What NOT to use - Cowboy Lump

[alexhortdog95]

LOL----"Cowboy" brand lump in my chimney starter:

Just kidding, but not far from that.

Bear

LOL - You probably could use it for fireworks char.

 

[alexhortdog95]

So, all...

Just got my shipment of Ozark Oak Lump.  I'll probably tear into it next week - it's decided to rain this week.

I did take a couple of pictures of the bag of Cowboy Lump I had, though.  It was a bag full of dust and chips, with a few medium sized chunks.  I put the larger sized ones in a box at the house and threw the dust/chips away.

I found a couple of rocks and some pieces of plywood in there.  No metal as of yet.

 

[Bearcarver]

So, all...

Just got my shipment of Ozark Oak Lump.  I'll probably tear into it next week - it's decided to rain this week.

I did take a couple of pictures of the bag of Cowboy Lump I had, though.  It was a bag full of dust and chips, with a few medium sized chunks.  I put the larger sized ones in a box at the house and threw the dust/chips away.

I found a couple of rocks and some pieces of plywood in there.  No metal as of yet.

Any M-80s in it?
 

 

[alexhortdog95]

Any M-80s in it?
 

Not as of yet, but I'm at work.  If I get home and my house is a pile of burning cinders, I wouldn't be surprised, LOL

 

[Fife]

Would have been better if it was a diamond.

 

[alexhortdog95]

So, I did a low and slow overnight brisket with this Ozark Oak. 

Have to say, I am extremely happy with the Ozark Oak lump, I won't use another for low and slow cooks.

It burns forever, and it has a nice applewood smell to it when you light it.  It doesn't produce a bunch of ash either.

Very very happy.  Extremely.

If you wanna check out my Q-View, here's a link to vids I posted:  http://s949.photobucket.com/albums/ad331/alexhortdog95/

Still waiting on the check from Cowboy, btw, LOL.

 

[master_dman]

I'm kinda late to this party, but I have to chime in on the fine looking brisket.  It's always good to see pics and vids of smokers/mods/food.

 

[garand555]

[quote name="alexhortdog95" url="/forum/thread/104830/what-not-to-use-cowboy-lump/20#post_618068"]


Thanks for the info.  I haven't tried the Frontier Brand of charcoal yet.  I do see it at Sam's on a regular basis, however, but haven't tried to purchase any.  40 lbs is a looooot of charcoal, but I've read reviews on the Frontier and it was marked as Average/Below Average due to burn time and ash production.



When I first got into this, I didn't know I'd be looking for the Holy Grail of Charcoal, LOL...


[/quote]

Frontier has two different kinds. One is South American hardwoods and the other is made from US hardwoods. The South American stuff (all I've seen around here) is the stuff that gets the average rating. The US hardwoods gets a recommended or highly recommended, but I haven't been able to get my mitts on any yet. I've used a few bags of the SA hardwoods and have found that you can get decent results with it, so long as it wasn't unloaded and stacked by jackbooted thugs. The last three bags I got I didn't feel up properly and wound up with one bag that had been pulverized. I mean open-the-bag-and-get-black-lung pulverized. Talk about a fireworks show when lighting those little pieces up. The next bag made up for it though. All of the chunks were friggin' huge and lasted forever.

I picked up 6.6lb bag of the Best of the West for $4 that I found at the supermarket last week and tried it out. I figured it was worth $4 to see how it was and it turned out OK. I didn't get any huge chunks, but if I am at the supermarket getting other stuff and need 6 or 12 lbs of charcoal, it'll do just fine.

 

[rowdyrawhide]

I made a post about my experience with Cowboy a few months ago and just finished it up about a month ago.  I ended up using it for grilling because I had trouble with it holding temps on overnight smokes.  any way I got to the bottom of the bag and found a rusted piece of metal in it.  Obviously not galvanized so not near the concern as you had. It also had some rocks in it, all I use right now is the RO in red bag from Wal mart, might try some of the Sams club stuff, but very happy with the RO.

Here is the link to my post as well 

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/98013/cowboy-lump-charcoal#post_536615

Bears account is here as well although not quite as colorful.  ;)

 

[ryanhoelzer]

I've read a few of these complaints over the years and never paid much attention because I had never used Cowboy.  I got some a while back because I couldn't find any Royal Oak and wish I would have checked the bag.  Last week I fired up a mix of Kingsford and Cowboys in my chimney and when I dumped it in the grill there were 2 AAA batteries on the ground and a piece of a circuit board stuck in the chimney..  In the heat of being pissed off I just threw them away and didn't take any pictures though..

 

[alexhortdog95]

Batteries and Circuit Boards?!?!

Oh wow. 

I've moved on since then - the only lump I use is the Ozark Oak that I get from Firecraft.com.  In fact, I just ordered 20 lbs of it on Friday and it should be here within the week, hopefully.

I never got a check, either. 

  Guess whatever they used the money on was in your bag of crap, probably an iPod for the kiddies.

 

[michael ark]

I love Ozark oak.It's made here in AR.I can get it for $7 here.I also like the best of the west from Sam's.

 

[cactusjosh]

I'm sure all these manufactures have screens and magnets in the packaging line to prevent this, Cowboy I know does for sure, perhaps the metal came from something else. I also know a story from many years back that a live 30-06 shell went off in someones grill using Kingsford Lump.   Charcoal is produced in batch systems by all manufactures, there will be variances in each batch, some will be better some worse, there are seasonal variances, when the trees were harvested, how long the tree sat before it was milled.  I know for a fact both Cowboy and R.O. (BIG GREEN EGG CHAR)  Purchase and repackage material from Parkers in Jamestown TN. Exact Same charcoal different bags and people still say this ones better than that one and vice versa and look like complete tools to those in the know. 

 

[dragonmaster194]

Hello all, very interesting coments on lump.  I have never used it before, but after reading comments in other forums decided to try it.  The only lump I have ever seen here I just found at Lowe's.  It is Frontier Brand, and it seems from comments here it should be ok.  I plan a brisket and some ribs for July 4.  If I can figure out how I will put pics on.  Steve

 

[Sal Barsanti]

Anyone mind if I resurrect this thread on lump coal?

I ordered some B&B through my local Ace Hardware store today. The basic Oak lump coal.

They also had Rockwood Lump Coal in the store, though I didn't buy it. Wanted to read up first.

And they had Blue Hog lump coal. Does anyone have experience with Blue Hog?

Thanks for the input!

 

[JWFokker]

Tried some Cowboy "Southern" lump charcoal from Lowes. One bag had a lot of small bits, probably just beat up in transit. The other had a pretty big rock in it that weighed a good 3lbs. Bigger than the head of a sledgehammer. But the charcoal was pretty good, so there's that.