Stubbs Charcoal Briquettes

[SmokeInDaEye]

I used it yesturday for a butt, no off smell, little ash. used about 22lbs for a 12 hour smoke in the weber 22.5. I will be using this alot..

Sal

Just curious, have you used regular Kingsford in your 22.5 WSM and, if so, how much for a similar cook? I'm trying to compare burn times for regular K versus Competition Kingsford and Stubbs. I can run my regular WSMs all night (probably 10hrs) on a single batch of Kingsford, but have a feeling the all natural stuff burns out much sooner.

 

[Ceedubya]

Ok Now I'm gonna have to try this after reading all of your responses.

I actually came here today to specifically research this stuff. I saw it at lowes and bought a bag (always one to experiment). I didn't notice it was manufactured by Cowboy till I got home

Wasn't sure if that was good or bad. Anyway, filled up the charcoal ring with this stuff and some wood chunks and lit a chimney full in preperation for an overnighter this past Saturday night. As I was getting everything ready, the smoke and smell of this stuff was about choking me as it was lighting. It burned off smoke the entire time it till all the coals were fully lit.

Scared of what aweful taste it might impart on my precious pork I quickly dumped what was in the ring into a metal container I keep for ashes and reloaded with some best of the west lump and apple wood.

I used the already lit charcoal in the chimney to to get things going, but was really afraid of what the unlit stuff was going to impart as it slowly burned down.

So, I thought I would check on here to see if anyone else has tried it, but sofar I only see positive responses

 

[timmy7649]

i tried the stubs lump. super easy to work with but burns a little hot. and most of all no funny taste at all.

 

[eheath]

I tried the Stubbs briquettes about six weeks ago after seeing this thread. When I lit it up in the chimney, it put out a LOT of black, sooty looking fumes and I was kinda scared (okay a lot scared) of wasting a corned beef, a rack of spares, and six hours on the stuff.

I put my faith in the brethren however, and filled up my UDS charcoal ring, made a dimple in the center of it, and dumped in the lit charcoal when the fumes and flames had died down.

Temps stayed at an even 225* for the whole cook without me touching it or making airflow adjustments at all (I always have to keep an eye on things and fiddle around with lump). Also, the fire spread out evenly from the center to the outside of the fire ring. With lump, the burn seems to migrate to the edges of the ring farthest from whatever air intake is open.

I noticed that the fumes from the UDS had a bit of that black sooty thing going on, but it was barely perceptable.

When the cook was done I skeptically tasted the food, and found myself pleasantly surprised and relieved that the taste was great! No off odors or tastes at all, and in fact, this was my first really successful cook not involving chicken. This charcoal drove home the importance of controlling your temperature during long cooks.

I've been using RO lump since then, but I question why. I think in the future I will be switching to the Stubbs briquettes for long cooks involving ribs, butts, and brisket and will reserve lump's higher temperatures and showmanship for chicken.

 

[jazzspot]

So I gather that even though the Cowboy lump has been found to contain foreign matter, most folks using the Cowboy manufactured Stubbs Briquettes find nothing wrong with the possibility that foreign matter is/was pulverized to make their briquettes?
From the reviews I read here, the Stubbs briquettes has a majority thumbs-up rating for smell and performance.

 

[Mtnsmoke]

I just used about 12-13# in UDS and did a 13hr cook, very consistent temps and had about 30-40% left. No nasty smell compared to blue bag K. I will definetly use it again. Next cook I'm using K comp and will compare the two.

 

[SKOTD]

The bags states Stubbs is distributed by Cowboy not manufactured. Semantics..maybe

 

[SKOTD]

cooking some pork country ribs and chicken using 1 chimney of Stubbs plus some hickory chunks

 

[Chef Jim]

Used my trial bag of Stubb's the other day and was not very impressed. Maybe it's me cause I was having fire control problems that day, but it took a very long time to get hot and then it spiked my box to 4oo+

Had to open the doors to get the temp down. I had twice the ash I normally have with Cowboy. So for me its not worth the extra miles to get it. My Ace stocks Cowboy and they are close.

BTW I have never found any foreign objects in the Cowboy, been using it for about three months now.

 

[Smoke Show]

I used Stubb's for the first time yesterday, and I couldn't be happier. I started with 1 1/2 chimneys in my UDS, and after a 4 hour cook there's still a 1/3 of charcoal in the basket.Temps were steady, and the flavor was way better than blue Kingsford. The only thing that sucks is I have to drive an hour to get it.

 

[BluesDaddy]

I picked up a couple bags at Lowes on Friday and was able to use them yesterday on my 22.5" OTS. I fired up a full weber chimney full and piled them over 2/3 of the charcoal grate, then indirect cooked a couple of baked potatoes for an hour at about 500*. Opened it up and threw two tenderloin steaks directly over the coals. 8 minutes later, perfect med-rare and the taters were incredible. Wife says they were the best ever. Used cherry wood. Sorry no pron, but I was seriously impressed with the Stubbs!

 

[soholingo]

I started off with stubbs when I started grilling then played with RO Lump and even tried a bag of kingsford. I am staying with Stubbs. Its hotter and puts out less ash than Kingsford. And its easier to control than lump. I can get 600 degrees with lump in my OTS, and I can get 550 degrees with Stubbs.

I can do high heat brikets with a steady temp and constant smoke at 325-350 for 5 hours.

I can do buts for 6 hours at 225-250 with a steady temp and constant smoke in my Kettle grill.

And searing steaks at almost between 550-600 degrees is possible with Stubbs and a kettle.

All of my cooks are now Stubbs Briquettes with some of Stubbs ranch house wood chips for flavor.

 

[Big George's BBQ]

I have used it before and liked it

 

[Tombigbeeriverdawg]

I have used it and worked fine for me.
Less ash than Kingsford.

 

[Dave Russell]

Less ash than Kingsford translates into not having to dump the pan in the middle of a cook if you have a cheap offset. It also means that after an all night wsm cook, you wake up to temps "in the zone", not at 200 or below like with Kingsford after the ash starts clogging up the coals. (There's no wsm leg tapping required with the Stubbs, unlike when using the Kingsford.)

The stuff makes meat taste great, and I never use more than one bag (15.lbs) per cook, even with pork butts. I've only had to refuel on long cooks back in the winter and early spring, and having smoked with Kingsford as well, I think that Kingsford's longevity (compared to good nat. briquettes like Stubbs) might be exaggerated a bit.

The only downside I see with Stubbs is the powdery nature of the ash. If you're taking the lid off much on a windy day, you very well can end up with a bit of ash on the meat. That's another good reason for a decent windbreak though, so no problem.

 

[deguerre]

Stubbs is the only briquette I've used since trying it in my OTS.

 

[CUTigerQ]

Im n the middle of a four butt cook right now with a bag of Stubbs tat am trying for the first time...I hope the good reviews are telling me I made a good choice.

 

[smokin bones]

i hope this stubbs is as good as everyone said..i just bought a bag .i was a biy rushed so i didnt read the entire bag ,i thought i was trying a new lump because it said all natural.lol.well its in the side fire box and i am getting ready to toss on a few racks of ribs....here goes my test

 

[Dave Russell]

It's pretty much all I use in my wsm, and it would be fine for my char-griller, too, but I mainly just burn wood and throw in a little lump when the coal bed gets puny and/or my temps plummet. (Torches come in handy.:-D)

 

[caseydog]

I got a bag on sale at Lowe's. I used it to smoke some brisket on the 22-inch, and one side of the indirect cooking setup went out. Just stopped burning. I've never had that happen before, or since.

It worked fine for grilling steaks on a hot, direct fire.

I'm not likely to buy it again.