Lump charcoal is hooey. It's a bunch of fucking bullshit, it's a scam, and we've all been fooled. I used to be a die hard "only lump" guy, but no more.

I get a bag of lump, any bag, and there are pieces the size of the alternator in my truck, the rest are the size of coarse kosher salt. There's no in between. 70% of this shit falls out of the chimney and in to the basin of my grill before I can even ignite it.

Kingsford competition and other quality briquettes are the only thing i'm buying from here on out.

Been using Kingsford and chips for half a century. No need to change now. I tried one bag of lump about 10 years ago with the same experience as yours. Didn't even finish the bag.

US made Royal Oak. Red bag

No issues here with B&B or the USA-made Royal Oak. They inevitably have some loose bits and dust from being jostled around in transit, but there are still plenty of fairly uniform chunks.

Used to be an even better brand available in the area called Ozark Oak, made a couple counties over. But they closed or got bought out about a decade back.

I haven't used a briquette in 30 years. The local Ace Hardware stocks B&B Lump and I've found it excellent too.

Quit using lump charcoal when a half burnt roofing shingle came out of the bag onto the grill. Kind of lost my appetite.

I tried lump for a while but ended up dropping it. It didn't burn as consistently/reliably as briquettes and I had trouble controlling the temperature using lump. It always wanted to burn hotter than I wanted. Most of what I do anymore is low & slow, so I use briquettes for that and used the remainder of the lump for high temp stuff (steaks, chicken parts, burgers). And yeah, there were huge chunks and a lot of dust besides the "normal" size pieces. I don't recall the brand but it was a big red and black bag. When the last of it got used up I didn't buy any more.

B&B is all I've used the last 5 or 6 years. I prefer their oak lump, and the good news is I have 2 places that sell it less than 1.5 miles away. Very good flavor, good and even heat, and decent size distribution.

I've used some absolute trash lump too. For example, I had two very negative experiences with Cowboy:

When I lived in Can-eh-duh the fancy grill store had 3 awesome brands but closed at 6 do I rarely got off work on time. The only big box store that had lump was Home Depot and it was Cowboy. One bag Of Cowboy was so bad that my BBQ Guru was plus/minus 50 degrees instead of the normal plus/minus 5 degrees.

The final straw was here in Texas I found particle board in it (burning glue isn’t safe).

I've used Kingsford competition. It's good, zero lighter fluid taste imparted, consistent heat, etc. The downside is it produces more ash for same duration cook and not quite as good of flavor as B&B oak lump. It was my back-up in Can-eh-duh when I couldn't make it to the fancy grill store.

You have to buy quality lump, there is a lot of crap out there. I've seen what looks like charcoalized construction debris along with rocks. You aren't going to get quality from a big box store or Walmart.

There is a local PA brand called Humphrey that I use that is really good. Always high quality and consistent and no crap mixed in there.

Fogo black for BGE, Premium if layering in the offset smoker. Free shipping if you're local Academy is out. If running low, Royal Oak good substitute.
What brands are you having trouble with there buddy?

Reviews, albeit growing some age....

quote:

Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
US made Royal Oak. Red bag

Costco in their infinite wisdom, stop selling the Cowboy Lump in the winter, someone should let them know we still grill in the winter, especially in the South. (yes I know Cowboy is crap, too small pieces, blah, well, it's a huge freaking bag with less cost and it works well)

So needing some coal, bought a bag of Royal Oak, very smokey, lights fast, but, there are large 2x4 flat pieces like someone tossed in a board, or pallet.

Those burn like shit and smoke horribly, since they are mostly pine, I have to watch for them and toss them in the trash, Royal Oak has become junk. It's not the first bag from them that has pieces of pallet, boards in the mix.

Can't trust them, going to Ace to see what higher end Lump is in their inventory.

I've been quite happy w/ the selection at my Ace Hardware. FOGO, BGE, Kamado Joe, Cowboy(if you're into that), B&B, and I think a couple others.
If you cook enough I think you're going to come across something in the bag once in awhile (I'm looking at you, Cowboy).

I've been buying my lump charcoal from Ace Hardware as well.

I prefer Rockwood All Natural Hardwood (I stock up when it's on sale), followed by BGE.

I didn't care for KJ's charcoal. Cowboy is probably the worst I've tried.

quote:

Originally posted by ShouldBFishin:
I've been buying my lump charcoal from Ace Hardware as well.

I prefer Rockwood All Natural Hardwood (I stock up when it's on sale), followed by BGE.

I didn't care for KJ's charcoal. Cowboy is probably the worst I've tried.

I'll try a bag of Rockwood next time at Ace. Never tried Big Green Egg because of the price but only hear good things about the quality.

Jealous Devil is really good and what I prefer for long smokes. For quick hitters I usually use the crappy Cowboy stuff, but need to find a better as easily sourced alternative.

quote:

Originally posted by Expert308:
I tried lump for a while but ended up dropping it. It didn't burn as consistently/reliably as briquettes and I had trouble controlling the temperature using lump. It always wanted to burn hotter than I wanted. Most of what I do anymore is low & slow, so I use briquettes for that

Depending on the cooker/smoker, that's the advantage of lump charcoal if you can dial down the air inflow so it's not burning hotter because then it's burning longer and w/ less ash than briquettes. Doing a smoke over night approaching 20 hrs. in below freezing temps is the only way I can do it w/ my BGE. Briquette ash would totally have block my air flow by then. But that's w/ my setup.

quote:

Originally posted by dsiets:

quote:

Originally posted by Expert308:
I tried lump for a while but ended up dropping it. It didn't burn as consistently/reliably as briquettes and I had trouble controlling the temperature using lump. It always wanted to burn hotter than I wanted. Most of what I do anymore is low & slow, so I use briquettes for that

Depending on the cooker/smoker, that's the advantage of lump charcoal if you can dial down the air inflow so it's not burning hotter because then it's burning longer and w/ less ash than briquettes. Doing a smoke over night approaching 20 hrs. in below freezing temps is the only way I can do it w/ my BGE. Briquette ash would totally have block my air flow by then. But that's w/ my setup.

Mine is a Weber 22" kettle, so not really designed for low & slow, but it does OK with briquettes. With lump I've had both upper and lower vents closed nearly all the way and the temperature was still over 300.

I went back and checked my receipts on the lump purchase, and it was Jealous Devil All Natural Premium.

A kettle will do low and slow with briquettes really well, if you build the chain and use that approach. Another reason to get good quality briquettes for that. Certainly wouldn't want any that give off any flavor other than wood. Not hot enough? Have some parts of chain that is two-wide.

I used that several times on a Weber, and easily got cooks of 5 hours in one chain. If I needed more, I could have pulled meat, added more "links" to chain from end and kept it going.

If you saw how 90% of it’s made you wouldn’t ever use it. I used to use it with my BGE but there’s a nasty aftertaste to most of it so I quit using it years ago. Sold the BGE as well.

I gave up on lump about the time I found roofing nails and what looked suspiciously like shingles in a bag. Your comment on huge chunks and pulverized powder is spot on as well.