• working on DNS.. links may break temporarily.

Review - Sam's Club "Best of the West" 100% Mesquite Lump Charcoal

bigabyte

bigabyte

somebody shut me the fark up.
Joined
May 10, 2006
Messages
26,208
Reaction score
24,796
Points
0
Location
Overland Fark, KS
A couple weeks back I posted about my first time lighting up a chimney full of this stuff. Since that first lighting, I have only had very great results with this stuff. It is officially my new favorite charcoal.

This stuff comes in a 40 pound bag for $12 and change at my local Sam's. The pieces inside it are freaking huge, and I am really liking that option of having charcoal logs for putting on the smoker, awful convenient.

I only had issues with the coals sparking, and putting out lots smoke on my very first chimney laod. I can only guess there must have been a piece or two in there that was not fully charred. Since then however, after about 10 more chimneys, I have not had that problem at all.

I ran my WSM on this charcoal for 24 hours on this stuff from yesterday through this morning I had to refuel twice (I got 8 hours per load), and refueling was easy because the pieces are so big it was like tossing a few sticks in there basically. I had ZERO problems with sparking/popping or the charcoal producing smoke at all during this whole time.

This was my initial posting about this stuff.
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=80187&highlight=sam's
The first post would be a little misleading because that particular chimney-full sparked and smoked a lot, but that was the ONLY time that has happened to me.
 
I remember your original post.Thanks for the review. I have been eyeing it at Sam's but was going to wait until we heard back from you. I'm going to pick some up my next trip to Sam's.
 
I was also waiting to hear about the results.Will pick up some on the way home tomorrow.I would have a hard time with 2 bags on the Harley. :p
 
I just checked Sam's web site and they list this charcoal as unavailable, at least not on the web or in Florida.

Then I Googled it and found this web site. http://www.twotreesproducts.com/

The bag is different from the one shown on Sam's, but the logo is the same.
Havn't checked the price yet but it might be OK for those of us that can't get any other way. :thumb:
 
I bought some yesterday and it has LOGS in the bag....pieces so big that I will have to chop them up before I can get it in the weber kettle.
 
I use Lazzari's Mesquite Chunk Wood Charcoal, and it is great. Although I can't find it for less that $20 for 40 pounds, but even then it is cheaper than Kingsford -- and better for many applications.

I did an over-nighter with it last night for the fist time and I admit I was a little nervous, but it went from 10:30 p.m. to 8 a.m. this morning before I had to add fuel. I found packing it very tightly into the fire ring on my WSM makes a difference in how quickly it burns...
 
kik_start said:
I bought some yesterday and it has LOGS in the bag....pieces so big that I will have to chop them up before I can get it in the weber kettle.
Click to expand...
Yep, they are freaking huge. When I started my WSM, I put 3 of those logs, and filled in with the small pieces. Then when refueling i used the medium sized chunks, which of course are bigger than the biggest chunks form any other bag of lump I have ever seen. The big logs wouldn't fit into the WSM through the access door without lifting the middle chamber off. Then again, maybe the logs you got were even bigger than the ones I got and they can't even fit in the charcoal ring??:shock:
 
Hey all. Yeah, I posted about this stuff a week ago as well and just cut into the bag today. I can also confirm, the pieces in this bag are HUGE!! I've never seen lump like this. I'm running it right now in my Pro Q Excel. It's only been a couple hours so not sure how long it will run. Doesn't seem to be running very hot, but it's pretty breezy out right now so it's affecting my temps.

Despite the warning on the bag, I got almost no sparking and I lit it off with my weed torch. This too may become my fuel of choice going forward. I picked mine up for $14.25 here in El Paso, TX. For 40 lbs. of this stuff it's one hell of a deal.
 
Thanks Bigabyte, good intel.
Now I gotta check my local Sam's to see if/when they'll get it in for me!
 
We've been using this stuff at home and comps for a while now. It is a good deal for the price, and the big pieces work great in the backwoods. One word of caution though, most bags have a huge amount of "dust" at the bottom, Im guessing we are using ~ 30-35 lbs from each bag. One bag last month was absolutely horrible, threw away at least 20 lbs of unusable chips and dust. This one bag was a fluke, so we will continue to use the product. $12 for 30-35 lbs of usable lump is a good deal.
 
FireChief said:
Hey all. Yeah, I posted about this stuff a week ago as well and just cut into the bag today. I can also confirm, the pieces in this bag are HUGE!! I've never seen lump like this. I'm running it right now in my Pro Q Excel. It's only been a couple hours so not sure how long it will run. Doesn't seem to be running very hot, but it's pretty breezy out right now so it's affecting my temps.

Despite the warning on the bag, I got almost no sparking and I lit it off with my weed torch. This too may become my fuel of choice going forward. I picked mine up for $14.25 here in El Paso, TX. For 40 lbs. of this stuff it's one hell of a deal.
Click to expand...

Update. Ran my offset on Sunday (Charcoaler Duo) doing to chicken breasts and this stuff ran hot! Not sure how many pounds I used, but it was about 2/3 full in the smoker box, sitting on an elevated expanded metal grate at ash pan level. These pieces due to their size take a long time to heat up, but the main chamber got up to 400 before closed down the intake and let it run at about 310-325. Chicken came out great and only took about 1 1/2 hourse to cook. I'll have to play around with this stuff somemore so I don't waste any charcoal.

My next smoke just has to be a hot and fast brisket. I think stuff might be perfect for that. I've used split logs before as they get hot but they die down too quick (at least in my cheap offset) and produce tons of ash. Later.
 
i too, found at least 25% powder. and for that size bag, thats bad business in my book. also, anyone realize its from meh-hi-ko and, to my knowledge dere aint inny control or restrictionz

sorry to pizz on the other positives
 
My bag wasn't 25% powder, but perhaps many of them are. Mine was maybe between 15% to 20% fines, not really dust either but pieces too small to use mostly. I dumped it into a plastic container when I opened it so I saw how much there was right away.

Even with 25% dust, that is 30 pounds of usable lump for $13 here. That's $4.25 for 10 pounds of lump. I can't think of a better price for lump that good, and the bags you are comparing it to will have unusable dust/fines whereas the 30# you get for $4.25 is all usable because we already took out the 10# of dust you mentioned.
 
Just checked and it is $14.27 local. That is still a killer price! Go figure, I am an hour's drive from Mexico but the product is cheaper in the Midwest. :doh::confused:
 
{Midnight ☼ Smoke};1224692 said:
Did you just try 1 bag?
Click to expand...


yes sir - thats all it took to form a lasting impression. maybe i expect too much. it wasnt only the 3-4 lbs of powder that turned me off. i prefer some consistant chunk size. i dont like pouring to be stopped by an 18x4" piece that Ive got rip open the bag to get out. also, the popping sounded like kids having a pop-gun war on Christmas day. thenn - i read the bag :shock:

be that as it may - i appreciate the opened minded gesture :becky:

fwiw: im stuck on royal oak lump (red bag) :thumb:
 
bbq54321 said:
yes sir - thats all it took to form a lasting impression. maybe i expect too much. it wasnt only the 3-4 lbs of powder that turned me off. i prefer some consistant chunk size. i dont like pouring to be stopped by an 18x4" piece that Ive got rip open the bag to get out. also, the popping sounded like kids having a pop-gun war on Christmas day. thenn - i read the bag :shock:

be that as it may - i appreciate the opened minded gesture :becky:

fwiw: im stuck on royal oak lump (red bag) :thumb:
Click to expand...

Just wondered, I have been using the RO Red for a couple years and I have gotten good and bad bags. Lately mostly bad with a lot of powder and broken up lump. Gorilla handlers at Wally World :mad:. I have gotten Lazzari and had enormous hunks that I broke up with a Welding Hammer (thanks Thrideye). I like Chris's logic though, on the price paid for the amount you end up with.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

W
New to The PK
Replies
16
Views
518
WeberWho
W
16Adams
Sam's Charcoal Sale -Acacia Wood Lump
2
Replies
22
Views
1K
Fooball
F
HogGrog
Stubbs vs Cowboy
Replies
17
Views
1K
HogGrog
HogGrog
S
Equipment switcharoo (warning, stupidly long and likely boring!)
Replies
10
Views
376
DBBQ
D
F
Dirty smoke smell?
Replies
4
Views
410
Fishwater2002
F
Back
Top