Royal Oak or Kinsford?

jonfoxx · Posted: Apr 06 2007 Post subject: Royal Oak or Kinsford?

I'd like to know the differences that people have found between these 2 products. Personally, I've just started to see (or notice) Royal Oak in my area and I've seen some positive comments about it, but I am curious if there is a difference in performance, taste or some other aspect that makes one better than the other?
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Big Tom · Posted: Apr 07 2007 Post subject:

Are you wondering about the Kingsford "Charwood" or the briquettes?

My team used the Kingsford Briquettes exclusively for many years because of cost and availability. The downside was that we had to preburn before adding into the smokers plus the briquettes produce alot of ash.

We have since switched to using lump charcoal such as the Royal Oak, Nature-glo and Charwood. The Charwood is not as easy to come by as the other brands. We now prefer the lump (pure hardwood) charcoal because of the ease of use and less clean-up afterwards.

To me the difference between any of the mentioned brands is neglegible. I will use any or all of them with out much consideration.

I do prefer to use briquettes when grilling as they tend to burn more evenly for the duration of the cook. Long term ash accumulation is not a concern for a single cooking, plus the pre-burn time allows the cook to marinate on libations while waiting. Wink

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Harry Nutczak · Posted: Apr 07 2007 Post subject:

Adolpho and I had a discussion about briquettes VS lump in another thread around here.

If both brands you are refering to are lump, see which one you like better. many people have been displeased with the Royal-oak produt sourced from South America, (the packaged is labeled with the country of origin)

Now for my feeling about briquettes;

charcoal briquettes are only 90% charred wood, (lump is 100%)
the other 10% is real coal dug from the ground, Nitrates for ease of lighting, Glues & binders, fly-ash, & Limestone (so the ash turns white)

The nitrate factor might help develop a stronger smoke ring either deeper or faster, but it is an unintended thing, they add the stuff to get it to light easier, cooking over mineral-based coal really bothers me too. we know mercury pollution is caused by coal burning power plants, but we do not know how much of that is getting on our food when using briquettes. it is probably an amout too small to measure, but any amount of mercury on my food is too much.
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roxy · Posted: Apr 08 2007 Post subject:

I think before you make statements that link brickettes to mercury polluted BBQ you should get your facts in order and not start some new urban legend.

Heres a link that explains what is in a brickette.

http://virtualweberbullet.com/charcoal.html#briquette
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jonfoxx · Posted: Apr 08 2007 Post subject:

Well, yes, I'm talking real charcoal or charwood... I usually use Cowboy, but it's not always available in my area, but the Kingsford and Royal Oak are pretty much everywhere, so I figured it may be time to move onto something new. I am doing more and more BBQ and I'm going through this stuff fast.
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"If it ain't fallin' off the bone, it's gnawing off the bone"
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Harry Nutczak · EDIT 04-08-07

cyb · Joined: 12 Mar 2007 Posts: 3

Quoting from the website(http://virtualweberbullet.com/charcoal.html#briquette)
posted above:

"The only required "other ingredient" in a briquette is a binder, usually a starch of some sort that holds the crushed charcoal". Then why is there so many different ingredients in kingsford, when there are other truly natural charcoal briquette?

roxy · Posted: Apr 08 2007 Post subject:

Carbonizing the coal
"3 Lower grades of coal may also be carbonized for use in charcoal. Crushed coal is first dried and then heated to about 1,100� F (590� C) to drive off the volatile components. After being air-cooled, it is stored until needed."

As alien has stated in many posts about burning a proper wood fire, when it burns correctly the heat of the fire takes care of any harmful elements that are released from the fuel source. The same would apply to the coal as it is also treated before it is added to the mixture to make the brickette.

I did see any mention in the link you provided about brickettes releasing mercury when burnt. You are making an assumption that because a brickette has a coal byproduct in it then it therefore must simply by association create mercury as well when it is burnt.

I still think/feel/believe you need to back up statements like that with facts, and not just a hunch.

But who really cares, if you dont like brickettes then great. Some of the best professonal BBQ'ers out there use them with ecxellent results.
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Harry Nutczak · Posted: Apr 09 2007 Post subject:

here is some continued reading that validates how I feel about briquettes.

Both briquettes and lump charcoal create air pollution. Lump charcoal, made from charred wood to add flavor, also contributes to deforestation and adds to the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Charcoal briquettes do have the benefit of being made partly from sawdust (a good use of waste wood), but popular brands may also contain coal dust, starch, sodium nitrate, limestone and borax.

In Canada, charcoal is now a restricted product under the Hazardous Products Act. According to the Canadian Department of Justice, charcoal briquettes in bags that are advertised, imported or sold in Canada must display a label warning of the potential hazards of the product. No such requirements presently exist in the United States.

Consumers can avoid exposure to these potentially harmful additives by sticking with so-called natural charcoal brands. Noram de Mexico�s Sierra Madre 100 percent oak hardwood charcoal contains no coal, oil, limestone, starch, sawdust or petroleum products and, to boot, is certified by the Rainforest Alliance�s SmartWood program as sustainably harvested. The product is available at select Sam�s Clubs across the U.S. Other manufacturers of all natural charcoal include Greenlink and Lazzari, both of which can be found at natural food outlets across North America.

and this is my source;
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3898312/

nothing about mercury noted in the article, But I find it interesting that Canada (your country of residence?)requires warning labels to accompany briquettes and the U.S. does not.

Plain & simple, I do not like briquettes due to the items in them besides charred wood. I quit using them over 20 years ago when I relazied there was a better alternative besides cooking over un-charred wood or processed briquettes. I also will not use Cowboy brand lump because it is recycled wood from miling operations which may or may not contain pesticides, glues, or or different treatments used in lumber production.
Living on BBQ food is bad enough for us, why add to the problems?
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Just remember that the toes you may step on during your climb to the top will also be attached to the a$$es you'll be forced to kiss on your way back down!

PalmettoCookers · Posted: Apr 11 2007 Post subject:

We used Cowboy until this last cook-off when we found some 57 stone in it.
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Smokinfunk · Posted: Apr 15 2007 Post subject:

Don't know if anyone else has seen it this way, but I will never use Cowboy lump again. Used to be the only thing I could find in stores here in Charlotte. Well, I regulary found pieces of lumber scrap in the bag..i.e. picture frames, wall moldings, etc. Once found a piece of plywood! And, it burns waaay too fast.

I can only recommend from what's available now, and my three favorites are: Big Green Egg lump, Kingsford Charwood lump, and my favorite - Original Charcoal Company lump. It's made from South American hardwoods, is very dense, burns much longer than most. The downside - gotta watch it while it's lighting up, because it gives off huge showers of sparks.

Royal Oak lump is also available here, and while it doesn't seem to be of the crap quality that Cowboy is, it's a lighter density, burns up too fast compared to the others I've mentioned.

Kingsford has been making a big push here to eliminate the competition..even going so far that one of their reps went through a Bi-Lo store here, removing the shelf-tags from the competition's products. No shelf-tag means when the store personnel responsible for re-stocking take inventory, if they don't see the tag, they don't know there was ever a product there, so it never gets re-ordered.

Another thing I really love about the Original Charcoal Company lump - when I couldn't find it at my favorite store, I got on the web - found out they're headquartered right here in Charlotte. Called 'em up, left a message. The president of the company - Eric Krause - called me back, told me where to find it, and even told me that if I ever can't find it I can come down to their place to buy it, or that they would even deliver it to me. Very impressed by the customer service. And that has no bearing on their product being my fave - that decision is strictly based on the burn characteristics I've already mentioned.
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jonfoxx · Posted: Apr 15 2007 Post subject:

Smokinfunk · Posted: Apr 16 2007 Post subject:

jonfoxx - here you go:

website: www.originalcharcoal.com

email: info@originalcharcoal.com

Note: I googled it since it'd been a while since I had to look up the website - and a review from NakedWhiz came up - but this review is for their "instant light" variety - which is impregnated with a vegetable wax for quick starting. Don't be put off by that - that's NOT the product I use. If you go to their site there are several varieties shown - I use the basic lump shown on the lower left.

Incidentally, just because I was curious, I went back to the NakedWhiz to look up the review for the "standard" lump charcoal. And I have to say my results have not matched their review, both the good and the bad. What I mean is, NW says there is very little sparking while in the chimney, I get TONS of sparking. NW says it produces a lot of ash, I get very little ash. Towards the bottom of their review, a photo after a long burn shows a lot of it left unburned. I'm not sure if they're trying to say that some of it just doesn't burn? Or that it burns for a hell of a long time - this has been my experience. As must always be stated, your mileage may vary.
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If God hadn't meant for us to eat animals, He would not have made them out of meat!

markalbob · Newbie Joined: 27 Mar 2007 Posts: 26

PantherTailgater · Posted: Jun 01 2007 Post subject:

PantherTailgater · Posted: Jun 01 2007 Post subject:

Smokinfunk,
I sent an email and have already received a reply. Very prompt!

Home Depot sells their natural briquette version under the "Rancher" brand name. It's the item that was advertised last week for $2.99 (Reg. $4.99). He says their lump charcoal is available at most Lowes Foods and Ingles supermarkets in 10 lb. bags.

Thanks for supplying the links and email address.

jonfoxx · Posted: Jun 04 2007 Post subject:

I've been trying the Royal Oak and I'm quite pleased with it. The pieces are much bigger than the Cowboy so it burns longer which saves me money! I haven't come accross the Kingsford yet, but would still try it if I did.
_________________
JP
"If it ain't fallin' off the bone, it's gnawing off the bone"
Brinkmann Pitmaster Deluxe
Masterbuilt Smokehouse
Weber 22.5 Kettle
BBQ Grillware Propane Grill w/Rotisserie
Sagaform Bucket Grill

Smokinfunk · Posted: Jun 05 2007 Post subject:

PantherTailgater - have you tried that natural briquette yet from Original Charcoal Company?

I'm still using up my old stock of lump - but am really curious to know if the briquette product works as well as the lump, especially because it would seem logical that briquettes would give a more predictable yield in terms of amount vs. temperature vs. cooking time.
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WSM 22.5", Digi-Q ATC, Cyber-Q ATC
Brinkmann Cimarron Deluxe offset smoker
Weber One-touch 22.5" grill
Weber One-touch 26" grill
============================

If God hadn't meant for us to eat animals, He would not have made them out of meat!

PantherTailgater · Posted: Jun 05 2007 Post subject:

PantherTailgater · Posted: Jun 14 2007 Post subject: