For
the kettle grill, I don't mind using Royal Oak and often will mix with pre-burned B&B briquettes from the
WSM that have life left in them.
I like B&B briquettes in the
WSM because they're larger and burn for a good while. They've always been pretty consistent for me.
However, this summer I've had difficulty acquiring B&B briquettes locally. Then I wasn't having luck finding Royal Oak either, so I gave in and got a bag of Kingsford. Never again! This stuff smokes something horrible when trying to light with
Weber chimney (I don't like to use fluid) - it's foul smelling and makes the whole backyard look like it's on fire! Royal Oak and B&B smoke maybe 1/4 as much when lighting as the Kingsford did. Then, when it did settle down and was ready to cook (thank goodness the smoke stopped once it got lit), ashes everywhere! I had ashes all over the food I was grilling! Ugh! Maybe just a bad bag, but definitely not what I wanted.
During this time of briquette scarcity, I found and tried B&B char logs. These seem more similar to briquettes, but are about 6" long and maybe 2" diameter with a hole running lengthwise through the middle. I used these in the
WSM and was pleasantly surprised.
Fortunately I recently found B&B briquettes back in stock and bought a bunch. It ought to be enough to get me through the new year. I'll probably keep buying the char logs to use in the
WSM, so that will help stretch the briquette inventory a bit longer.