# Royal Oak Chef's Select?



## drum warrior (Aug 26, 2017)

I've been reading on the forum that Royal Oak wood charcoal gets high marks.  So I picked up this 20lb bag at Cash & Cary this morning and it's labeled "Chef's Select" 100% Hardwood Charcoal Briquets.  Has anyone used this particular kind of Royal Oak?  Curious if I got a good one or if this is one of the lesser desired varieties.  I am going to smoke a couple racks of pork spare ribs and some kielbasa sausages today on my UDS.  I have this Royal Oak on hand and also a bag of Kingsford Lump Briquets which I've been keen to try.  So I'm deciding between the two for today's smoke.  From what I've been reading the Kingsford gets terrible reviews but mostly because people say the wood burns off before the coals are hot.  In a UDS this may not be an issue as you are working a slow burn from the center on out so I hope to still get some of that Mesquite flavor from the Kingsford with my application. Anyhow, curious what you all think about this Royal Oak Chef's Select.  













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__ drum warrior
__ Aug 26, 2017


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## Rings Я Us (Aug 26, 2017)

That's good stuff. Just not always available to everyone. And not on sale to much. Let us know how you like it.. if it's less ash than what your used to..


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## drum warrior (Aug 26, 2017)

Rings R Us said:


> That's good stuff. Just not always available to everyone. And not on sale to much. Let us know how you like it.. if it's less ash than what your used to..


Thanks for the insight!  I will try it today and report back.  It was only $9.99 per 20lb bag at Cash & Cary.  I hope I like it because for that price, it would be my new go-to charcoal.


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## drum warrior (Aug 26, 2017)

So far so good.  I'm really enjoying the aroma from this royal oak charcoal in combination with the mesquite and some alder me and my son cut up from a fallen tree here in our neighborhood.  This charcoal was easy to light with my chimney and easily got the UDS up to 250 before I turned down the air intake using the ball valves to about 2/3 on each.  I have two ball valves and one fixed intake hole on my UDS.  More to come.  Will let everyone know how this charcoal works out.


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## WillRunForQue (Aug 26, 2017)

I am using it tonight for an overnight brisket myself.  I bought a couple of bags from DoItBest Center, they ship to a store free.  A bit higher cost than you paid, $23 for 40 lbs.  I have liked it better than Kingsford Blue so far after doing some baby back ribs last weekend with it, much cleaner smoke from my charcoal maze.  Thought I had read that the only binder they use is tomato paste or something along those lines.


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## drum warrior (Aug 27, 2017)

I6Quer said:


> I am using it tonight for an overnight brisket myself.  I bought a couple of bags from DoItBest Center, they ship to a store free.  A bit higher cost than you paid, $23 for 40 lbs.  I have liked it better than Kingsford Blue so far after doing some baby back ribs last weekend with it, much cleaner smoke from my charcoal maze.  Thought I had read that the only binder they use is tomato paste or something along those lines.



How's your brisket going?  I am now a fan of the Royal Oak chef select. These ribs taste nice and smoky without a hint of that petroleum taste.  I highly recommend this charcoal if you can get your hands on it.  It worked well in the UDS.  I wrapped the rips in foil after 4 hours and gave em another hour in the foil.  That said, with 1/3 bag of this charcoal, I could have gone 8 hours in my UDS.  For a Brisket I would go with 1/2 bag in the UDS and should have no problems with a 10-12 hour smoke.  Collard Greens and Blackberry Cornbread also turned out nice to compliment the meat tonight.  My only regret is that I didn't smoke a larger rack of ribs!  Hope everyone's Sat smokes turned out fab.













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__ drum warrior
__ Aug 27, 2017


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## WillRunForQue (Aug 27, 2017)

It was very good, unfortunately I didn't get pics because it was eaten as fast as I could slice it!  I'm planning to stick with this charcoal, very happy with how it burns.


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## Rings Я Us (Aug 27, 2017)

Cool, looks very good. I would get some of that charcoal if I can find it on sale..


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## drum warrior (Aug 27, 2017)

We grilled salmon on the chef select tonight and it came out with a nice woody flavor.  Went by Cash n Cary today and they're out.  Hope they can get more soon.  Is the chef select much different than the red bag?


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## noboundaries (Aug 27, 2017)

Drum Warrior said:


> We grilled salmon on the chef select tonight and it came out with a nice woody flavor.  Went by Cash n Cary today and they're out.  Hope they can get more soon.  Is the chef select much different than the red bag?



I am a new major fan of Royal Oak Ridge briquettes (the red bag).  Chef's Select is the same briquette, but 30% larger per briquette.  Lowes will have Ridge on sale later this week for $4 per 15.4 lb bag, or just under 26 cents a lb.  Ridge burns 140% longer than KBB, Chef Select even longer.


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## drum warrior (Aug 28, 2017)

Noboundaries said:


> I am a new major fan of Royal Oak Ridge briquettes (the red bag). Chef's Select is the same briquette, but 30% larger per briquette. Lowes will have Ridge on sale later this week for $4 per 15.4 lb bag, or just under 26 cents a lb. Ridge burns 140% longer than KBB, Chef Select even longer.


That's very helpful.  At $4 per bag, that's even cheaper than the Chef Select I found at Cash & Carry.  I will need to make a trek to Lowes and pick some up.  Unfortunately Lowes recently closed their shop in Bellevue.  I'll need to drive to their Renton store.  I went to Home Despot today and they don't have the ridge.  Heard Walmart also carries the ridge but not in my town unfortunately.  It's one of their smaller "grocery oriented" shops.


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## noboundaries (Aug 28, 2017)

Check the Lowes website between Tuesday and Thursday.  That's usually when it goes on sale.  If you have a Winco near you, their store brand is actually Royal Oak Ridge.  Non-Sale price is usually $5.48 for a 16.6 lb bag, or 33 cents a lb.


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## browneyesvictim (Aug 28, 2017)

I picked up a couple bags of the Chefs Select from Cash and Carry. The jury is still out for me on if I like them or not...not because of the typical reasons you would think. Since I use them primarily in my WSM mini and these briquettes are larger, I can't load as many coals in the basket as I would with the smaller briquettes. Therefore I cant go as long with them before I need to reload. This is probably not an issue in your UDS because you have a lot larger basket.


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## Rings Я Us (Aug 28, 2017)

Been using these Kroger brand ones up. They seem a bit small but don't produce huge amounts of ash. They do have a natural hardwood briquette and all hardwood lump. I get their stuff when other brands are not on sale. 












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__ Rings Я Us
__ Aug 28, 2017


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## noboundaries (Aug 28, 2017)

Rings R Us said:


> Been using these Kroger brand ones up. They seem a bit small but don't produce huge amounts of ash. They do have a natural hardwood briquette and all hardwood lump. I get their stuff when other brands are not on sale.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Royal Oak Ridge supplies a large number of store brands, obviously including Kroger because those are RO Ridge briquettes.


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## drum warrior (Aug 28, 2017)

Noboundaries said:


> Royal Oak Ridge supplies a large number of store brands, obviously including Kroger because those are RO Ridge briquettes.


This is really helpful and explains why I've been a fan of the Kroger brand briquettes for years.  In fact, it validates that I need to go with my experience and not pay too much attention to brand.  I buy them at both Fred Meyer and QFC especially when they are on sale.  They have never disappointed in my UDS.  I will say though that the Chef Select provided a woodier flavor to my smoke than I associate with the Kroger brands (even though I like them).  I wonder if the composition of Chef Select is just a little different than the stuff they put out for Kroger.  Or maybe the ridge is slightly different than Chef Select and the Kroger briquettes are the same as ridge.  It certainly appears so from your picture.  I will definitely need to get a bag of ridge at Lowes or Winco now to do a comparison with my Kroger.  Thanks for sharing that visual comparison.  Can't believe how much we're geeking out on Charcoal.  Awesome forum!  Funny and true story from the weekend.  Me and my wife went to Fred Meyer.  I was there to geek out on the charcoal selection.  Meanwhile, my wife was pulling my leg to check out the diamonds.  I told her diamonds and charcoal are essentially the same thing as I tried to interest her in a large piece of charcoal to go in one of their settings but she would have nothing of it!


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## Rings Я Us (Aug 29, 2017)

Noboundaries said:


> Royal Oak Ridge supplies a large number of store brands, obviously including Kroger because those are RO Ridge briquettes.


At least I know their not junk. [emoji]128077[/emoji]


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## Rings Я Us (Aug 29, 2017)

Drum Warrior said:


> This is really helpful and explains why I've been a fan of the Kroger brand briquettes for years.  In fact, it validates that I need to go with my experience and not pay too much attention to brand.  I buy them at both Fred Meyer and QFC especially when they are on sale.  They have never disappointed in my UDS.  I will say though that the Chef Select provided a woodier flavor to my smoke than I associate with the Kroger brands (even though I like them).  I wonder if the composition of Chef Select is just a little different than the stuff they put out for Kroger.  Or maybe the ridge is slightly different than Chef Select and the Kroger briquettes are the same as ridge.  It certainly appears so from your picture.  I will definitely need to get a bag of ridge at Lowes or Winco now to do a comparison with my Kroger.  Thanks for sharing that visual comparison.  Can't believe how much we're geeking out on Charcoal.  Awesome forum!  Funny and true story from the weekend.  Me and my wife went to Fred Meyer.  I was there to geek out on the charcoal selection.  Meanwhile, my wife was pulling my leg to check out the diamonds.  I told her diamonds and charcoal are essentially the same thing as I tried to interest her in a large piece of charcoal to go in one of their settings but she would have nothing of it!


 it's ok for usual price of $6.99 a bag. When everything else is $10~$12 a bag


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## noboundaries (Aug 29, 2017)

"Embers" at Home Depot is RO Ridge.  It is only $4.97 / 15.4 lb bag, or 32.2 cents a lb.


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## drum warrior (Aug 29, 2017)

Just so I'm clear, is RO Ridge 100% hardwood charcoal?


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## noboundaries (Aug 29, 2017)

Drum Warrior said:


> Just so I'm clear, is RO Ridge 100% hardwood charcoal?


Nope.  Never said that.  And there's a difference between "100% hardwood charcoal briquettes" and "100% natural briquettes."  There's no such thing as a naturally occurring briquette in nature.  Only hardwood lump is 100% hardwood charcoal. 

Trader Joes, for example, says 100% All Natural Hardwood Briquettes made from 100% hardwood.  What that means is they aren't mixing in non-hardwoods.  To make a manmade briquette, you need a binder.  Trader Joes uses cornstarch as a binder, and most likely water.  It is 98% hardwood char and 2% cornstarch.  Locally I can buy it for $5.99 for a 7 lb bag.  Too rich for my preferences.

Stubbs uses 95% hardwood char and 5% vegetable binder, and most likely water.  I haven't looked at the price recently so can't compare, but I remember it was outside what I was willing to pay considering I go through about 500 lbs a year.    

RO Ridge is 75-80% hardwood char, less than 15% limestone, less than 10% hardwood sawdust, and water.  No other chemical additives.  At 26 cents / lb on sale, lasting 140% longer than KBB, that's what I started using this past Memorial Day after using KBB for decades.  I did a test comparison between KBB and Ridge.  Look in the charcoal section if you haven't seen it.

I am still using up the last of my KBB, but I only use it in my Kettle, and only for grilling.  The current formula is pretty useless for a smoke longer than 10-12 hours.               

Edit:  my wife and I are sharing a car because my truck is in the shop for some major work.  There's a Cash & Carry close to downtown Sacramento, not too far from where she works, about a 40 minute drive.  I just might have to stop in and pick up a bag of Chef Select to do a side by side comparison to Ridge.


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## drum warrior (Aug 30, 2017)

Thanks for the info Noboundaries, that makes sense.


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