I have only been using Kingsford briquettes with all my cooks. When I picked up my first kettle at a garage sale, it came with about 70# of Kingsford. Yep a good score. I am now down to about a half of bag left, so will be looking to buy some more charcoal soon. I have not had any problem with the original briquettes, but may look to some lump now too.