My First Cook with Kingsford NEW Competition Charcoal Briquets

[Gold Bar-B-Q Bob Beeman]

I am not going to make this report to long or to comprehensive there is a lot of good information by people with much more experience then I have. All I know is if I like something or not. I will add a couple links at the end of this with in-depth detail.

Today I am trying out the new 12 lb. Bag of Kingsford Competition Charcoal in my WSM with one 6.5# pork butt. At first glance it looks just like the charcoal from the Kingsford’s blue & white bag but has no real aroma to it.
Filled one Weber chimney full & lit it with two balls on newspaper. Outside temp. 40F 15 mph wind light rain. The whole chimney was ready in 20 min. with no ark and spark’s like I get with other lump. I filled the charcoal ring of the WSM with the remaining charcoal from the 12# bag. (must be about 10 lb). Poured the hot charcoal on top (Minion Method). Put the WSM together and was up to temp. 265F in 15 min. closed all bottom vents ¾ way closed top vent full open and got temp down to 250F. with in ½ hour. 8 hours into the cook and still holding at 250F (man it smell’s good around here). I took the butt off after 9 hours of cooking internal meat temp. 180F. (I know). I am sure I could have gotten 11 hours of cook time out of that 12 lb bag with out having to add any more charcoal. Ash build up I don’t know to me ash is ash I will evaluate that in the morning after all the coals burn down. One thing that had gotten me keyed up about this new product was the fact that it was a lump that is consistent in size. With most natural lump I have used it is so random in size and shape I just can not count on how is going to perform during a long cook in a Weber Smokey Mountain. I would say I got out of this new Kingsford Competition Charcoal Briquets just what I wanted and that was a long and consistent burn at 250F from lump / natural briquets. In the Pacific NW market where we just do not get a verity of quality natural charcoals briquets this will do nicely. For my first cook with it I would say I like it.

[john reeves]

i seen this today at the home depot(pronounced home de-pott round here cuz we dont speak french). was very curious, have not been fully satified with the royal oak( looks like pallet wood) . looking forward to pickin some up and givin it a try. the price was comparable to royal oak and if it has the longivity you speak of it sounds good.

[Gold Bar-B-Q Bob Beeman]

Still looks like the same amount of ash as the blue & white bag. I guess if I really wanted to get down to it I could do a measurement test. That’s any idea I think I will. I will keep you posted.

[Dave Kronbeck]

Do you notice more or less ash?

[Gold Bar-B-Q Bob Beeman]

Two new observations with the new Kingsford. It only takes 1 sheet on newspaper to start in a chimney & left over (snuffed out in kettle @ 35F for 3 days) charcoal relights with no problem.

[Dave Kronbeck]

Were the K's facing up or facing down when you preformed the test....JK Bob. Where did you pick them up at and how much $. Do you feel you get a longer hotter burn with this vs standard?

[Brian Moriarty]

Nice report Bob! I just picked up 7 15lb bags of the Stubb's Natural Hardwood briqs from Lowes ($8.47 a bag -$10 off coupon!!) I'm more excited about it than the new K! I had been getting it in 9lb bags at QFC since last Summer and think its a better product. I will have to do a side by side comparison of the two. I you are using lump you might want to try Wicked Good Weekend Warrior the next time you stop by Sutters. I asked them if they would carry the Wicked Good Briqs, but I guess I'll have to go to Fireside for them.