Cowboy lump...Why?

[longhair75]

I am just getting set up for our Memorial Day smoke. I have about half of a 34 pound bag of Cowboy lump that I am just trying to use up. The quality has been uneven and I estimate that, so far, 80% of the pieces are like this:


https://i.imgur.com/pBIW3yq.jpg


What good is this stuff? I see people all over the net talking about how great this stuff is. I only use it when I already have enough of a bed of coals to keep it from falling through the grate.


This stuff sucks!

[ssv3]

I really like it. I've been very happy with compared to RO. I don't pull out as many rocks as I used to from the RO bags. Those small pieces are usually at the very bottom of the bags.

Here's what my bags look like

https://i.imgur.com/2nEjanth.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/wNf49xch.jpg

[sudsandswine]

The bag i picked up from Costco has a lot of that in it. The way it was handled on the way to and in the store is probably to blame, I'm happy with the way it burns otherwise aside from shorter burn times due to size. I'll probably go back to Royal Oak for "regular duty" once this bag is finished though.

[longhair75]

I haven't run into any rocks, but the small pieces just bur up too quickly. It does burn hotter than the Kingsford Professional I mostly use. Today I just need a good bed of coals and then I will be shifting to hickory splits.

[ShadowDriver]

I can definitely tell how a bag's been handled based on where I purchase it:
- Lowes - Little bitty pieces
- CostCo - big chunks, and some little bitty pieces toward the bottom - usually, I'm the guy pulling it off the pallet here

[ncmoose]

Cool, you found a quarter in there!

I like Royal Oak but I've gotten some rocks in there as well. Also depending on the handling, you get small stuff and dust in the bottom.

[IamMadMan]

I prefer Cowboy lump. They have a solid product that's reasonably priced with very large chunks of lump. Sometimes they are so large, I have to break some of them up into manageable pieces.


Be an educated consumer......

Crumbs, small pieces, and dust are not an issue from the manufacturer, any crumbs, dust, and small bits are screened and sent to the briquette manufacturing process in the same building. They don't need to put small pieces into the bag to fill it, they perfect for making their briquettes.

Small broken pieces, crumbs, and dust are more than likely a product of poor handing by the retailer or possibly in shipping. If you are getting a lot of small pieces and dust, consider buying from another retailer.

Lump Charcoal is hardwood that has been heated to a high temperature in the absence of oxygen. The process drives off many chemical impurities that cause natural wood to burn without a visible flame and smoke, leaving behind almost pure carbon that burns cleanly without producing much smoke or flame. With lump charcoal, it's not wood anymore, it's almost pure carbon.

Because lump charcoal is almost pure carbon, it is very-very fragile and susceptible to breakage with any type of impact.

Always pick your bags from the center of the pallet, as you gently pick them up slightly rotate them to listen for the abundance of broken pieces. Buy in volume and most managers will let you pick your bags from an untouched pallet.


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[JEStucker]

I'm generally very happy with the Cowboy Lump, I've had a couple of "bad" bags that are full of tiny broke pieces, but those are generally ones I pick up at the big box retailers or the local grocery store where the bags are tossed around during loading/unloading/moving/stocking, etc.

While I'll admit, Kingsford Bricks are more consistent, there's something about the smell in the binding agent that makes it so I don't enjoy smoking with it anymore.

[WilliamKY]

I am just getting set up for our Memorial Day smoke. I have about half of a 34 pound bag of Cowboy lump that I am just trying to use up. The quality has been uneven and I estimate that, so far, 80% of the pieces are like this:


https://i.imgur.com/pBIW3yq.jpg


What good is this stuff? I see people all over the net talking about how great this stuff is. I only use it when I already have enough of a bed of coals to keep it from falling through the grate.


This stuff sucks!
I've never tried Cowboy brand but I've heard mixed reviews. Some good and some not good. My friend's dad used some and he found charred tongue and groove lumber scraps in the bag. I guess if it's not treated wood than anything goes..

[EdF]

Several years back Cowboy was pretty bad. Last couple of years, I've been very happy with it. Apparently they changed their source. The small stuff? Bad handling, as a lot of folks above have pointed out.

[Rockinar]

I have not had issues with it. In my experience its been pretty typical. Getting small pieces is just one of the downsides to lump.

[Sillius Sodus]

Be an educated consumer......

Crumbs, small pieces, and dust are not an issue from the manufacturer, any crumbs, dust, and small bits are screened and sent to the briquette manufacturing process in the same building. They don't need to put small pieces into the bag to fill it, they perfect for making their briquettes.


For the sake of being an “educated consumer,” I’d love to know exactly where you’ve received your info. Do you work for Cowboy and personally can verify:
1. Cowboy makes their own briquettes from the small pieces of lump discovered during the bagging process?
2. The multitude of small pieces in most bags of Cowboy lump are strictly from “reseller handling” or other “rough handling” by someone other than the manufacturer?

Last week, I went to a local big box store to get some Cowboy Southern Style based on the good word and reports from a poster in this thread about that particular version. There was one bag on the pallet on the floor so I found a very accommodating salesman that actually got a lift, went to the very top shelf there and got me two bags from a new, untouched, and still shrink wrapped pallet.
After opening one of the bags, I found it to be virtually no different than any other bag of lump that I’ve ever purchased; half of the bag was very good sized pieces and the rest was a mixture of medium to much smaller sized pieces and dusty remanents. This bag was untouched by any other person except the sales associate and myself. I certainly didn’t “shake it” to check for smaller pieces and in the process create much smaller pieces because the lump is almost an all carbon product.

There is a reason why folks on this forum have had to come up with modifications to their grill racks that hold said lump and it certainly isn’t because “all” resellers roughly handle their lump stock.

I, for one, am certainly looking forward to being educated...

[IamMadMan]

For the sake of being an “educated consumer,” I’d love to know exactly where you’ve received your info. Do you work for Cowboy and personally can verify:
1. Cowboy makes their own briquettes from the small pieces of lump discovered during the bagging process?
2. The multitude of small pieces in most bags of Cowboy lump are strictly from “reseller handling” or other “rough handling” by someone other than the manufacturer?

Last week, I went to a local big box store to get some Cowboy Southern Style based on the good word and reports from a poster in this thread about that particular version. There was one bag on the pallet on the floor so I found a very accommodating salesman that actually got a lift, went to the very top shelf there and got me two bags from a new, untouched, and still shrink wrapped pallet.
After opening one of the bags, I found it to be virtually no different than any other bag of lump that I’ve ever purchased; half of the bag was very good sized pieces and the rest was a mixture of medium to much smaller sized pieces and dusty remanents. This bag was untouched by any other person except the sales associate and myself. I certainly didn’t “shake it” to check for smaller pieces and in the process create much smaller pieces because the lump is almost an all carbon product.

There is a reason why folks on this forum have had to come up with modifications to their grill racks that hold said lump and it certainly isn’t because “all” resellers roughly handle their lump stock.

I, for one, am certainly looking forward to being educated...




No, I don't work for Cowboy, but when hurricane Katrina hit the mainland in 2005 I worked for a company that was contracted to build standard lump charcoal handling and bagging equipment. These were purchased and shipped to the area where they handled the wood and home debris. The machines are designed so that the lump charcoal moves over a series of sized holes (called screens) where dust and smaller pieces drop onto a conveyor for briquette press production. As far as briquettes, yes Cowboy produces their own brand of briquettes https://www.cowboycharcoal.com/products/ and they also produce Stubb's Briquettes ( https://www.cowboycharcoal.com/products/stubbs-natural-briquets/ )

The bags of lump are also mechanically stacked on a pallet and mechanically shrink wrapped, so the rough handing comes after the fact.

I have picked up bags with small pieces, but I set them to the side and pick from the center, thus I no longer purchase a bag of lump with a lot of small pieces. As I stated in my previous message, "because lump charcoal is almost pure carbon, it is very-very fragile".

The big box stores have their own distribution centers where the lump could possibly be improperly stacked for storage or in shipping to the individual stores. If pallets of lump charcoal have items stocked on top of them, the top layers of bags on the pallets will be be effected.

This is why I always suggest to pick from the center and slowly rotate the bag for indication of small pieces. If you have a bad bag don't buy it, after all you are the consumer and no one forces you to spend your money on something that isn't any good to you.


I didn't modify my charcoal tray for my smoker (or my kettle) and at times I have to use a hammer to break large pieces of charcoal (appears to be pieces of limbs) to fit into the large charcoal tray.