charcoal

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low smoke

Newbie
Original poster
Nov 3, 2009
29
10
Pensacola Fl
As a newbie to smoking I signed up for Jeffs 5 day course and todays letter he recommended 100% natural wood charcoal vs the briquettes. I was wondering if there is any good recommendations on what brand of natural wood charcoal to buy. I bought Royal Oak natural at Wally World and was wondering what ya all think. Thanks
 
I have used the wally world lumb only a few time and I'm not much of a charcoal smoker so mabe I'm not the best giver of advice. But to me that RO brand charcoal seemed to burn hot all and all but fast and didn't last very long. Now the site you have there Rick is super cool and thank you for posting it I will keep that link for sure.
 
The site you recommmeded is great and the RO got a great review so I will use the advice given a try it out this weekend.
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It's my understanding (think that I read it here) that Royal Oak is going out of business. Is that right? I've been trying to buy a bag of RO every time I go to Wally world because we don't have many choices for lump here in Kansas. The other choice is Cowboy and I haven't read many good things about that.
 
I use RO all the time an no they ain't goin outa business. Just that some places don't carry it in the winter an have a clearence sale at the end of the season. Starts rumours ya know. They did down size but ain't shutin down.

I've used Stubbs to, really like it, but not enough to pay the extra money over the RO. I have used Kingsford, but get a petro smell from it, don't know if its just me er the charcoal.

Talkin with a couple managers round here, might just order a pallet a RO next year, get tired a runin back an forth to the store!
 
Funny how rumors begin. That was one guy saying RO was discontinued in his local store. Next thing you know, the company's going under!! lol
Cowboy ain't as good as RO for smoking, but I've found it to be a better product for grilling. Lights a bit easier and is ready sooner.
 
I havent tried Royal oak. I have tried stubbs, and didnt like it.. I have tried cowboy brand, but all it is, is pieces of hardwood flooring... that stuff has been kiln dried and more often than not treated with chemicals. When i started noticing pieces of tongue and groove flooring coming out of the bag, i looked for a new brand. Then i found HEAVEN IN A BAG!!! Lazzari Natural mesquite charcoal. I buy it in 40lb sacks at a local restaurant supply store for $14.00 This stuff is great!!! I mean, you open the sack and you see logs and sticks staring back at you!! It has such a great flavor, that you probably dont even need to add chips. If you can find it, you should try it. You wont be dissapointed!!!


It has everything from larger logs, down to marble size pieces in a 40# sack.
 
I love that stuff!! Havent been able to find it around these parts the last few years! It is flat out an awesome product in my opinion.
 
I will give the RO a try. We have it at the local Wally World and being down here in the south they dont discontinue it during the winter months.
Again thanks for all the replies. Helped a bunch.
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Cowboy does not do well for long smokes, it burns to fast..... but if you are wanting to sear some steaks on a weber kettle it does great. If you read the NakedWiz review on it it achieved the 2nd highest temp rating. So for short hot grilling it does work well - I have sometimes had a problem reaching in with tongs to flip a steak it was so hot... lol.
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i found that RO burns alittle hotter and seems to last a long time,just my opinion.i really like it but everyone has their favorite brands,trial and error i think.
 
wish i could find some around here.......great price!

this is what i use.....

the "good one" burns hotter but the "ono" burns longer....i also pulled out a 6" diameter trunk the other day from the ono.
 
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