Is Kingsford worth the price difference above Royal Oak?

[Lightning]

I figured it'd be something I'd have to try and see for myself so thanks for mentioning the Home Depot sale @greenweb - I stopped by on my way home from work tonight and picked up a couple of bags.  The price was definitely right to give it a shot.

[toolhead]

btw.. i snubbed the natural briqs for a while until recently.. i had bought some stubbs/ kcomp but only used a few times and didn't focus on seeing the difference, until my accidental discovery of kcomp performance when i was smoking jerky..

kblue is now used as chimney bottom starter fuel.

[Harbormaster]

Everyone has their likes and dislikes.
The last time I used Kingsford the briquettes were producing white, foamy bubbles and there was a hard to miss ammonia smell. Haven't spent a penny on Kingsford for close to 20 years, and never will no matter how cheap it gets.
If I can find natural briquettes for around $.50 a pound or less, that's what I use.

[MrHoss]

Grab it when it's cheap. South of the border the deals happen much more often. As per briquettes I like Stubbs then Maple Leaf then Kingsford Blue Bag then Royal Oak Orange Bag in that order. Maybe I got a couple bum bags of Royal Oak but their briquettes I did not care for....their blue bag lump however contains some better than average product. Always best to keep more than enough charcoal on hand...and the more kinds the better.

[Lightning]

I did a first run with some of that discount priced Kingsford last night that I'd bought on the way home with some boneless, skinless chicken breasts I had marinating in the fridge in honey garlic sauce.  Unfortunately, the bag the chicken was in had a small pinprick of a leak so there's a sticky honey garlic mess that needs to be cleaned up on the shelf in the fridge it was resting on...

I used about 3/4 of a chimney worth and it lit up easily on the Performer and burned well - but holy cow that stuff smells foul while it's igniting!  That isn't the sweet campfire scent of lump charcoal or Royal Oak briquettes lighting up.  The chicken went on after it was fully ashed over and cooked fine - the chicken turned out quite well.  I'll have a better idea about ash production when I get home tonight and clean the barbecue out ahead of making tonight's supper.  The flavour profile was noticeably different from that of the Royal Oak briquettes, both of which are different from the Maple Leaf briquettes and lump charcoal and Royal Oak lump charcoal, but I'm not at the point of being able to say whether I like it more or less than the others yet.

I picked up several bags last night, so I have enough Kingsford to try out various grilled foods and a run or two smoking in the WSM to see whether it's good/bad/indifferent, worth the extra $3 or not to me in different cooking applications.  We'll see how it goes.

[HoosierKettle]

It's funny to me when i hear that kingsford smells bad when igniting. I think it smells great and royal oak smells terrible. Especially the lump. Almost chokes me. I like using royal oak almost as well as kingsford but that smell is off putting.

It must all come down to what we are used to. The smell of kingsford has been in the air somewhere on a nice day as long as I can remember.


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[kettlebb]

I've never used Kingsford but I tried RO briquettes and I thought the smell was off putting. Stubbs smells good. RO lump doesn't smell bad either.


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[Lightning]

It's interesting how everybody has a like or dislike for different brands based on experience and what they've grown up with.  My family had a bad electric barbecue and then a Sears propane one, then finally a Weber natural gas one so I didn't grow up with charcoal. I came to that after a few barbecues at my step grandmother's place.  Her and grandpa's fuel of choice is Royal Oak lump charcoal. I enjoy that one too.  I use it, Maple Leaf, and Basques for lump charcoal.

As far as ignition scent goes, I think Basques has the nicest.  It has a very sweet campfire smell.  That figures given its made entirely from sugar maple wood.

[Darko]

That's the thing.  Everyone has preferences. All based on what one is familiar with.

So, this is what I am familiar with.

Maple Leaf charcoal... Lump is a blend of Maple, Beech & Birch.  Briquettes are ground up lump with wheat starch as a binder.

Basques charcoal... Lump is at least 90% Sugar Maple with up to possibly 10% birch used to fire the kilns. Briquettes(New product) is ground up lump with wheat starch as a binder.

Royal Oak... Lump is a combination of American Hardwoods; predominantly Oak and Hickory, but there can be other hardwoods. Briquettes are lump ground up with corn starch as a binder.

Kingsford.... Some sort of charwood(basically burned wood chips from various sources) blended with limestone powder(cement), coal dust, Borax(another mineral), sodium nitrate, sawdust.

[Foster Dahlet]

for me, once the briquettes go white, there is not a difference in flavor...i use wood chunks or chips for flavoring when i want that.  that said, when price is equal, or even if it is only close, i avoid KBB..too may impurities and too much ash production.  i enjoy RO, Stubbs, and Embers (which is RO).  when Kingsford natural products go on sale, i happily purchase.  also, when KBB went on sale at the Home Despot, i bought 6 bags...so, i am not completely opposed to KBB....it simply is not my preference.