The local hardware store sells 15.4 lb bags of Kingsford briquettes for $11.99 and Royal Oak briquettes for $8.99, so the same weight of Kingsford costs 30% more than the RO. Is there some aspect of Kingsford charcoal that's worth the 30% price premium above the Royal Oak?
To date, I've only used Royal Oak briquettes and the Maple Leaf briquettes and been happy with both when not using lump charcoal and haven't yet tried Kingsford. At some point I'll have to buy a bag and give it a try but every time it crosses my mind, I haven't been able to get past that 30% price difference and eaten the cost to do it. Is there something that merits the price difference that I haven't heard about?
Your food will not come out tasting 30% better when using Kingsford. Nothing wrong with RO. I buy the charcoal that is most cost effective at the time.
It's really a personal preference. I grew up on Kingsford and think most other charcoals are missing that flavor I know and grew up with. I've tried Stubbs and although I think it lights and burns just fine...it's missing the smell while cooking and taste while eating that make me love grilled food. Chances are if you've never used it, didn't grow up on it, and have been using other briquettes for years, you won't be that impressed with kingsford, but I may be totally wrong. I'd say give it a shot. One bag isn't going to break the bank. And if you don't really like it, it will end up being your backup bag of charcoal that is always sitting around half full in case of an emergency! LOL. I had a bag of Stubbs that sat in my SSP charcoal bin for a long time that saved me when I was out of charcoal partway through a long smoke and need to add some coals.
I'm playing with a bag of the new Weber stuff now and I have nothing scientific to prove anything but just based on visual observations I am impressed and I'm trying to figure out how to buy more of it for less money.
Sure I'll likely stock up some at Home Depot when the sale hits and did grab a twin at Costco yesterday just to bridge the gap until then.
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Every brand of briquette runs a little different. IMO: if you're used to RO, & it's consistently cheaper, why not stick with it?
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Quote from: MikeRocksTheRed on April 12, 2017, 06:47:24 AM
It's really a personal preference. I grew up on Kingsford and think most other charcoals are missing that flavor I know and grew up with. I've tried Stubbs and although I think it lights and burns just fine...it's missing the smell while cooking and taste while eating that make me love grilled food. Chances are if you've never used it, didn't grow up on it, and have been using other briquettes for years, you won't be that impressed with kingsford, but I may be totally wrong. I'd say give it a shot. One bag isn't going to break the bank. And if you don't really like it, it will end up being your backup bag of charcoal that is always sitting around half full in case of an emergency! LOL. I had a bag of Stubbs that sat in my SSP charcoal bin for a long time that saved me when I was out of charcoal partway through a long smoke and need to add some coals.
I echo this sentiment. I grew up on kingsford and nothing else I've tried gives the flavor and smell I'm used to.
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I actually love the Royal Oak brand briquettes when I can find them around my area. Last time I found them for $5.99 a bag I bout 12 bags of them but now I'm out and the place I bought them from don't sell them anymore. >:( No one in my family noticed any difference between when I used Kingsford, Royal Oak or Humphrey's. I like Humphreys's but I have to drive an hour to get it. Strange its made in PA but closest place to get it is Homestead Maryland. Go figure!!!!!!!! :'(
Quote from: wyd on April 12, 2017, 07:36:22 AM
No one in my family noticed any difference between when I used Kingsford, Royal Oak or......
This.
Look at all the big Kingsford Charcoal Sales in US. Lot different here in Canada. Homedepot has the exact same Kingsford for $7.98. $4.00 off this week. Call ahead and make sure they have them as the sale is ending today or tomorrow. My closest store have none- left but next store over has some that I will be picking up today. Pick some up today and try it out. https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/value-centre/weekly-flyer.html
I too use whatever one sale. Mostly Royal Oak and the Maple Leaf brands.
I use RO lump and briqs exclusively now. When I was competing, I used Humphrey's... a long drive to obtain it. RO works well for me.
I had an interesting conversation with Brian from Weber who was with
@TartanAvenger today about Weber charcoal. Virtual Weber Bullet did a comparison of kingsford longburning vs Weber including a size comparison of other brands of charcoal.
http://virtualweberbullet.com/kingsford-long-burning-weber-hardwood-charcoal-burn-test-2017.html (http://virtualweberbullet.com/kingsford-long-burning-weber-hardwood-charcoal-burn-test-2017.html)
From what I am hearing the briquettes from Weber are supposed to be easier to relite after use, larger and more natural. Also to use 2 of the wax lighter cubes when starting it in a chimney due to the larger briquettes.
I just now pulled a couple pork roasts off my performer and I snaked some of the Weber. Wasn't as smooth as with the kingsford. I think it is that those bigger pieces take a little more to get going so for snake cooks I'm going to stick to kings ford but for more grilling applications I'll likely use the weber
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Homedepot floor manager at the time could not locate 32 bags of Kingsford on Sale, so he offers me these at $9.99 a box. Originally at $25.99 marked down to $19.99. So I took 2 boxes to try them out.
(http://pics.weberkettleclub.com/images/2017/04/12/20170412_155114.jpg)
Went to other Homedepot and got some Kingsford at $4.00 off each bag also.
Quote from: greenweb on April 12, 2017, 12:19:19 PM
Homedepot floor manager at the time could not locate 32 bags of Kingsford on Sale, so he offers me these at $9.99 a box. Originally at $25.99 marked down to $19.99. So I took 2 boxes to try them out.
(http://pics.weberkettleclub.com/images/2017/04/12/20170412_155114.jpg)
Went to other Homedepot and got some Kingsford at $4.00 off each bag also.
$10 is a good deal for 'em. The pieces aren't as uniform as they advertise though.
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I highly encourage trying to diff types of fuel. There is a noticeable fuel temp performance...stability and ash residue bw fuels...also a noticeable taste diff...especially when you try all natural briqs...
There was a recent thread on costco kcomp sale ...where uncle al and i compared kblue to kcomp to stubbs...
That said..i never tried royal oak riqs..only RO lump
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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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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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.
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.
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.