Kings ford vs. Royal Oak

[stinkpickle]

I just tried a bag of the Best of the West Mesquite lump last weekend. It worked great, EXCEPT the bag had a LOT of chips and dust. I'll assume it was just a handling issue and will try out another bag soon. A 40lb bag for $13.87 would definitely make it worth another try.

[stinkpickle]

[Serial Griller]

Anyone know who carries Royal oak lump in Colorado?I went to my True Value and all they had was the briquettes
_________________
"That woman was out of my league...she bowled on a different night!


LGE BGE
Small BGE
Traeger Lil Tex
Weber Kettle 22.5"
Hasty-Bake Legacy
Weber Spirit E-320

[msp1128]

i liked royal oak, but you cant find it anymore. did walmart stop selling it? i have also used cowboy way from lowes. it works well also.

[Serial Griller]

I haven't checked Walmart....They may have it.
I wish Ozark Oak was available here.They also make Hasty-Bake lump.
But it's $11.50/10lb. bag here.Ouch!
_________________
"That woman was out of my league...she bowled on a different night!


LGE BGE
Small BGE
Traeger Lil Tex
Weber Kettle 22.5"
Hasty-Bake Legacy
Weber Spirit E-320

[necron 99]

You might try your local Do it Best hardware store(s). Their web site shows 'temporarily out of stock' but individual stores may have some on their shelves, or the store folks may be able to obtain it

http://doitbest.com/Charcoal+and+Lighting+Items-Royal+Oak-model-22818-doitbest-sku-809233.dib

Do it Best is also now stocking the BBQ Wood Flavors lump - I've never used it and reader reviews at Naked Whiz are mixed - NW himself didn't care for it.

http://doitbest.com/Charcoal+and+Lighting+Items-Barbeque+Wood+Flavors-model-30501-doitbest-sku-800279.dib

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumpdatabase/lumpbag48.htm

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/poll/comment_form.php?bagnum=48
_________________
Let's hope SoEzzy can ditch his heavy hand on photos in 2016!

[necron 99]

Do It Best now shows Royal Oak lump available - back in stock

http://doitbest.com/Charcoal+and+Lighting+Items-Royal+Oak-model-22818-doitbest-sku-809233.dib
_________________
Let's hope SoEzzy can ditch his heavy hand on photos in 2016!

[TheShrimpPimp]

[Burbs]

I've been using the Royal Oak Briquettes for about 1 week now, and I just realized that it doesn't say "100% natural" like I thought it did. Does this mean that this stuff is made with the same chemicals as Kingsford? I've been very pleased with them, so I'd like to stick with them, if I could, but I'm not interested in the chemicals.

I tried the lump, but I didn't feel I had the same control. If RO briquettes use the same chemicals, or any variation, I may have to learn to love lump
_________________
"Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner."


Weber Green One-Touch Gold
Pro Q Frontier Smoker

[k.a.m.]

Chris, I only use Royal Oak now no Kings ford. I don't believe I can use enough of them in weekend cooks to harm me if they have some additives in them. But around here in petro chemical alley a good smelling fire goes a long way. I don't use lump because I have better control of the briquet's. You say they are working good for you and unless you have access to an all natural Briquettes then Royal Oak is a good option. I changed mainly because of less ash and a cooler longer fire.

[necron 99]

I think Royal Oak has departed from their 100% hardwood formulation. I was a purist in using only wood, wood burned to coals, or Royal Oak briquets for many years. I stopped cooking outdoors with anything but my gasser for several years after moving north, then got back into it again last year. First bag of briqs I bought again was of course Royal oak, but it wasn't the same IMO, and then I noticed the word "Premium' had replaced '100% Hardwood" on the bags. Then about that same time, I discovered OCC Rancher briquets at Home Depot, then The Smoke Ring.

I don't think Royal Oak is using the same amount of other additives as Kingsford - yet - in their ordinary briquets but I only tried one bag of Kingsford, and that was in the 80's, so I'm not the best reference point for comparison with the K.

http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18014&sid=0ee6d2ff1786450d705269e1596026cd

http://news.findlaw.com/andrews/en/tox/20080118/20080118_beets.html

Here's some 100% natural hardwood briquets to keep an eye out for if you'd like to try and do a comparison yourself.

Original Charcoal Company Rancher - made in Uruguay

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/productreviews/occb/occb.htm

These were at Home Depot in 2007, but only Costco stores in Texas in 2008, and a few spots near their HQ (Charlotte area). They were popular with a number of Smoke Ring members, including myself. These are extremely close to what I remember Royal Oak briqets used to be like.

Nature's Hardwood

http://www.naturesgrilling.com/hardwood.cfm?vSub=1&vSNav=1

Their prior Product of Paraguay briquets are similar to Rancher in performance. Their newer Product of Mexico briquets are OK for Minion method use, but get crumbly and fragile once hot, so I don't like them for when I need to poke & prod a fire, such as in my offset cooker.

Wicked Good

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/productreviews/wgcbriquettes/wgcb.htm

I haven't tried these myself, but they have a number of favorable reviews.

There are other brands of natural hardwood briquets I've heard of but not tried, such as Duraflame, Stubb's, Picnic, Frontier, and Nature Glo. Harry N. here reported finding rocks in the bags of Nature Glo briquets he tried, which is something I've never encountered in any bag of briquets I've ever used.

And, there are many different varieties of lump charcoal. You may have to try a few to find one that works well for you. And, performance and such can vary even from one bag to the next of the same brtand of lump, or it can change over time.

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm

But at heart, like you Burbs / Chris, I prefer the consistency of briquets, just not the things that can wind up in them. I do find it's best for me to use lump charcoal in my bullet smoker for cooking poultry, to get around 350 F dome temperature for crispy skin while smoke roasting.

I recently had reason to refresh myself on the chemical formula and structure of Naphthalene. It's the primary ingredient in mothballs, and almost all of it used for mothballs comes from coal tar, produced by driving the volatile materials of mineral coal.
_________________
Let's hope SoEzzy can ditch his heavy hand on photos in 2016!

[Burbs]

Necron 99,

That's great information, thanks.
_________________
"Don't let yourself get attached to anything you are not willing to walk out on in 30 seconds flat if you feel the heat around the corner."


Weber Green One-Touch Gold
Pro Q Frontier Smoker

[necron 99]

Ace Hardware has picked up the Frontier brand charcoal recently. Frontier is owned by the same folks who own Picnic charcoal, and I've liked the way they had the Picnic product MSDS links readily available on their web site. Here's the site.

http://www.packserv.com/Content-Public/Products-By-Brand/Page.asp?iID=3

At the top of the page is the 100% Natural Briquets product, and here's the MSDS link.

http://www.packserv.com/Data/Products/Data-Sheets/1102195659.pdf

Only wood char / charcoal, and saw dust. Really transparent.

At the bottom of the page is the premium Briquets product, and here's that MSDS

http://www.packserv.com/Data/Products/Data-Sheets/869374557.pdf

Note that now there's wood char / charcoal / coal,
sawdust,
and sodium nitrate

'Premium' is in the eye of the beholder, and it isn't 100% hardwood or 100% natural, but they're pretty up front about it. I applaud their transparency, and could only wish the MSDS for other brands were as easy to find on th web and as straightforward on the ingredients.

edit - It does look like they're phasing out the Picnic brand in favor of the Frontier brand though - this was the only spot I found the Picnic brand logo still on their web site.

http://www.packserv.com/Content-Public/Page-Edit/Page.asp?iID=-1487426043
_________________
Let's hope SoEzzy can ditch his heavy hand on photos in 2016!

[Gourmet-Gator]

Royal Oak bricketts burn longer and need less tending than Kingsford IMO. And I have maybe 27 years experience...
_________________
In GOD We Trust... GOD Bless AMERICA

Gear...Oklahoma Joe's Longhorn Offset
Brinkmans Gourmet Bullet
Char-Broil 6 Burner Stainless Gasser
2 Deep Fryers

[necron 99]

I saw this on TVWBB today about Royal Oak Plus briquets in Canada.

http://tvwbb.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/1780069052/m/7030075714

When you get down the thread a little ways, see the mention of "Do Not Use in a Water Smoker Grill" - reckon this might be linked to non-wood char volatile substances in the formulation?
_________________
Let's hope SoEzzy can ditch his heavy hand on photos in 2016!

[bigG]

I drive past a RO plant in Missouri on my way to my float stream. That plant sits in the middle of a huge oak and hickory area. RO and steakhouse brand are two good brands