Kingsford Briquettes vs. Royal Oak Ridge Briquettes: Burn Temperature, Time, and Ash Comparison

[stokensmoke]

It's probably in here somewhere but I haven't seen it yet so I'll just throw it out there. I'm a huge RO fan -use it in my UDS, WSM and Weber kettle. So I stopped at walmart this weekend and they have the new Royal Oak all natural briquettes. Hoping to try them out this weekend if the weather cooperates. Anyone try them yet?

 

[noboundaries]

It's probably in here somewhere but I haven't seen it yet so I'll just throw it out there. I'm a huge RO fan -use it in my UDS, WSM and Weber kettle. So I stopped at walmart this weekend and they have the new Royal Oak all natural briquettes. Hoping to try them out this weekend if the weather cooperates. Anyone try them yet?

Interesting. They look like "Ridge," so obviously they are using the same stamp. I'll have to pick up a bag and do another side by side test. The ash will tell the difference. ROR contains 10-15% limestone, and you can feel the weight of the ash, but it also helps it retain heat. Like a little heat sink in each briquette. The ash of the above stuff should be lighter. Will be interesting to see how long it lasts once lit.

 

[stokensmoke]

Price wasn't bad either -$7.48. Regular RO is $6.48.

 

[noboundaries]

I went by my local Walmart yesterday to pick up a bag of the RO All Natural briquettes. Not a bag in sight. In fact, there was not a single bag of Royal Oak anything anywhere. They are definitely stocking up KBB for the Memorial Day sale, though. Unwrapped pallets of 2x15.4 lb bags of KBB were EVERYWHERE!

My local Lowes started the RO Ridge sale with 40 bags according to the website. They had 14 left as of this morning, the day after the sale. They sold 26. My first day there, I made a new smoking buddy who uses a UDS. I believe he bought 10 bags. I bought 16 total, 8 the first day, 8 the next, and I had to do a lot of product moving to find the second 8. That's all 26 bags sold. He and I bought everything they sold.

Of the 14 bags left, 8-10 were in really bad shape. I was going to talk to the manager to see if they'd offload them to me for a $1 a bag for the worst ones, $2 a bag for the moderately torn up bags. If I see a hole in a bag, I always ask for a discount at the cashier. 25% seems to be the standard adjustment. Might still go back and take the torn up bags off their hands, just have to be in the mood, and find a place to put them.

 

[cmayna]

My local Lowes has apparently 133 bags (15.6#) of RO Ridge in stock at $5.99.
Isle 133, Bay 14............ Road Trip!!

 

[noboundaries]

My local Lowes has apparently 133 bags (15.6#) of RO Ridge in stock at $5.99.
Isle 133, Bay 14............ Road Trip!!

$5.99 is their regular price. If you have the stock on hand to wait until Memorial Day, they'll probably go on sale for $4 a bag again. Home Depot has "Embers" at $4.97 / 15.4 lb bag all the time. It's the exact same stuff as RO Ridge, just bagged and labeled for Home Depot.

 

[cmayna]

That info regarding HD's Embers is great news. I'm always at home depot. Thanks for the info.

 

[yankee2bbq]

That info regarding HD's Embers is great news. I'm always at home depot. Thanks for the info.

I second that. noboundaries knows his stuff when it comes to charcoal, that is why I call him “charcoal nerd”.

 

[noboundaries]

I second that. noboundaries knows his stuff when it comes to charcoal, that is why I call him “charcoal nerd”.

Y2BBQ, Charcoal Nerd is now in my signature!

 

[noboundaries]

It has been a while since I used KBB in my Kettle. I still have one unopened 20 lb bag of the previous formula. I've been using Ridge in my Kettle because I like the heat I get from one small chimney. I'm using a LOT less charcoal in the Kettle with the Ridge.

I needed to get an adobo marinated tri tip on the grill today before we get a couple days of rain, starting this afternoon. I put half a small chimney of KBB, then filled the chimney with RO Lump. Just wanted a short 4 min/side hot sear then an indirect heat finish for 40-50 minutes until IT was 135F. Used 4 small chunks of cherry wood.

That KBB/RO Lump combo in the small chimney was NOT the way to go. Should have used all KBB. Barely got a sear at 8 minutes a side. Fired up another 3/4 small chimney of KBB until it stopped smoking. Once I moved the meat off the sear for indirect cooking/smoking, I added the new KBB to the one basket under the flip-grate's access.

Still, with the adjust on the fly, the meat turned out FANTASTIC! I'll post the recipe and pics in a new thread.

 

[yankee2bbq]

Funny you posted the above. I did the same in the past, awhile ago, with the same results. Keep it either, KBB or royal oak.

 

[browneyesvictim]

I went by my local Walmart yesterday to pick up a bag of the RO All Natural briquettes. Not a bag in sight. In fact, there was not a single bag of Royal Oak anything anywhere. They are definitely stocking up KBB for the Memorial Day sale, though. Unwrapped pallets of 2x15.4 lb bags of KBB were EVERYWHERE!

Same here. But... I did find a new Walmart Ridge Label I hadn't seen before. Its not listed in their online store either. I bought a bag yesterday. It looks like RO Ridge but is packaged for Walmart. It is sale priced like the others. (Edit: Pics added)

 

[noboundaries]

I went by Walmart last week and saw a bag called "Expert Grill" with the RO Ridge symbol on it. 16 lb bag for $4.92, or just under 31 cents a pound. Obviously it is their store brand for RO Ridge. Might just be a California thing. Their store brand could be called something else in other locations.

 

[browneyesvictim]

I went by Walmart last week and saw a bag called "Expert Grill" with the RO Ridge symbol on it. 16 lb bag for $4.92, or just under 31 cents a pound. Obviously it is their store brand for RO Ridge. Might just be a California thing. Their store brand could be called something else in other locations.

Yes. Those are the ones.

 

[noboundaries]

Yes. Those are the ones.

Those "Expert Grill" briquettes were actually why I went by Walmart last week. When I pull up my local store online, the picture they have indicates the briquettes are "60% larger." They obviously had started with a couple pallets of the stuff and were down to about 20 bags when I got there. There was nothing on the store bags indicating 60% larger. I felt the briquettes through the bag and could tell they were regular sized.

Now I have another source for Ridge when it is not on sale at Lowes.

Ooops. I guess I didn't need to post the picture below. Erik has us covered with his post above.

 

[krj]

I went and picked up 10 bags of ROR during the $4.00 Lowe’s sale. I’ve been using KBB for all my past smokes in my WSM 22”, and have been pretty pleased using the Soo’d donut method with like a half a chimney started. I got about 10 goods hours out heat my last cook before I had to add more to funding so my butts. All this weekend the WSM will be rolling, I have a 24lb whole brisket, 2 pork butts, and a dozen chicken thighs I’m gonna do over the next three days. I think I’m going to try the dimple method with this ROR, only lighting 8-10 coals and going from there. Hoping to see some steady temps and long cool time.

 

[chopsaw]

picked up 10 bags of ROR

I think you're gonna be happy with it . I think it burns hotter than KBB , so just FYI .

 

[mojavejoe]

Based in part on this thread, I recently switched from Kingsford Pro Comp briquettes to Royal Oak Ridge. I am a convert.

I’ve found the ROR burns cleaner and provides a more consistent, more controllable temperature in my WSM 22. The ROR lasts significantly longer and requires less time to settle in.

One thing I did notice is that the ROR didn’t like the minion method - at least not for me. For long smokes, I dump 3/4 lit chimney of RO lump on top of a full ring of ROR briquettes. I’m getting a more consistent, long burn.

I’m currently 8 hours into a pork butt smoke and the ROR/wsm combo is running 250* solid.

Very happy with the change.

 

[krj]

I'm exhausted, but soooooo pleased with ROR. I was spiky on temps on Saturday during my 17.5 hour brisket cook. I'll chalk this up to the inexpeirience with ROR which definitely burns hotter. Sunday's pork butts when miles better. Temperatures were steady during my 9.5 hr cook, I was still tired from the day before, so I foil wrapped the butts instead of cooking unfoiled. Both the brisket and pork was delicious, and I'm glad I bought 10 bags of ROR. Plan on grabbing some more if I can find another sale.

 

[noboundaries]

I'm exhausted, but soooooo pleased with ROR. I was spiky on temps on Saturday during my 17.5 hour brisket cook. I'll chalk this up to the inexpeirience with ROR which definitely burns hotter. Sunday's pork butts when miles better. Temperatures were steady during my 9.5 hr cook, I was still tired from the day before, so I foil wrapped the butts instead of cooking unfoiled. Both the brisket and pork was delicious, and I'm glad I bought 10 bags of ROR. Plan on grabbing some more if I can find another sale.

As I explained earlier in this thread, I was a dedicated KBB user for decades, and four years or so in my WSM. I had to relearn how to set my vents and cold/hot load the RO Ridge. For 225F, I'd use 45-60 hot KBB, about 1/4 chimney, in my WSM. Now I use 8 or so RO Ridge. Huge difference.

Now I can dial in anything from 150F to 350+. When I want 150F, 4 hot RO Ridge briquettes.

I still use a full load of cold charcoal regardless of what I'm smoking and just reuse the unburned. Another trick I learned when loading the cold charcoal, is to give the legs on my WSM a few kicks, or just shake the bottom bowl pretty hard. The Ridges kind of settle into each other, cutting down on the airflow through the briquettes, which keeps the temps down for those low temp smokes.

I keep an eye out for sales. You can always pick up Embers at Home Depot. It is RO Ridge.