trader Joe's hardwood briquettes today. They are supposed to have only a 5% starch binder with no other chemicals added. Kingsford has Borax added as a mold release in addition to the binder they use. I thought there was a lot of ash left after a long Kingsford burn. I'll post again after today. I'm cooking a 5 lb. brisket flat right now with the TJ's briquettes.

Cheers,

BB

micrometereye · Sep 26, 2015

Lowes has (2) 18.6 bahs for $9.99 from time to time eatch the local ads.

DanBono said:
Hi JIRodriguez Will be on the look out for the upcoming sales..I can buy Royal Oak Lump/Red bag 18 lbs at Restaurant Depot for $10.97 .
Is that a good price?
Thanks Dan

bgosnell151 · Sep 26, 2015

John 4 21 ribs said:
I just got back from RD & they had USDA Choice Brisket for $2.79/# & Pork Butts for $1.19/#

Sounds like I'm joining!!!

john 4 21 ribs · Sep 26, 2015

Check the flyer at the store near you.

http://www.restaurantdepot.com/flyers

geoffchef · Sep 26, 2015

I don't know if the Royal Oak we get here is the same as what you get stateside, but I have not been very happy with it. It's very peaky; starts about the same as Kingsford briquettes in the chimney, then gets very hot, too hot to even sear over, and then drops off rapidly. You get a very narrow window of good grilling time. I haven't tried to smoke with it, but I think it would be difficult to control.

The best charcoal I have tried was a bag of Big Green Egg's brand that I picked up on holiday in Minnesota. Hotter than Kingsford, but not as hot as RO, and it held a good temperature for a decent length of time.

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