I’ve tried a few types of lump charcoal in my egg over the years and until recently always ended up back with BGE brand.

There is nothing wrong with BGE charcoal but the price has crept up over the years and I think quality has deceased a bit...more dust, and smaller pieces in the the bag. I also have to drive 45 mi items to buy it. They don’t ship.

https://www.fogocharcoal.com/

I’m a big fan.

My experience compared to the others I’ve tried:

Faster lighting - I mean really fast. I pile it in a hollow cone and use a torch, open all vents and close top. It’s ready to go in just under 10 minutes.

You can order by lump size. Small for hotter burn for steaks as an example (I grill 1.5 inch ribeyes, 3.5 minutes per side at 600-700 degrees for a perfect char on the outside, rare inside) Larger lump for long, low smoking (my experience last time was 23 hours at 225 degrees for a perfect pork butt. Never had to add more charcoal (I do use a bbq computer With a fan for temp control)

Less waste in the bag...less coal dust and small, useless pieces. the charcoal is sewn into in a tight, mesh bag. No space in the bag so no movement ... no grinding the charcoal down during transit. That bag is slipped in a tight outer cardboard box for a perfect fit.

They offer a frequent buyer program and free shipping over a certain amount.

Hope this is helpful. Happy grilling.

Thanks for this Jeff. I've been cursing at my charcoal "crumbs" for awhile now.

Fogo, Rockwood and Kamado Joe big lump are my 3 go to brands

If Costco has one of their Kamado Joe special events in your area, you can usually pick up their 30 lb bags of big lump for around $22 or $23 at those.

I'm a big fan of this brand produced in Pennsylvania, I can find it at a local feed/landscaping supply house but it looks like you can buy it online too:

It's excellent, solid stuff, nice larger pieces and not a bunch of scrap and garbage like a lot of them are now.


Humphrey Charcoal

Fogo is great stuff. I never understood why people would buy expensive grills, expensive meats, then cook it on the cheapest, burned up pallets and junk wood charcoal they could buy.

Excellent. Thank you for letting us know about this, Jeff!

Humphrey's is great, use it in my egg, reasonable too.

Used fogo all summer and was happy with it. Ran out and the supplier is 30 minutes away so I went and grabbed royal oak from home depot and instantly regretted it.

I’ll be honest, Royal Oak (the made in America type) has never let me down and is readily available locally at a reasonable price from either Home Depot or Walmart. Don’t need to stock different sizes for different cooks, just set up and light the pile differently.

quote:

Originally posted by snwghst:
Fogo, Rockwood and Kamado Joe big lump are my 3 go to brands

I've heard that FOGO was good, but it's price is up there on Amazon and nowhere local to me sells it. Local I can get B+B, BGE, KJ, Rockwood, Cowboy and Royal Oak pretty easily, never tried the BGE but have always heard it's good. I'm just about out of my 3rd 30lb bag of Kamado Joe charcoal (Costco $23 a bag) and I really like it, very few tiny pieces or dust, a lot of good size pieces and then some monster sized pieces (almost football sized), it burns nice, lasts a long time etc..... I bought Royal oak once and it was all tiny pieces, like crumbs.

Based on a recommendation from a friend, I bought a bag of B+B oak hardwood charcoal and will give that a shot next. After that might try FOGO.

Thanks for sharing. I'll add it to the list.

I'm very fortunate that my Texas grocer, HEB, sells B&B oak lump charcoal. I'm already shopping there (ie convenient) plus it lights well, burns long, oak produces a nice flavor, and is high quality.

When I lived in Can-eh-duh, I bought a brand of lump called Dragons Breath. Very high quality, long burning, and lit well.

Both B&B and Dragons Breath are as high of quality as BGE's brand. Personally, I prefer the flavor of B&B's oak lump over the other 2 brands.

As far as Royal Oak, I gave up on it after finding MDF in it. I'm sure as hell not putting glue fumes onto my meat or breathing it while tending to the fire or meat.

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:
Local I can get B+B, BGE, KJ, Rockwood, Cowboy and Royal Oak pretty easily, never tried the BGE but have always heard it's good.

The BGE brand is really good but I never liked the price.
For the last year or so I heard Cowboy was improving and I went through several bags but the last one was very disappointing.

Rumor has it that BGE lump is rebranded Royal Oak. My favorite that I can get locally is Rockwood but it is pricey for what it is.
I've had good luck with the Royal Oak. Just pick a bag that doesn't look like it has been tumbled in a dryer.
Least favorite has been Cowboy and Diablo. Hard to start, lots of popping and imparts a flavor that I don't like. Lots of shake waste as well.

Cowboy is crap. Even with a BBQ Guru, temperature was difficult to control and was ranging plus/minus 50F off setpoint. Never had a BBQ guru unable to control a temp on another brand of charcoal (i.e. usually it's plus/minus 5 degrees).

quote:

Originally posted by jimmy123x:

quote:

Originally posted by snwghst:
Fogo, Rockwood and Kamado Joe big lump are my 3 go to brands

I've heard that FOGO was good, but it's price is up there on Amazon and nowhere local to me sells it. Local I can get B+B, BGE, KJ, Rockwood, Cowboy and Royal Oak pretty easily, never tried the BGE but have always heard it's good. I'm just about out of my 3rd 30lb bag of Kamado Joe charcoal (Costco $23 a bag) and I really like it, very few tiny pieces or dust, a lot of good size pieces and then some monster sized pieces (almost football sized), it burns nice, lasts a long time etc..... I bought Royal oak once and it was all tiny pieces, like crumbs.

Based on a recommendation from a friend, I bought a bag of B+B oak hardwood charcoal and will give that a shot next. After that might try FOGO.

You can buy FOGO direct with free shipping.

quote:

Humphrey Charcoal

Yep!!!

Good timing Jeff! I just finished a bag of the Royal Oak XL cut tonight. It wasn't bad, but probably 1/3 was smaller pieces and a lot of dust/tiny pieces in the bottom of the bag.

I'm placing an order now.

Jeff - Thanks Sir - Just ordered the 35 lb bag of premium and got free shipping and 10% off...Mark