Chemical taste from KBB?

[EyeBurnEverything]

I don't notice a Chemical taste from KBB, but i do wonder why KBB produces a better smoke ring vs Lump. I have confirmed this with many cooks.

 

[Q_Done_Right]

Personally, I think the KBB chemical taste is a myth. Although they don't list the ingredients on the bag, I remember seeing them published somewhere once, and there was nothing in there that I would call an "artificial chemical." It includes some anthracite coal to increase the heat production and burn time, but that's no worse than eating pizza from a coal-fired oven, which is all the rage these days. KBB also includes some limestone (to turn the ash white so it will be visible), which also would not cause a chemical taste. I also seem to recall that the briqs are held together with food grade starch, so no "chemical binders."

All charcoal, including lump, smells bad when it is heating up. I would expect that off-gassing process to take longer with briquettes because they are denser than lump. The only time I've ever gotten an off flavor when doing a minion burn with KBB was when I put the food on immediately after dumping the lit coals on top of the unlit coals. Since then I've always given it 20 minutes or so for the temp to stabilize before putting the food on, and I've had no hint of an off flavor. I think you need that stabilization time no matter what kind of charcoal you're using, although, as I noted, the actual time might be different for lump since the density is different.

Agreed. Although the initial smell upon lighting up a chimney of KBB has a stronger than normal smell, I’ve literally never noticed any “off” or chemical” like taste from it on my food as compared to the Weber briquettes or Royal Oak lump charcoal I also use. My only issue is that it leaves a lot of ash. I think it’s in peoples heads. :mrgreen:

 

[kevinstaggs]

Yeah, like I said. I never noticed it with any plain charcoal. Just when fluid is used. Since switching to a chimney starter... no issues.

My concern is that I may just be used to it, and others I cook for may be tasting it.

VR,
Harold.


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All I could offer is that, like many on this forum, I’ve served lots KBB+minion smoked and grilled meats. Some better than others, no doubt, but I’ve never heard a “tasted like lighter fluid” comment. I say move on - it’s rare if ever that someone can, or thinks they can, detect that smell from KBB.


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[AWilliams]

I just did my first smoke with lump in my Redbox. Definately a different animal but I could notice the difference in taste.

 

[JD08]

Thanks. Good read. The only problem is, around here, about all you can find is royal oak lump and other no name brands. And of course KBB. It’s like dominos pizza. Might not be the best, but it’s consistent and OK. It’s pretty much the same everywhere.

VR
Harold


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There's plenty of people, myself included, who prefer Royal Oak lump. The time to be worried is when you can only find Cowboy.

 

[Monkey Uncle]

Here's the Materials Safety Data Sheet for KBB, dated 2016: https://images.homedepot-static.com/catalog/pdfImages/8d/8d5b38a6-5b61-44a7-903b-3574bcd966f5.pdf

The ingredients and approximate proportions are listed in a table at the top of page 3. Charcoal, limestone, wood dust, and sodium tetraborate pentahydrate (which is the fancy name for common laundry borax). Note that it contains no petrochemicals, and apparently they aren't even using the coal and starch binders any more. Not sure how they're holding the briquettes together.

The borax is the only thing that gives me pause, but I wasn't able to find much information on any impact it may or may not have on the food.

 

[smoke ninja]

There's plenty of people, myself included, who prefer Royal Oak lump. The time to be worried is when you can only find Cowboy.

Cowboy lump is a whole new animal these days. No longer pine wood scraps. Today they have regular cowboy made in mex and southern style made in the USA. Worth a try again.

 

[Norm]

Keep in mind when they say sawdust I'm curious what kind of wood is used. I'm sure they have more than one plant but the one I saw was grinding conifers. Not the kind of wood you would want to cook over.

 

[Blizzard]

Whitewookie:
I noticed a chemical taste. Well my wife did, when I used the “Cherry” flavored type. I then tried Stubbs “regular“ and did not notice any off flavors.

It’s been a while since I’ve used my WSM but I want to this weekend. I’m going to rethink the minion method now... preheated charcoal sounds like a good idea.

 

[Sillius Sodus]

Funny how perception is reality for everybody regardless of its relation to truth.

I’ve previously posted on my personal “battle” with the lump vs KBB thing in a thread where someone was question which he should use. All the “chemical” folks (read: only lump users) showered the poster with horror stories of supposed horrible ingredients and a very clear ability to distinguish the chemicals used in KBB as opposed to lump. The “ I just want to grill” folks (read: the KBB users) all opined that there was no such thing. In the end, the thread died down/went away because, well it really came down to it simply being a matter of perception and that got boring.

Don’t let artificial untruths make any decisions for you. Various people thoughout history (up to, and including today) feel that if they repeat something enough, regardless of its validity, people will start to believe it. This has proven true time and time again - religion and politics are both excellent examples of this.

After my quest to find the greatest lump was over and I had switched back to KBB, I had a friend over for steaks. He was -and still is - an ardent BGE user. We conversed, had beers, and ate the steaks. After we ate, I showed him the bottle of lighter fluid that I had used to start the KBB with and asked him if he had noticed anything off about the taste. He replied that he had not but that he knew I was pulling his leg with the lighter fluid thing. I assured him that I was not and then showed him the smallish amount that I actually used to start the coals burning (think minion method idea here, but with all the charcoal in a pile instead). Yeah, it takes longer to light the coals whenever I start them this way, but isn’t the time spent waiting (and what you do in the meantime) actually what grilling is about anyway?

 

[Baychilla]

Oh the irony.

 

[Texan79423]

I have not used KBB or any briquet in years. In my primo I use lump. In the smoker I start with a chimney of lump and add wood for a base of coals. A while back in a bind I started the smoker with KBB. Cooked brisket, ribs and sausage.

The family ask what was wrong with the ribs they tasted funny and they did taste of charcoal. Unless you use a stick burner you don't notice the difference. There is a difference

 

[Rusty Kettle]

Kbb has an off taste. I switched to save money and switched back and boy did I notice. It was bad. High heat grilling its fine. Smoking just nasty.
Never use to bother me. It does now. Best briquettes I have found are Expert Grill briquettes. No off taste. Long burn times.

Most people aren't going to notice. I do notice.
So I use a different brand.

I wonder if it has to do with the woods used to make the different charcoals. Not necessarily different chemicals but different woods.

Either way kbb tastes off to me. Most won't notice.
Use what works for you.

 

[EyeBurnEverything]

Whitewookie:
I noticed a chemical taste. Well my wife did, when I used the “Cherry” flavored type. I then tried Stubbs “regular“ and did not notice any off flavors.

It’s been a while since I’ve used my WSM but I want to this weekend. I’m going to rethink the minion method now... preheated charcoal sounds like a good idea.

Not a WSM, but i have a gasser that has a charcoal basket as well. I found a full chimney preheated and added to the basket can easily reach 350F for an hour or two and then switch to gas the rest of the cook. Nice smoke ring. And tossing a handful of pellets into the charcoal basket for the first hour or two produces a clean pellet burn.

 

[Monkey Uncle]

Unless you use a stick burner you don't notice the difference. There is a difference

I've used wood, lump, and briquettes in various combinations over the years. If you manage your fire properly, you can get clean-tasting food from any of them. Or if you don't manage your fire right, they can all produce bad flavors. As I've mentioned before, any kind of charcoal needs to be thoroughly heated up to off-gas the nasty smell before you put the food on.

Twice I've gotten an off flavor from using KBB in my WSM, and both times it was due to the way I managed the fire. The first time I started the fire according the directions on the Virtual Weber Bullet web page, which involves pouring in a heaping chimney of fully lit charcoal and then putting unlit charcoal on top of it. This produced bad flavor because the unlit charcoal was off-gassing upward without the smoke passing through any lit charcoal to clean it up. The second time I put the lit charcoal on top of the unlit, but I used so much lit charcoal that the cooker came up to temp instantly and I put the food on before the unlit charcoal had time to finish off-gassing. Both situations produced food that tasted like the dust out of the bottom of the charcoal bag. Since then I've always filled the ring with unlit charcoal, put a small amount of lit briquettes on top (just enough to cover the bottom of the chimney), then waited 20 minutes or so until the cooker comes up to temp. This produces the cleanest-tasting Q I've ever made.

At times I've gotten the famous "lighter fluid flavor" from using nothing but wood in my COS. Paradoxically, this has occurred when the coals were burning very hot and clean. It can occur as a consequence of the chemical reactions that take place during the combustion of the hydrocarbons that are left in the wood when it has burned down to coals. It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with added chemicals.