Thread: Cheap Lump Charcoal at Home Depot

If you've ever used Royal Oak charcoal, you know exactly what I'm talking about. This is natural lump charcoal rather than briquette form.

Home Depot has 20 pound bags on sale for $2.99 right now, which is dirt cheap. It comes in a brown bag. Some of the guys on the barbeque forums are talking about it being a good product, so good that some of the guys who run commercial & competition rigs are buying every bag the store has.

Thanks. I was just in HD Sunday and didn't see Royal Oak. I'll have to go back and take another look.

Allow me to clarify: it's not Royal Oak -- it is like Royal Oak in that it is lump rather than briquette.

It's in a non-descript brown bag, like Kingsford,etc, just plain light brown. It's made by The Original Charcoal Company, and has "Rancher" on the side of the bag. Bags are 20 pounds. At my Home Depot it was right when you walk in, next to all the grilling equipment right up front. There were 4 pallets of Kingsford, 2 pallets of this, then another 2 pallets of Kingsford in smaller bags.

The story varies from Home Depot reports. Some say it's a regular item, some say it's a summer item, some say when it's gone it's gone. There's no telling at this point.

For the last few years, I've been using char-wood. Any of you guys try this stuff? The wife (Mrs. Save-the-planet) informed me that its better for you than charcoal, less carcinogens or something like that. Anyway, we used get this stuff at the froo-froo, hoidy-toidy, organic store but now I've started getting it at Lowes.
-Fred

I'll be burning a couple of bags of it this weekend. Got a couple of briskets to throw on the smoker Saturday afternoon for a Sunday party.

I only use charcoal to start the fire in my Klose, but $2.99/20# is a damned good price for lump. I'm going to do 30# of pork ribs, a brisket, and four pounds of jalapeno sausage in the pit tomorrow. Damn the storms, full 'Q ahead!



Wayne

I'm right there with ya Wayne. My buddy just got back from Afghanistan, and there will be BBQ on Sunday, regardless of what the weather does!

Just picked up a nice 12 pound brisket, a 5 pound chicken and a rack of baby back ribs. My guitar teacher will be bringing a brisket by tomorrow as well. My Oklahoma Joe's Longhorn is gonna be filled with smokey goodness come Sunday!

Gimma all your secrets on ribs. Do you use the 3-2-1 method? I'm a newbie at ribs, and my last attempt was... less than stellar.

I do a mix of country style (think half a chop) and St. Louis cut spares. I unwrap them at the pit so the juices go into the pit. I put the rub on them while they're sitting on the wrap, the they go into the pit. This keeps the mess in the kitchen to a minimum. I check them on the hour and rotate them into the hot spots as needed. The spares usually spend the two hours bone side up, then finish bone side down. The spares generally take about four hours to get to the 'flexing' point. The country style can get done in less than half that. The pit temp is usually around 230F. All the ribs get basted with a finishing sauce just before leaving the pit. My usual sauce is Gaulden's Golden Glaze: simmer together equal parts by volume of prepared yellow mustard (like French's), brown sugar, apple cider vinegar; let cool and use it whenever - it keeps a very long time in the fridge.
Briskets are a whole different ball game. Different rub, no finishing sauce, and usually take a lot longer to get to where you can turn a fork in them.

Wayne, out to check the fire now

If you have a "Cash & Carry" or "Smart and Final Iris" in your area they have a great price on 40 lb sacks of Mesquite charcoal (not bricquets but charred mesquite lumps, logs, and branches) for about $14. You might have to chop some of the larger chunks up for grilling, but if you're cooking indirectly from a firebox just toss it in with whatever other wood you're using for flavour.

Mesquite burns hot though, so be stingy...

http://www.smartandfinal.com/locations.aspx