Bad Bag of KBB?

timstalltaletav

Smoking Fanatic

Original poster

Nov 8, 2012

826

243

Llewellyn PA aka God's Country

• Aug 31, 2014

• #1

Has anyone ever experienced differences between bags of the same brand of charcoal?

I grabbed 400# of KBB while it was on sale at Lowe's. I can usually get about 2 smokes out of a 20# bag. For some reason, 2 of the bags I got seem to be less efficient than the previous bags.

Three times now I've had to add coal midway through a cook. It seems like the coal in these past few bags has burned a lot quicker.

I haven't changed anything in terms of the usual vent settings on my WSM. There doesn't seem to anymore ash than usual either. These 2 bags just seem different.

 

Last edited: Aug 31, 2014

venture

Smoking Guru

OTBS Member

Aug 1, 2008

6,948

73

Central California

• Aug 31, 2014

• #2

Never had that experience with briquettes of the same brand.

Lump can vary all over the place even in the same brand.

Good luck and good smoking.

 

noboundaries

Epic Pitmaster

OTBS Member

SMF Premier Member

Sep 7, 2013

10,247

5,352

Roseville, CA, a suburb of Sacramento

• Aug 31, 2014

• #3

Hmmmm, I wonder if they mis-bagged competition briquettes in a blue bag.  The comp briquettes burnout in half the time of the standard blue bag.  The comp briquettes are basically the same composition as KBB just not packed as dense. 

 

wimpy69

Smoking Fanatic

Aug 4, 2014

976

205

Lower Bucks,PA / Surf City, LBI NJ

• Sep 1, 2014

• #4

I haven't been happy with KBB since they changed. I've had various problem's, the biggest one being ash amounts and acrid fumes when in my chimney. Found out about Stubbs here and haven't looked back. Just grabbed last three bags at wallyworld Sat. One bag ripped and taped, less a handful, they gave me 50% off .Sweet. 

 

noboundaries

Epic Pitmaster

OTBS Member

SMF Premier Member

Sep 7, 2013

10,247

5,352

Roseville, CA, a suburb of Sacramento

• Sep 1, 2014

• #5

I was not aware of changes.  Found the information below about the changes.  Interesting.     

http://www.virtualweberbullet.com/kingsford2010.html

I still have 400 lbs of KBB in the garage so I'll keep an eye out for issues.  The competition briquettes dissolve in water like an Alka Seltzer, only a lot faster.  The KBB dissolves much more slowly.  It was a little test I did to see what the difference was between the two. I figured it out quite by accident when I dropped a comp briquette in my water pan.  It literally dissolved before I could fish it out. 

 

venture

Smoking Guru

OTBS Member

Aug 1, 2008

6,948

73

Central California

• Sep 3, 2014

• #6

Sounds like the work of an enviro-accountant?

I do not use KBB for smoking, but I do grill with them and didn't really notice a difference.

Good luck and good smoking.