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-   -   Not your daddy's Cowboy lump! (https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=151839)

Gore 01-19-2013 01:34 PM

Not your daddy's Cowboy lump!
 
I've made fun of Cowboy lump in the past. I've had my share of rocks, insulation, dead animals, and even a live (black) frog hopped out of a bag of Cowboy lump I opened a year ago. I saw him hopping around the patio for a few days until it rained and I couldn't track him anymore. I'm very familiar with the fireworks that often occur when I light the fire. I gave up on Cowboy over a year ago after a particularly awful bag. I took to using Royal Oak as I was commuting closer to some Walmarts and it was much better. Over the past year, I noticed the RO becoming more and more like Cowboy. The bags had more dust and I even found some rocks. I'd also read here a few people commenting on Cowboy lump improving(!) The last month I've been unable to locate any RO, or even any lump. I made a trip to Ace hardware last week and picked up a 20 pound bag of Cowboy (I was ecstatic they had anything, actually). Today, I cleaned out the Oval -- I had last tried a couple bags of "True 'Cue" I found at Home Depot that were the worst bags of lump I'd ever had. They were hard to light, and filled with dust and pebble-sized lump. I couldn't even get it all to burn out when I left the vents open! Worst of all was the smell! I filled up the Oval with the new bag of Cowboy:

http://i613.photobucket.com/albums/t...y/IMG_7036.jpg

Fark! look at that! Hardly any dust, and no small pieces! I've never seen anything like it from Cowboy. What is most remarkable is there is nothing in there that remotely resembles a 2x4 or trim. It all appears to be real, unprocessed wood. Heck, this is one of the best looking bags of lump I've ever had :shock:. Here's a closer shot:

http://i613.photobucket.com/albums/t...y/IMG_7037.jpg

You can see some of the pieces aren't wholey carbonized. I lit it up: no sparks, no fireworks, and NO FUNKY ODORS. :shock: Here it is after a full 10 minutes:

http://i613.photobucket.com/albums/t...y/IMG_7039.jpg

Yeah, 10 minutes, and I had the diffusers in place. I just removed the one to take the picture. The temperature was already above 200* after only 10 minutes and it was burning cleanly, no funky smells. I don't know if this was random chance, but if this really is the "new" Cowboy, I'm loving it. I will miss the free rocks and frogs though.

Ron_L 01-19-2013 01:39 PM

Interesting. Is there any marking on the bag that we could use to make sure we're getting the 'new' stuff?

Gore 01-19-2013 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron_L (Post 2333858)
Interesting. Is there any marking on the bag that we could use to make sure we're getting the 'new' stuff?

I don't remember exactly what the old bags looked like, but it looks the same as I remember EXCEPT this is a 20lb bag that I picked up at Ace, rather than the smaller bags at Home Depot. On the front it does have the words, "Now, longer lasting," but I couldn't tell you if they were there before. Granted, I haven't actually cooked with this yet, but I've never had lump look so good and get up to temp so fast. I'm only doing some country ribs, so that's really not any test on how long it lasts. With my luck, it will all burn out in 15 minutes. :laugh:

Moose 01-19-2013 01:47 PM

Well, Gore, sometimes things do improve for the better. Hopefully this continues. :clap:

My guess is someone in management re-allocated the budgets by diverting the funds previously used for the rocks and frogs into better product.

Gore 01-19-2013 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moose (Post 2333869)
Well, Gore, sometimes things do improve for the better. Hopefully this continues. :clap:

My guess is someone in management re-allocated the budgets by diverting the funds previously used for the rocks and frogs into better product.

The really sad thing is that I didn't learn what that frog was for until after they stopped giving them away. :cry:

gtr 01-19-2013 01:57 PM

So where am I supposed to get my farking frogs now? :mad:

aawa 01-19-2013 02:01 PM

I had been using Royal Oak because it was cheap. People on here commented saying that Cowboy used scrap wood, rocks, and other foreign debris in the bag. The last 2 bags of Royal Oak that I have bought at Restaurant Depot at the same time (currently 1/2 way through the second bag) had pieces that looked like scrap wood (trim and 2x2 and 2x4) along with some insulation pieces, and a lot more dust than in previous bags I have used.

My next purchase I am debating if I want to try Cowboy or go spendy and get Wicked Good Weekend Warrior.

Moose 01-19-2013 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gtr (Post 2333884)
So where am I supposed to get my farking frogs now? :mad:

Cowboy Lump is selling the rocks and frogs to Royal Oak now, so everything's OK. :thumb:

Foxfire 01-19-2013 02:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aawa (Post 2333887)
I had been using Royal Oak because it was cheap. People on here commented saying that Cowboy used scrap wood, rocks, and other foreign debris in the bag. The last 2 bags of Royal Oak that I have bought at Restaurant Depot at the same time (currently 1/2 way through the second bag) had pieces that looked like scrap wood (trim and 2x2 and 2x4) along with some insulation pieces, and a lot more dust than in previous bags I have used.

My next purchase I am debating if I want to try Cowboy or go spendy and get Wicked Good Weekend Warrior.

I haven't been using lump that long. My last bag of RO had a sizable chunk of cement in it. Like, bigger than my fist. Which is a decent percentage of the total bag weight. Also tons of marble-sized pieces and dust. I just picked up three more bags of RO and if it seems to be the trend I think I'll try both Wicked Good and Cowboy, although I was bummed this morning I couldn't find Wicked Good on the Ace website any more. I hope it's just a seasonal lag because if the price is decent I'll ship-to-store a bunch of it.

DubfromGA 01-19-2013 02:15 PM

I've swapped over to Wicked Good Weekend Warrior blend.


I love it. Really nice sized chunks


No great pics, but here is a load with dry hickory and apple chunks over for last weekend's rib cook.


http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/a...113_092401.jpg





Old lump, snuffed out last week. I just fired it up again for today's wangs & ABT's.


http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/a...119_134020.jpg

Midnight Smoke 01-19-2013 02:35 PM

Thanks Gore, I will be trying some Cowboy's now.

chriscw81 01-19-2013 02:36 PM

Congrats on the nice bag of cowboy! I've picked up 2 bags of cowboys since folks have reported it improving. Both bags were really bad, almost half the bag was dust. One of the bags I only got because I had a 50% off coupon for Ace hardware. Wicked good is my go-to lump now. It's pricey but worth it IMO.




Sent from my Nexus using Tapatalk 2

RW 01-19-2013 02:45 PM

With Lowe's as my only source of Cowboy lump, does anyone think it would be the improved stuff that y'all are finding at Ace?

Gore 01-19-2013 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RW (Post 2333931)
With Lowe's as my only source of Cowboy lump, does anyone think it would be the improved stuff that y'all are finding at Ace?

Chriscw81 above picked up cr@ppy stuff at Ace, so I have absolutely no idea. Still seems a bit of random chance. :noidea:

Smoothsmoke 01-19-2013 03:08 PM

I might have to pick up a Cowboy to see for myself. I wasn't impressed with it before. However that was a few years back. If they have changed for the better, I'm all for it! Plus, it's readily available in my area.

Thanks for the review!!


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