Who Makes The Best Lump Charcoal For BBQ?
We recently took a look at four (4) popular brands for charcoal briquettes to see which one stood above the others. You can watch that video here: • Who Makes The Best BBQ...
Today we're comparing eight (8) popular brands of lump charcoal. The main areas of comparison are:
- Cost
- Temperature
- Duration
The competitors are:
- B and B (amzn.to/3SyWVc6)
- Big Green Egg (amzn.to/466njgP)
- Cowboy (amzn.to/3SpOlMS)
- Fogo (amzn.to/470gizh)
- Jealous Devil (amzn.to/46ZxJjm)
- Kamado Joe Big Block XL
- Rockwood (amzn.to/3u345LI)
- Royal Oak (amzn.to/3FNXebp)
* Please consider supporting Backyard SmokeMaster BBQ through the affiliate links for products that may have been mentioned in this video. As an Amazon Influencer, I earn from qualifying purchases, however you will not pay more for products purchased from the links above.
This is probably the longest video that I'll ever make for KZhead so get your popcorn ready to find out which brands came out on top!
------------------------------------------------------------
Is a pellet grill or drum smoker the best grill for you?
Take this quiz and receive an instant recommendation.
pages.backyardsmokemaster.com...
------------------------------------------------------------
"Watch all of the Which Is Better?" videos • Which Is Better?
------------------------------------------------------------
SOUNDSTRIPE
CODE: K5QOPBGPXD5NGDGO
CODE: 6NJ4O5YSGLKCDUTZ
CODE: 6JHELL7E4YNY9WXP
Such a tedious task to do so thank you so much Kenyatta for these comparison checks.
It’s a labor of love, but I’ll admit that getting this video out had its challenges 😂
This was super helpful and super informative thank you!!!
@avargs3505 I’m glad that you found it helpful.
Very nice video👍 thanks for taking the time to do a video like this
Thank you!
Very interesting test! Thanks for putting in the time and effort needed to do a test like this👍
Thanks for your support!
I get FOGO for $19.95 regularly in the St. Louis area. That makes it $1.13 per pound. I find the consistency of FOGO to be better than Cowboy in my area. Cowboy tends to have a lot of dust at the bottom which is useless. Royal Oak just makes me angry that I bought it. Great video! I definitely want to try out B&B and Rockwood myself.
Thanks for your feedback…. wow, $19.95 for FOGO is a great deal!
When I start my LSG offset I fill the chimney 3/4 of full with B&B briquettes and before pouring the ashed over briquettes into the fire management basket I fill the bottom of the fire management basket with B&B lump, just a thin layer. Seems to be a good way to get my oak splits going really well. Thx for putting this together,
Thanks for sharing your process, mine is similar. I fill up the bottom of the basket in my LSG with unlit lit and I also pour about 3/4 chimney of lit lump over the top. I start adding the wood splits after the coals ash over.
Really informative comparison of these 8 charcoals. Also, I thought your methodology was quite scientific enough for the general backyard cookers. You hinted at mixing the faster lighting smaller lumps with the larger long burning ones and I have been doing this the last couple years with JD and Fogo. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for your feedback, I really appreciate it!
Kenyatta, thank for your time and efforts. It’s appreciated by your BBQ family. I loved JD for years but have since moved on to FOGO for ease of delivery.
Thanks Mike, the convenience of delivery is a big reason that I have been using Fogo for years too. Although I will probably start using one of the other brands, I will keep the Fogo delivery option as a backup.
Jd is available in most Walmart’s now though so it’s easier to find
Excellent review, Kenyatta! Thank you so much. I have been using Kamado Joe but will be giving B&B a try (B&B is readily available where I live in Minnesota.)
Thanks, B&B lump is a great choice!
I love the B&B Mesquite wood bag and I cook on a lang smoker and I have a weber 22 with a gabbys grill Santa Maria I love both! Just subscribed to your channel you are giving me new ideas for cooking thanks $
Greg, thanks for your feedback & for subscribing! Much appreciated!
Backwoods outdoors also had the same problem with cowboy starting up. Once he lit it the second time it was great too
Interesting that he experienced the same issue. Thanks for sharing.
I'm looking forward to more of your videos
Thank you
Been running JD since I bought my WSK. Absolutely love it for burn rate, flavor, size and heat output. It’s mildly sweet and pairs well with any smoke wood. To me, it’s the best natural lump available. Walmart, Home Depot and Amazon all deliver it for free. And that’s just perfect for me. Grill on! And have fun. That’s what bbq is all about. Thanks, Kenyatta!
Thanks for sharing your experience with JD. Great to know that it can be delivered for free. I will be taking advantage of that!
@@BackyardSmokeMasterBBQ and I’m in NorCal. Outside Sacramento area. Walmart just had a JD sale. $0.85# delivered, in 20# bags. So I stocked up on a few bags.
Thanks! I will start paying attention to WM!
This was a very difficult comparison (so many variables). Very enjoyable. I wonder how the comparison would fare months later.
Right, these were just my results for one day. I wish that I could do the testing with the exact same conditions for each brand.
Great review, however I have found Cowboy has very small lumps in my area and it doesn’t burn as long as your test results show. You have introduced me to a couple of new ones to try B&B and Jealous Devil. I have seen B&B in my area but not Jealous Devil. Again thanks for conducting a tedious task as this to provide valuable information.
Thanks for sharing your experience with Cowboy. Home Depot carries Jealous Devil so you might find it if there’s one nearby.
Lump size is immaterial
@@summertime24133falling through the grate would be an issue.
I've been using Cowboy, blues Hog and Royal Oak. Cowboy has great flavor.
Blues Hog is another great one.
Interesting comparison. I like B&B Mesquite lump for steak, carne asada, etc. I like Royal Oak's flavor, but it doesn't run well for me on windy days, but that is my experience. Overall, for Lump I find myself using JD or B&B Mesquite. But, I also think you have to kind of seperate them because JD is South American hardwood, and B&B is more US style, so the flavors are different. One doesn't really replace the other.
Good point!
Thanks for all the hard work and research! 20lb bags of BnB are $15 at Walmart for online only purchase right now. I've been using fogo but I think for the price and after your video I'm gonna have to stock up on this deal!
Thanks for tip on B&B!
@@BackyardSmokeMasterBBQ Im up in Denver and I have trouble getting up to even lower smoking temps around 250, I’m hoping B&B burning hotter helps me out. Otherwise I have to start blaming my inexperience instead of the altitude lol
That’s an interesting variable. I’d love to hear if you think B&B burns hotter there.
I'll have to give you an update once I get to try it out. B&B briquettes are also on sale through walmart online right now I noticed. They list a 17.6lb bag for $28.95 but if you click it, it shows a 2 pack of the 17.6 for $19.95 total. I saw your briquette video you ranked it 3rd but it looked like for the heat output and duration I might have to stock up on it as well for that price. My girlfriends gonna make me quit watching your videos if I keep buying charcoal after each one haha😂
@@kentwindholz4634 B&B is a great charcoal, definitely stock up when the price is right!
So not all charcoal briquettes are the same. Thanks for doing these awesome test for everyone.
No, there can be quite a few differences. Thanks for commenting LaLa!
Great little comparison im in the U.K and as good as your top 3 go I can get my hands on it but it's very expensive So I find [ Big K ] and [ Kamado joe big block ] the best two which I use both all year round
Thanks for sharing your experience in the U.K. In my opinion, availability& price are the two biggest factors. All of the brands will get the job done.
After a few tests I ended up with B&B and I almost exclusively buy B&B, even if they are not that easy to get in Germany!
B&B is becoming my go to for lump as well as briquettes.
Kenyatta, It would have been nice if you had weighed the amount of coals in each of the burns to keep it even. Love your videos!
I’ll be the first to admit that my experiment is not scientific. I started to go down the road of weighing the charcoal but the huge variance in sizes made it impractical. Weighing briquettes is easier than lump because briquettes are uniform in size.
I’ve used fogo and B&B those tend to be my favorites cuz of the pieces and they tend to get hot 🥵
Thanks for sharing your experience with Fogo & B&B. I'm becoming a big fan of B&B.
@@BackyardSmokeMasterBBQ same
Costco had Cowboy lump on sale last summer, so bought a bag. It burned like coal, meaning smelly. Also, it had a fair amount of dimension lumber in it. Not my idea of all natural... Jealous Devil is good but I found that it doesn't last very long. Another thought, I think there is a big variation in quality within a brand. For example, I may have gotten a bad run from Cowboy. thanks for doing this one!
Thanks for your feedback. Unlike briquettes, lump charcoal is kind of snowflakes, each one is going to be different so I'm not trying to claim the outcome of my tests are going to turn out exactly the same if I were to run it again. Different day, different weather, and other factors can make a difference. One of the factors that helped Cowboy score high was it's low price.
@@BackyardSmokeMasterBBQ I'm going to try the Cowboy Lump next time I find it on sale, probably Costco. I dissed it from the last try. Looking forward to trying it again. Today I found B&B on sale at WalMart for $14.97 for a 20# bag. I ordered a couple! thanks for the tip on B&B. I might have passed it up otherwise.
@tombauer7330 Thank you for the heads up about B&B at Walmart!
Look like b and b is #1❤
I use lump charcoal to make Bio-Char for my garden. Royal Oak 100% natural Zero additives
@graystonegardens1642 What are the benefits of using lump for your garden?
kzhead.info/sun/f7ugYcqlbYWpZIU/bejne.htmlsi=j_jcoIctjmsWPgcx@@BackyardSmokeMasterBBQ
@@BackyardSmokeMasterBBQBasically you are supposed to soak the char in a concentrated brew of minerals, organic matter, etc.. the charcoal will then release it into the soil and also help keep it a little bit less packed.
@@yayinternets Thank you!
I love Cowboy, but it pops WAY to much. Dangerous.