No Name charcoal briquettes

[Backyard.Pitmaster]

For other Canadian members:
My local No Frills has No Name brand briquettes on sale for dirt cheap I've never used them and don't want to ruin a good piece of meat by using a poor quality charcoal. Has anyone had any experience with them? Good, bad, terrible?
TIA

 

[drunkenmeatfist]

I recently bought about 1000lbs of Royal Oak "Premium" briqs for cheap from Walmart. It doesn't seem suitable for long smokes, but that doesn't matter to me. I use it for grilling only. I will use 1/2 a chimney to make a meal and it serves its purpose.

If you are wanting to do a long smoke with only that brand on hand then I would suggest a test run first. Otherwise I would save the cheap stuff for quick cooks and go with a tested fuel if you are smoking something expensive.

 

[Backyard.Pitmaster]

I recently bought about 1000lbs of Royal Oak "Premium" briqs for cheap from Walmart. It doesn't seem suitable for long smokes, but that doesn't matter to me. I use it for grilling only. I will use 1/2 a chimney to make a meal and it serves its purpose.

If you are wanting to do a long smoke with only that brand on hand then I would suggest a test run first. Otherwise I would save the cheap stuff for quick cooks and go with a tested fuel if you are smoking something expensive.

I've never had an issue with other No Name brand products as they're usually high quality never really seen them miss the mark. But had no idea they even made charcoal. I like the idea of doing a test cook, might give that a try.

 

[SmokinAl]

The only charcoal I have ever had a problem with is Cowboy Lump. It has all kinds of junk in it like metal rods etc. But that is not the real problem, it almost explodes in the smoker. It’s like the 4th of July in our backyard. I‘m surprised it didn’t blow the smoker lid off!
Al

 

[Inscrutable]

Should be fine on a fast cook where you are pre-burning all of it.
on a slow cook mixing in unturned briquets that catch over time, I would look for the ones that use the right organic binders* ... the wrong ones might impart a bad taste ... I think RO Ridge is one good one.

* Organic binders include coal tar, coal tar pitch, petroleum asphalt, polymers, starch, vegetable oil residue, and on and on ... you can easily see good and bad under the seemingly friendly “organic” banner. But not frequently disclosed.
Inorganic sometimes better ... may not be prone to affect flavor, but does yield a lot more ash ... things like clay, bentonite, cement, phosphate, etc.

All of which is what drives most of us to just lump charcoal.