What charcoal do you like, and why?

[Jeff]

Ummmm.....polyester &  starter cubes.....

@1buckie Ken...you aren't burning your suits are you?   They are way too cool looking!

[1buckie]

Naw......I still got my piano tails tuxedo, you know, the one with the tie-dyed cumberbun & bow tie......

[Harleysmoker]

I use Kingsford Blue Bag mostly, when I catch it on sale, I stock up on it. When I am out of that my go to is Stubbs.

I have noticed the new Kingsford sparks more than the old stuff. Not as bad as lump is but it does spark a little when moving and dumping the chimney.

Forgot the why part, it burns the same every time, easy to find in stores

[landgraftj]

I use Stubbs exclusively. Never used kingsford, no matter how cheap it is. I don't need the chemical fillers and nasty smells from it. I'll spend a little extra for my peace of mind.

[ClubChapin]

I prefer blendtec

but the reason for getting a junker is because I don't want to put non food items in my good blender.

Think of it as preseasoning inc your next smoothie with tatonka dust.

[1buckie]

Pick up a shitty blender at the goodwill store and grind up charcoal to use with the wax.

Get a Vitamix already.  It can handle charcoal without blinking.  No need for a disposable blender here.

Pick up a shitty blender at the goodwill store and grind up charcoal to use with the wax.

Get a Vitamix already.  It can handle charcoal without blinking.  No need for a disposable blender here.

I prefer blendtec

but the reason for getting a junker is because I don't want to put non food items in my good blender.

For a minute here I thought this thread was going to veer off into the finer points of pulled pork smoothies.......I'm ready if it does......

[Harbormaster]

Since I really got into grilling an BBQ, I have not purchased or used a single Kingsford briquette in any of my cookers.

Most any kind of lump is good, but to save a little coin I cook mostly on All Natural briqs: Coshell, Stubbs, Royal Oak Chef's Select. Royal Oak, Embers briqs fit the bill when in a pinch.

I find the petroleum/coal/chlorine stench (yes, that's what I smell) produced by Kingsford briqs nauseating and will never cook with their product..

[MINIgrillin]

I'm gonna have to try that Bbq Wood Flavors brand. Their manufacturing facility is about an hour south of me. And they have a BBQ restaurant.

The company history is interesting. It was owned by weber for a few years.

Ty for the tip. And awesome thread. Good info here guys

[mike.stavlund]

My complaint about Trader Joe's briquettes isn't that they disintegrate in the chimney, it's that they are useless after one cook-- they are just dust.  And I think it has a funny taste too. 

I find Royal Oak briquettes to be really smelly/smudgy and not very hot, so I was reluctant to try their lump.  HOLY COW I love that stuff though.  It's on sale at HD now, and I keep stopping in to, you know, just pick up a few more bags. 

I've avoided KBB for a while now, but nearly ran out of charcoal this winter so stocked up on KBB when it was on sale at Walmart.  It's really smoky and stinky when it's firing up, but once it gets hot enough I find it to be clean and hot and almost tasteless.  I've also been impressed with the K-comp, and have been using it in my smokers (where I was using lump last year).

...I'm still waiting for the Frontier lump to go on sale at BJ's, but I think that Royal Oak lump has now eclipsed my old favorite Frontier for me...

[Jeff]

This thread is exactly what I was hoping for so far.  I really have not got into trying too many different charcoals yet, or REALLY being observant to their differences (to this point).  I admit that I use Kingsford Blue almost exclusively.  Reason being mostly cost and availability.  I've used lump several times and noticed right away it burns faster and hotter.  That's fine for the faster cooks obviously.
The ones I'm most interested in trying now (based on responses here) are Stubbs and BBQ Wood Flavors brand. 
I do like Coshell brand.  Brian gave me a bag to try.  It did take longer to get going, but burned hotter and did last quite a bit longer than Kingsford Blue.

Thanks for everybody's responses so far!

[landgraftj]

Dryer lint contains ball hair, among other things....just saying.   

[Jeff]

Dryer lint contains ball hair, among other things....just saying.   

dude come on now!!!!

[addicted-to-smoke]

I will not willingly burn pube hair.

[Johnpv]

For me I'm really particular about what I use.  For briquettes, I love Stubb's no filler except for some vegetable starch to bind the pieces.  It burns really clean, producing just a little bit more ash than lump and doesn't give off any weird or harsh chemical odors.   When it comes to lump I have 2 brands I love.  Malis' and Wicked Good.  Both for me tend to be amazingly consistent, with lots of properly sized chunks, burn hot, and burn really clean.  The Wicked Good is REALLY dense too, which is fantastic.  Its kind of like a middle ground of density between the super expensive Japanese stuff, and the typical western style lump.   Only problem with these 2 is no one carries them by me any more, so if I want Wicked Good I have to pay alot to get it shipped to me.  Malis' I don't know where else to get from, Shoprite by me used to carry it but now its all Kingsford and randomly some Royal Oak.  Though not the good American RO, the cheap and terrible South American Royal Oak.  I've been venturing out to try some other brands, Frontier isn't bad, but every bag of it I've gotten has been about 1/4 - 1/3 of the bag being dust and tiny pieces that aren't usable.  I sometimes pick up Cowboy, it's consistent but it has improved a lot over the years.   I've tried some small bags of other stuff but nothing I can remember or that left an impression.

I've tried some other really expensive ones like Real Montana Lump Charcoal, and my experience was not good.

I just felt I got really screwed by this guy and need to voice my opinion if I can. 

I spent a fair bit of money to try this guys Maple lump, and totally got screwed.  The ordering process seemed to go OK, but then nothing.  Nothing shows up for a month, I try to email him no reply, try to call no answer and leave a voicemail.  No response.  I try this about once a month for 18 months, even tried contacting the stores he supplied to.  Which all told me they were still getting new supplies, but that they didn't have any other contact info.  Finally an email I send out around the 18 - 19 month mark finally gets a reply.  No explanation just kind of a half sorry that he didn't have any maple wood, but would send me something else and a 5lb bag of apple as well.  What I got was all really small, a lot of it just barely stayed in the weber chimney starter ( ie just big enough to not fall through).  So I waited 19 months for not even what I ordered and a disappointing product.  I came to understand he was in a bad car accident, and I feel terrible for the guy about that.  That absolutely sucks to go through that and have to deal with the recovery.  I felt bad for getting pissed off at him, at the same time though the stores he supplied where still getting new product, and I found out some people who placed really big orders still got theirs.  If he's got some one who can do that, even if my order is less than 100 bucks, it should have gone through.

I'm mad at myself for getting pissed at the guy during those 18+ months, its terrible that he was in a bad accident, and glad he survived.  That said though if you have someone running the business, maybe make sure all the orders get filled, not just the big ones, and the ones to stores.   I've thought about giving it a try again, but the actual lump that showed up was so disappointing I didn't think it was worth the money.   

[addicted-to-smoke]

There are likely many grilling product businesses out there run on shoestring budgets and limited overhead for dealing with any sort of setback. But like you say, without communication we'll never know what's going on.