Review: Original vs Competition Kingsford Charcoal (long with lots o' pics)

Great review John. I wonder what they do differently to make the cost so much higher in the Competition. Also why we never see any specials on the Competition. Is the difference in the product worth the difference in price?
 
John, this is an absolute great and thorough comparison of the two products and you are to be commended for taking the time and the labor to perform this side by side comparison. It is fantastic information and I greatly appreciate you performing the tests and publishing your results. After reading this I am inclined to do as you do on my future cooks and that is to blend the two products together to get the advantages of both. Again thanks for this valuable input of information.
 
John, That is an awesome review! I know you spent a huge amount of time doing it, and I, WE, appreciate it.

Thank you, Jim
 
Nice review John. I switched from blue bag to comp over the past year and noticed that the ash volume is less at the end of cooks in the WSM. Due the higher burn temperatures there was a bit of a learning curve needed to adjust and hold temps when smoking.
 
Great review, thank you.

I will echo the question Big Jim had - is it worth the price difference?
 
Great work John. Thank you very much for this! :clap2: :thumb:

I noticed that you said that you use the blue bag (original Kingsford) for smoking/bbq'n and the competition for grilling. And I assume that this is due to (according to your experiment) the original Kingsford (though taking longer to get to same temp) keeping higher temps longer?

I was always told (and I very well may have been told wrong) that hardwood charcoal/"Lump" burned hotter, cleaner and longer. Is this Kingsford competition brand the same as lump charcoal?
 
Thanks for all of your support and encouragement. I really appreciate it.

carlyle said:
I will echo the question Big Jim had - is it worth the price difference?
Click to expand...

To me it definitely is.

Bamabuzzard said:
I noticed that you said that you use the blue bag (original Kingsford) for smoking/bbq'n and the competition for grilling. And I assume that this is due to (according to your experiment) the original Kingsford (though taking longer to get to same temp) keeping higher temps longer?
Click to expand...

Yes, the blue stays at a more consistent temperature over a longer time.
As I mentioned in the post, I use a blend of blue and comp for competition
cooking. I cook hotter and faster than most, and the comp turbocharges
the blue. I've also found that it helps the Minion method burn more evenly.

Bamabuzzard said:
I was always told (and I very well may have been told wrong) that hardwood charcoal/"Lump" burned hotter, cleaner and longer. Is this Kingsford competition brand the same as lump charcoal?
Click to expand...

As I mentioned in the post, the comp is essentially pressed and formed
lump.

John
 
Bamabuzzard said:
So lump/hardwood charcoal doesn't burn longer than the regular? It only burns hotter and cleaner?
Click to expand...

There are far too many variables involved to really answer that definitively.

- What brand of lump?
- Made of what wood?
- What size pieces?
- How much volume?
- Under what conditions?

Doing any kind of honest comparison of lump to briqs is pretty difficult.
That's why I like briqs -- they are predictable and consistent.

John
 
Oh, okay. Makes sense. Thanks for sharing. Man you did a great job.

PatioDaddio said:
There are far too many variables involved to really answer that definitively.

- What brand of lump?
- Made of what wood?
- What size pieces?
- How much volume?
- Under what conditions?

Doing any kind of honest comparison of lump to briqs is pretty difficult.
That's why I like briqs -- they are predictable and consistent.

John
Click to expand...
 
John, thanks for the test. I'm interested in your statement:
For grilling and higher heat cooks I use the Competition product. It
gives my grilled foold just the right blast of wood fire flavor.
Click to expand...

Are you claiming that the comp actually has a different smell and infuses a different flavor? Would you care to expand on your opinion of the smell/flavor of both?

So, when should we expect a review of Stubbs and Royal Oak briquettes? :p
I jest, because I know how much work it can be, but it would be interesting.
 
---k--- said:
... I'm interested in your statement:

For grilling and higher heat cooks I use the Competition product. It
gives my grilled food just the right blast of wood fire flavor.
Click to expand...

Are you claiming that the comp actually has a different smell and infuses a different flavor? Would you care to expand on your opinion of the smell/flavor of both?
Click to expand...

It's not so much a different flavor. I was basically just referring to the
same high-heat natural wood flavor that you'd get from lump. However,
the smell of the comp is much cleaner to me.

John
 
That's interesting, John. I've not yet used the comp so I don't quite know what you mean by 'cleaner'. Fewer aromatics left in the meat, maybe?

Arlin
 
Arlin_MacRae said:
That's interesting, John. I've not yet used the comp so I don't quite know what you mean by 'cleaner'. Fewer aromatics left in the meat, maybe?
Click to expand...

Cleaner as in all wood char, versus wood char plus additives. It just smells
more natural.

John
 
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