# Briquette Charcoal: Royal Oak Ridge and Weber Charcoal outperform Kingsford



## noboundaries (May 29, 2017)

As the Memorial Holiday charcoal sales come to an end, most of the forum threads are encouragement is to buy Kingsford Original while it is on sale.  I have done EXACTLY the same thing in the past.  KBB Twin packs of 18.6 lb bags for $9.88, or 26.6 cents a lb ($9.88/37.2 lb=$.266/lb). 

Lowes has Royal Oak Ridge on sale; 15.4 lb bags for $4 each, or 25.97 cents a pound, just slightly cheaper ($4/15.4 lbs = .2597/lb).  The sale goes through 6/5/17. 

The real issue is performance.  I chimney tested both.  Using the KBB 2014 formula briquettes, the Royal Oak Ridge outperformed the KBB for temp and time.  The current KBB formula performs worse than the 2014 KBB formula.  Test link shown below:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...ttes-burn-temperature-time-and-ash-comparison

On the Virtual Weber Bullet website, the new Weber briquettes were tested against all current Kingsford products.  The Weber briquettes far outlasted all the Kingsford.  I can't post a link to the Virtual Weber Bullet website due to forum rules (which I support), but do a Google search for Kingsford vs Weber Charcoal Test and you can see the comparison pictures.  There are a lot of other charcoal links to Kingsford performance that are worth reading. 

I have been a dedicated Kingsford user for decades, but they have been making changes over the last several years that have impacted the performance of the charcoal, making it almost unsuitable for my needs, especially in my smoker.  One use of the Royal Oak Ridge Briquettes in my smoker was all it took for me to fill my available garage space with a personal new brand.  Pick up a $4 bag and see for yourself.  Very enlightening.


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## lantzy75 (May 29, 2017)

I've only been smoking for a few months, but Royal Oak Ridge was the first brand of charcoal I picked up, and I've loved it ever since.  The local walmart carried it regularly, so it's easy to find around here.


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## supernaut (Jun 5, 2017)

I just chalked up KBB's fast(er) than seemed normal burn rate to inattention to the Kettle but after reading your previous post I opted to give RO a try. Thanks for taking the time to do your experiment and sharing the results. This noob needs all the help he can get!












image.jpg



__ supernaut
__ Jun 5, 2017


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## noboundaries (Jun 5, 2017)

SUPERNAUT said:


> I just chalked up KBB's fast(er) than seemed normal burn rate to inattention to the Kettle but after reading your previous post I opted to give RO a try. Thanks for taking the time to do your experiment and sharing the results. This noob needs all the help he can get!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Happy to help.  Maybe Kingsford will go back to their pre 2006 formula, but I doubt it.  I'm happy with the RO.


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## lancep (Jun 5, 2017)

Well thank you Ray! I followed your comparison and found it enlightening. I was at Costco a couple days ago and the price for kingsford comp went up to $20. Since I really only use charcoal for grilling or lighting my fire in the smoker, I think I'll be making the switch. Sadly, I missed the lowes sale. Still recovering from my daughters surgery so extra scratch has been scarce. Maybe they'll have a similar sale around the fourth. 

Lance


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## noboundaries (Jun 7, 2017)

Lance, hopefully all will be well soon with your daughter.  So tough when kids are not well.

I suspect there will be another sale around the 4th.

The RO Ridge continues to amaze me.  Yesterday I used 9 hot RO Ridge briquettes on a bed of used briquettes in my WSM to make a half batch of beef jerky. Burned for 7 hours total and temp was rock solid at 165F set on the Guru and monitored with the Maverick.  Doing the remainder this morning.


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## pc farmer (Jun 7, 2017)

Lowes still has the RO on sale.  

I gotta get more.


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## noboundaries (Jun 7, 2017)

c farmer said:


> Lowes still has the RO on sale.
> 
> I gotta get more.


YEAH!  Checked the Lowe's website.  RO Ridge is on sale through 6/14/17!


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