Just an observation about Kingsford lump

[pheinzman]

charcoal. I had this big bag of lump I bought at GFS and it didn't perform very well. I started thinking that I would need to blend my hardwood lump with standard briquettes to control the heat. Last week, I knew I'd be smoking and I was out of that cheap stuff, so I bought a 10# bag of the Kingfsord lump at Drug Mart. It cost twice as much, but I swear it lasted twice as long. Consistent 225-250 for 3 hours and I could still do a tray of ABT's while the meat rested.

I'll use nothing but this Kingsford lump in the future. Well behaved charcoal is critical to good smoking, IMHO.

 

[tasunkawitko]

i also like the kingsford lump, and it is the only one that is readily available in the area, so i will continue to use it.

my one complaint is that most of the charcoal in the bag is in pieces that are too small. if they could get bigger pieces in there, i would be very happy.

our last trip to great falls, we came across a brand at home depot called cowboy brand lump charcoal. very good stuff, with good-sized pieces, but it did not seem to give off any smoke scent, which kingford does provide. this is not really necessary, because the wood chips/chunks etc. can provide the smoke, and taking that into account it was pretty good.

either one works well.

as for briquettes, i am pretty well off them, but in a pinch kingsford bricquettes work well and i have discovered that western family (local grocery store) brand also work well. good, consistent temperatures, but just lacking a little something that lump provides.

 

[morkdach]

i tried lump (kingsford) works great in stick burners and grills but not in electric

 

[pinkmeat]

Most of the time the Cowboy Lump seems to have been trampled on by the entire herd-- small pieces is all that's left. It does burn nice and hot though. If I can't find Royal Oak I will continue to use Cowboy.

 

[chromestack]

Only been smoking about 2.5 months I use 7 Oaks and really like it I was forced to purchase cowboy this weekend havent used it yet though I like the big bags better I know Menards carries Royal @ least here in Central Iowa Ive also used Redneck out of Missouri can buy it cheap from factory as my Dad lives where they make it Ive never seen Kingsford By the way 7 OAks has a lot of large pieces in it

 

[bbq bubba]

Guys, try ANYTHING you can get, but stay away from the Cowboy....
Many threads here on this stuff, if your desperate, i can understand, but otherwise, it's a waste of money IMO.

 

[bbq bubba]

Have never seen the K lump before, charcoal is O.K. but wouldn't mind trying the lump.

 

[pinkmeat]

My local Kroger of all places had it last week.

 

[chef_boy812]

I work for Whole Foods Market, we sell our own store brand of lumpcharcoal. IT is pretty good, kind of in the smae boat as the cowboy charcoal, deffinately scraps from manufacturing lumber.

Here is my observation, Find out when they get their deliveries and ask if you can buy off of the top of thepallet when they com in. sometimes they will stack 3 pallets on top of each other, the bottom is reduced to dust by all of the weight, but the top seems to fare better.

I did find a box of cowboy, 25# I think,this stuff was grest, It looked like it came from small logs and it burned long and stable. maybe a different plant makes it in the box format. That is what I look for, but I usaually can only find my store's brand. Plus my employee discount helps me make my descission. lol

 

[packplantpath]

I wouldn't call it a waste of money. It is loads better than bricks but it doesn't match up to royal oak. Seems a bit dry, and burns faster for me, but other than that it does work fine.

And yes, it does seem to have tons of small pieces.

 

[pinkmeat]

Yesterday I started a few briquettes and put them beside some Cowboy brand. Worked really well. Briquettes just ash too much IMO.

 

[chunkinstien]

Well said actually, I used the Whole foods lump (2 bags from what I can remember) and I got it as soon as it came into the store. (a buddy used to work there, gave me the heads up)

Really liked it actually, great for smoking and grilling. It had large pieces, I guess because it wasn't moved around a ton, breaking up the chunks.

Kingsford has a new line of lump charcoals, I just went through a bag and it worked excellent for high heat grilling.
Try this if you get a chance.
http://www.kingsford.com/products/product_charwood.htm