Royal Oak vs. Stubbs?

[ramsfan]

Does anyone know which of these is better? Can anyone recommend one or the other or another lump charcoal that is even better than these two? ...and most importantly - why? Thanks.

[WhaleinaTeardrop]

Stubbs all day for me; easy to light, good clean smoke, better flavor, slower burn so it lasts longer. 

I  bought the remainder of a pallet(20+bags) the last time it went in sale.

I could easily do a commercial for Stubbs. 

[Joetee]

I like stubbs. They are hotter and burn longer than Royal Oak.

But also, I think all briquettes are fine depending on what you are cooking and how long you want to cook, how hot, and how much you want to attend it like adding more. In other words, pick your Briquette's according to what you are cooking and how.
Some times a slow burning Briquette is better.
I hope this helps.

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[Kneab]

Stubb's. 👍
Less ash than RO and KBB, burns longer, tastes better.
Love Stubb's for snakes and for the wsm.

[WhaleinaTeardrop]

Just picked up a few bags at the 1-day sale:



In hindsight, probably should've gotten a few more.  Will check back tomorrow to see if my local Lowe's plays their usual game of having an unadvertised sale at a dollar more a bag than the 1-day national sale.

[jcnaz]

Stubb's is made from hardwood char and vegetable starch. It comes from the Duraflame company, who also makes Cowboy Lump. I think that they are starting to bag Cowboy Briquettes, that may (or may not) be the same as Stubb's.
Royal Oak is a family owned business that makes a variety of charcoal products.
The RO Ridged Briquettes that are on sale at Lowe's this week are a standard briquette similar to Kingsford (KBB). They contain hardwood char and mineral additives like anthracite (coal), limestone, and borax.
Royal Oak Chef's Select is an excellent all hardwood briquette. It is hard to find, unless you have a Do it Best Hardware store near you.

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[Darko]

Right from Royal Oak. Their briquettes are made with ground Charcoal mixed with corn starch.


Charcoal Briquets:

Our USA produced briquets are made from ground charcoal mixed and bound with cornstarch, which is then formed into Ridge briquets. The result is a consistent size and shape with an even, predictable burning time.


They do not have all the crap that Kingsford does.

[Joetee]

Here is a good comparison and good note considering stubbs.

http://m.thesweethome.com/reviews/best-charcoal-for-grilling/

Last Updated: May 5, 2016

We've seen some chatter on the Internet suggesting that Stubb's charcoal is being discontinued. As far as we can discern, that is not true. However, a representative from the manufacturer, Cowboy Charcoal, told us that the company may "possibly start marketing it [Stubb's] as Cowboy Brand Natural Briquets for next season, but the product would remain the same." We'll keep you updated as we learn more. For the moment, however, Stubb's 100% All-Natural Bar-B-Q Charcoal Briquets are still being made and remain our runner-up pick. Your best chance to find them is at Lowe's Home Improvement, some Walmart locations, and some True Value Hardware stores.


Stubb's 100% All-Natural Bar-B-Q Charcoal Briquets burned hotter and produced less ash than any other charcoal we tested. These briquets burned at over 900°F for the full 70 minutes they lasted—a longer burn time than we got from Kingsford Original Charcoal






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[WNC]

Love those graphs, thanks!
I picked up some of both, I love Stubbs! It's my favorite, but at four bucks a bag it's hard to pass up the deal on the RO. I tried a bag before I bought the ten I did, and it lit up much cleaner than thought it would.
Then the next day Stubbs goes on sale, so grabbed some of that too. I'll use the Stubbs for snakes and smoking, and leave the RO for hot grilling


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[nitis]

That RO is tough to pass on for quick small cooks burgers chicken etc


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[go_home_red]

I'll use the Stubbs for snakes and smoking, and leave the RO for hot grilling


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This. It's tough to beat Stubbs when you want a clean burning, predictable, easy-to-arrange charcoal snake/fuse. The RO ridges make it a pain to arrange in a snake, and it doesn't seem to burn as clean. But RO is great for grilling. Menards should the the RO on sale next weekend...just waiting for their ad to come out.

[Vwbuggin64]

Stubbs all the way. No question.


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[Foster Dahlet]

I have had good success with both....I used to be Stubbs only, but after Lowes and WalMart ran out of stock all winter long, I noticed that RO sells at Lowes for a much better price per lb than Stubbs. .... I have since switched to RO, and will stay that way unless Stubbs goes on sale..... Frankly, each works great for all types of cooks.  But, RO has been a real surprise.....  Never knew their briquettes were so good....at the current sale price of $4 for 15.4 lbs, that is a steal.

[ReanimatedRobot]

I haven't used Stubbs Briquettes, but if I found a good price on them I wouldn't hesitate as I don't think I have heard many complain about it.  Right now I am going to be doing Royal Oak for quite some time because I found some on clearance.  I would think it would make more of a difference if you were talking about lump charcoal vs. briquettes.  Most of the time I have plenty of burn time leftover after grilling steak, burgers, chicken, and etc. 

I don't tend to be super picky on my choice of charcoal other than what I can get the best deal on.  I don't use lighter fluid so that never gives the smoke or food a weird taste.  I have never had anyone walk up to me after eating and saying that burger wasn't so great because you didn't use competition charcoal.  As long as you don't burn the bejesus out of the food usually it turns out pretty darn tasty.  Especially to those people who "prefer the taste of charcoal, but only cook on gas because charcoal is too hard". :p

[jhagestad]

I haven't used Stubbs Briquettes, but if I found a good price on them I wouldn't hesitate as I don't think I have heard many complain about it.  Right now I am going to be doing Royal Oak for quite some time because I found some on clearance.  I would think it would make more of a difference if you were talking about lump charcoal vs. briquettes.  Most of the time I have plenty of burn time leftover after grilling steak, burgers, chicken, and etc. 

I don't tend to be super picky on my choice of charcoal other than what I can get the best deal on.  I don't use lighter fluid so that never gives the smoke or food a weird taste.  I have never had anyone walk up to me after eating and saying that burger wasn't so great because you didn't use competition charcoal.  As long as you don't burn the bejesus out of the food usually it turns out pretty darn tasty.  Especially to those people who "prefer the taste of charcoal, but only cook on gas because charcoal is too hard". :p

I agree with you here - I typically look for what's on sale, buy 6-8 bags, and grill away.  Around me, it's all Kingsford and Royal Oak, and they take turns giving great deals every few months or so.  If I saw Cowboy (Stubbs) briquettes on sale, I'd happily give 'em a try, but I'm not going to drive an hour to find them.  I reuse a lot of what I burn anyway using the bigger better basket with the EM base mod. Just shake the basket the next morning and the white ash easily falls off to leave some smaller usable coals in the basket for next time.  Works just fine for what I typically cook (steaks, chicken, burgers).