Goodbye Kingsford

[richoso1]

Kingsford is my last ditch backup after all searches for lump are exhausted.

 

[flip]

I use R.O. for everything. If I've smoked with a few chunks of wood and there's some leftover, I'll toss the full ring (I smoke with a Weber Smokey Mountain) of lump and wood into the kettle and use that the next time I grill. The little lady really seems to enjoy when I grill with a bit of cherry smoke

 

[pinkmeat]

Funny. Did it last night. Just under half a chimney starter full netted a 350 grilling temp. Crazy hot coals.

 

[teeotee]

Yep i agree with Rich on this, you do have to allow for the extra heat the lump has. I've been grilling with R.O all summer and i prefer it once i got thru the learning curve.
Now my local wallyworld has quit stocking R.O so i guess i'll be using Kingsford Charwood as a back up. Can get that at most any of our local grocery stores.

 

[schilsgrill]

Flip, I feel your pain on the RO, all ive been reading about is how great it is and ive just been able to find it at walmart, i picked up 5 bags, hopefully this is enough. I just have a feeling next time i need some walmart wont have any... I use the smokenator right now with my 22.5 weber kettle but looking to purchase the WSM, looks like i can get a decent deal on amazon.

 

[1894]

SchilsGrill, Yep , it is a seasonal item but the season is here. Find a mgr in walley world when you stop in to buy your next batch of RO Lump. Tell that person that is the only one that you buy and please keep it in stock.
Helps if you have a shopping cart full when you ask . Find a place at home to store a bunch for the off season and buy extra each time you go there.
Reiterating to a dept head when you see the stock getting low.

Oh , and don't forget when you get to the checkout line you can proudly declare " Look at that !!! A whole shopping cart ( Or two ) full of stuff made in the USA !!!! "

 

[jdt]

I have been grilling with the kingsford comp but I don't want to put anything other than lump in my smoker, every time one of these threads gets going I have to remember to be thankful I got a great supply store that has a pallet of wicked good and most times has the even better 7 Oaks on hand. RO is my backup lump as I can get it at 4 or 5 places around town.

 

[capt dan]

LOL, like the folks at walmart are gonna care! Might be the only thing in that isle made in the USA!

 

[joeinma]

It's been exactly two years since my son gave me a Silver Smoker for my birthday and I have been using lump since day 1. First year was with Cowboy and some Kingsford Charwood which was ok. But this spring I moved up to Wicked Good brand which was much better than Cowboy.

However, this weekend I will be moving up to the big time. I found Royal Oak for the first time and will be making six racks of ribs Saturday and smoked chicken on Sunday. Cannot wait!

 

[peebee]

Since I can't leave well enough alone, I figure it's time for me to put in my $.02.

I use Kingsford, and will continue to use Kingsford for all of my smokes.

"But...but, that's just not natural, PeeBee! Lump is so much better!"

I disagree, wholeheartedly. First, let me give you a quick rundown on what Kingsford is made of... Ground up wood, starch, and minerals. In that order. It's wood charcoal, some coal (nothing wrong with coal, it's been firing pizza ovens in Napoli for ages), and food starch as a binding agent. Because of this process, it's also always the same.

Lump charcoal burns hot as hell, and clean. It also burns inconsistently, and more importantly, fast. Clean is the only property conducive to proper smoking that I would consider a positive. The rest? No thanks.

I can reach 250 with Kingsford if I have a water pan, 650 if I don't. What does that tell me? It tells me that even with Kingsford, I'm wasting a whole lot of heat energy heating that pan of water. Seems pretty unnecessary to me, to use fuel that burns hotter and faster, if that extra heat's doing nothing but boiling water.

Lump charcoal is amazing for grilling. High heat, great sear, burns clean.

For smoking? I'll stick with my Kingsford, and chunks of wood* to flavor my meat.


*I'm on the fence about chunks of wood versus chips in a bag or in a cast iron skillet, but that's a discussion and an experiment for another time.

 

[gaga]

I use Kingsford briquettes, cause they were so damn cheap last weekend!

 

[noboundaries]

Using search I dug up this old thread out of the dust bin.  Interesting reading.  If there's one thing I've learned about grillin' and smokin' folks can get passionate about their fuel regardless of their equipment.

When I started using my Weber Kettles for smoking this past August I used what I had on hand, two bags of Kingsford Competition.  It tasted fine just burned WAY too fast, twice as fast as the Blue bag at any given temp. 

Picked up six 20lb bags of Kingsford Blue last Labor Day and have had very consistent results with it.  No bad taste issues at all.  Easy to control temp and relatively long lasting.  On a recent smoke my Smokenator still had about a 1/3 load from a previous smoke.  All I added was about 18 hot coals and I got a 4 hour smoke at 215F with an allowed spike to 240F for about 30 minutes at the end of the smoke.  Always lots of ash afterwards but that's not a problem with the One Touch Kettle and a slow sweep on a long smoke.  We'll see on the WSM I'm getting for Christmas though. I can see how the ash could be a problem.   

Been reading about RO Lump so I picked up an 18.8 lb bag at Home Depot today. Off season so it was pricy, about 75 cents a pound, more than twice what I paid for he KB.  My plan is to smoke pork shoulders this weekend but my wife may have other plans.  I'm looking forward to trying the fuel though.  Besides the WSM I know I'm getting a pizza stone for Christmas too for the Kettle.  Since the RO Lump burns hotter it seems a natural for making pizzas.  Fun cooking times to follow!  

 

[opforpaintball]

I also made the switch from kingsford to lump. There is only two brands of lump that I can find. Cowboy and some othe kind that is slipping my mind (has an old black guy on the bag). I use cowboy almost exclusively in my barrel smoker. The kingsford ashed up to much and would snuff the coals out in about an hour. In my big grill they work fine but the smoke from the lump is way better than kingsford. I haven't had much issues from keeping a good temp from the lump. I kind of figured out when to add big pieces v. smaller pieces. Lowes keeps the lump in stock all year round so im kind of lucky there. My local cheap grocery store keeps all sorts of wood chips in stock as well.

 

[bob1961]

yeah royal oak is all i use for heat, then small chunks of fruitwood for flavor Thumbs Up ....

 

[bob1961]

my local wal mart has the 8.8lb bag "during" the season for 6.58, and tractor supply has the 18.8 lb bag for only 11.78....i use the small bag for shoulders and briskets and 8lb bag lasts me easy 11 hours....

 

[charcoalnmore]

Yeah, we cook only with lump charcoal. If you are looking for consistency in your flavor profiles, there is no other way to go.  I don't know where you are but we always have lump available!

 

[jirodriguez]

I use both depending on the length of the smoke. Lump is great for a lot of stuff, but in my WSM when I am doing brisket I find I can get a much longer slower burn with Kingsforld Blue Bag - 20+ hrs. with a full 20 lb. bag.

 

[cody6262]

I use both too but recently bought the store brand of lump (kroger) and have found it to be great. I know I've read before that RO is bagged under different names and I wouldn't be surprised if ts was RO in a store bag.