If your only choices were..

C

CoveLife

Guest
Hello all

I'm the town i live in, charcoal choices are limited. Pretty much without a long drive i have kingsford and cowboy lump avaliable to me.

Now the general concensus i have read is lump is better for low and slow smoking, but also the concensus seems to be cowboy is not a great choice. So, if this were your decision, which way would you go, thanks!
 
I would choose Kingsford before Cowboy lump, and I am a lump user. Are there any other brands of briquettes available?
 
The biggest problem I have with Cowboy lump is the occasional rock or other foreign object included in the bag. I would do the necessary culling and go with the lump. I've done it in a pinch with good results.

I'm just not a big fan of briquettes for BBQ. Maybe it's the enclosed environment, or the duration of the exposure to the smoke, but I can definitely tell the difference in flavor. I also don't like the buildup of ash on a long cook, that interferes with air flow in the firebox.

On the other hand, once I pick through a bag of Cowboy and remove the foreign matter, I can't tell the difference in flavor between that and Royal Oak lump for instance.

Just one man's opinion...
 
I know a lot of people use lump in their smokers and kingsford in their grills but I prefer it the other way around. Kingsford has a nice consistent burn, I think its easier to dial a smoker in and not have to fiddle with kingsford than with lump. On the grill I like the hotter burn and more rapid response to vent changers I get from lump.
 
Home depot and a small Kmart is all I have available without a 45 mile drive so I often use cowboy and have never had a problem with a 6 hour or less cook. It has no off flavors and my 22.5 WSM will stay rock steady for at least 6 hours and with a full load ash has never been a problem. Now I have just tried Frontier and I do think it burns longer but I'm going to try a couple of more bags to see if it performs consistently.
I personally don't like the flavor of briquettes so I use only lump. I really don't know why Cowboy gets such a bad rap. I'm sure other lumps are probably better but for a rib cook or anything 6 hours or less I say Cowboy over K all the way.
 
Either of those would work just fine. If you twisted my arm, I'd go with Kingsford over Cowboy Lump for one reason: Over half the bags I've gotten of cowboy have been mostly pieces smaller than K briquettes. If you hvae a walmart and can get Royal Oak lump, I'd pick that over Kingsford most of the time.
 
I would take the cowboy and double check it. I have problems of crap in the bag with the lump. but it is better then nothing.It would be nice to see a lump by kingsford.
 
The different lumps have had troubles, and some keep trying with mixed results. For consistency, I'd just stay with Kingsford. We have, and we do (use it, consistently).
It's not perfect, but it's not bad either.
 
I just finished a 13.25 hour smoke on a WSM 18.5 using Kingsford with no problems whatsoever. No airflow issues and did not have to add any charcoal during the process. There was probably enough time left on my charcoal to go for up to two more hours if it had been needed. I cooked at a steady 225 degrees for that duration.

I experimented with Cowboy lump with my other smoker and came to a few conclusions from that test. 1 - There is less ash. 2 - It burns a bit hotter. 3 - It did not burn as long as the Kingsford.

Im' sure there are experiences to contradict mine, but those are my experiences.
 
You try Ace?

Ace Hardware
115 N Orange Ave, Green Cove Springs, FL 32043
(904) 284-3806

They carry Royal Oak briquettes and lump up here.

Have you checked your Home Centers?

I see some of them are indeed a hike.

Good luck!
 
Dumb question for you all on this. When you say Kinsford blue....is that just refering to the standard bags with the blue label on it?
 
Yep. There's standard kingsford in the blue bag, they also have mesquite briquettes and the competition briquettes. I have only used the blue personally, and not at all in a few years. Only use lump now, unless I"m firing up the LaCajaChina, which I really need to do this year!
 
Imho>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>;}-

You probably havw a lot of trees down ffrom the storms,I'd be gettin' me some,saw into disc and they will dry faster. You could also pre-burn the green stuff to embers.Save youre money,we're in a recession:rolleyes:


Anyhow...
 
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