What is your favorite lump coal?

[kalinedrive]

I have now tried two different kinds of lump coal, Cowboy Lump Coal, and Royal Oak. The cowboy lump coal left a lot of ash and had kind of a heavy smoke flavor. The Royal Oak burned clean and left nearly no ash, but it had very little flavor. So, I ordered a bag of Rockwood lump charcoal. We hope it has a nice smoke flavor but not overwhelming and it lasts a while for our next long cook which is a pork butt. 

 

So, what do you all use for lump coal when you do a sear or hot fire, and what do you use for a slow cook?  Also, do you buy local or online? 

[ckreef]

A very subjective question. Do a forum search. There are probably 100 threads debating lump charcoal.

For me - whatever is on sale - it all burns.

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[Chuck0531]

^+1

This is extremely subjective indeed because everyone here has there favorite lump. I have used Rockwood and it is great and I have used Kamado Joe lump which is also great. I will tell you up front so you are not disappointed but Rockwood lump burns clean like the KJ and, from what you said the royal oak, so you will not get a smoky flavor from it. In my opinion this is the type of lump I want because I don't want a smoky flavor on some of my cooks. The cooks I do I simply use wood chunks - apple, pecan, hickory, cherry, etc. to create the smoky flavor.

[Woodman]

+1on whatever's on sale. Especially now that Walmart has 17 lb bags of Royal Oak lump on sale for $9.94.

[Rob_grill_apprentice]

Like others said very subjective. In my example I have only used a few brands. I like Kamado Joe Lump and I have been happy with size of pieces. I have used basque charcoal and my experience has been medium sized pieces and lots of small pieces otherwise no complaints, I have used dragon breathe and liked it but it costs me more than other brands, I have tried big green egg lump no complaints, I mostly have kamado Joe lump because the price at lowes was decent.

[HaagenDazs]

But what if my favorite is better than your favorite?!   Not only is the choice subjective, but the selection really depends on where you live.  Sure, everything is available online, but I'm hesitant to mail order charcoal with the fear that it will arrive in charcoal dust form.  I've been enjoying Fogo recently myself.

[John Setzler]

All lump charcoal is not created equal, but there shoukd not be a significant difference in the amount if ash produced from one brand to the next. There will be differences but in my opinion they are insignificant. They all should be relatively clean burning as well. If one brand seems to produce a noticeably different smoke profile Inwould bet there is another variable in play besides the charcoal.

[MtbChip]

NatureGlo: Hickory/Oak combo.   I buy 40# bags from a supplier in Los Angeles (nothing here in San Diego).  Our motto here....

DON'T RUN OUT OF FUEL....!!!

 

[kalinedrive]

Thank you for the input!  One thing we have not tried is adding wood chunks as suggested by chuck0531.  That seems to be what we are missing, a natural wood flavored wood like apple, cherry, pecan etc...  It is a learning curve :-) 

[Chuck0531]

Thank you for the input!  One thing we have not tried is adding wood chunks as suggested by chuck0531.  That seems to be what we are missing, a natural wood flavored wood like apple, cherry, pecan etc...  It is a learning curve :-) 

 

There is definitely a learning curve.  You will have to play around with the type and number of wood chunks to use depending on how much smoke flavor you want.  Some woods produce a mild flavor while some produce a much stronger flavor.  This link may help some: http://bbqrsdelight.com/wood-flavors/

 

Just play around with it and have fun with it.  I sometimes mix different woods together to create the flavor that I want.

[Brick Pig]

John Setzler's Smoke video is a great one for hitting the basics in one quick go. It gives you plenty of information to get you started, and to set you off on your own path of experimentation. 

I've been using various smokers and smoke woods for 12+ years and I still found the video to be informative and useful.

 

http://www.kamadoguru.com/topic/27675-john-setzler-on-smoke/ 

[jkill73]

personally like Royal Oak, mostly for it's low cost in this area, but it also burns well for low and slow and is easy to get good and hot for grilling or searing. When I want a heavier smoke profile I throw some smoking wood at it.

[onewondershow]

Whatever is on sale as long as it's decent. Even on sale I won't buy stuff like cowboy lump. Here in NY lump is very limited especially different brands. So far I have tried frontier(bjs), RO(home depot/walmart, KJ (road show @costco), Cowboy(lowes/walmart), Big green egg(I won the bag and a mini). KJ is the best so far from what I've tried but to be fair the big green egg bag looked like it lost a fight. It was taped up all over and leaking.

[kalinedrive]

All lump charcoal is not created equal, but there shoukd not be a significant difference in the amount if ash produced from one brand to the next. There will be differences but in my opinion they are insignificant. They all should be relatively clean burning as well. If one brand seems to produce a noticeably different smoke profile Inwould bet there is another variable in play besides the charcoal.

Since my Akorn is only 2 weeks old, I am thinking we may be getting some industrial smell. Not a ton, but maybe enough to throw the taste off a tad.

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[John Setzler]

All lump charcoal is not created equal, but there shoukd not be a significant difference in the amount if ash produced from one brand to the next. There will be differences but in my opinion they are insignificant. They all should be relatively clean burning as well. If one brand seems to produce a noticeably different smoke profile Inwould bet there is another variable in play besides the charcoal.

Since my Akorn is only 2 weeks old, I am thinking we may be getting some industrial smell. Not a ton, but maybe enough to throw the taste off a tad.

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I doubt it. I started out on a akorn too.