Why not Cowboy??

[wutang]

While at the store buying charcoal and wood for this weekends smoke I picked up my first bag of Royal Oak lump. Next to it on display was some of the Cowboy brand lump charcoal. I have read only good things here about the RO and a few bad things about Cowboy brand. I am more than willing to take the advise of those who have "been there done that" but was just wondering what about the Cowboy was bad? Is cowboy worse than regular Kingsford briquettes? Or is even low end lump better than high end briquettes? Your opinions are appreciated.

 

[desertlites]

cowboy sux's

 

[wutang]

I kinda got that part-can you be more specific. Temp problems? Flavor? Burns to fast? I guess it isn't a big deal-I was just a little curious.

 

[gorillagrilla]

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumpindexpage.htm?bag I believe cowboy is the one thats all construction lumber.

 

[bbq bubba]

Ya, thats a nice way of putting it!

 

[richtee]

I have used both. And no, cowboy is not construction lumber.
As I cannot easily get RO, I use Cowboy quite often. To me, CB burns up faster than RO and tends to a little bit more ash. Also it seems RO will give a hotter fire. Cowboy is alot better than ANY brick I have used tho.

 

[wutang]

Thanks-that is the kinda answer I was looking for.

 

[crewdawg52]

Cowboy is mostly made up of scrap flooring, left over wall trim, etc. Untreated of course and a very fast burn. Have used it once and only once, as as others have said......it sux.

 

[solar]

I've also heard that it was made from wood flooring scraps. The issue is that some have said that once in a while the scraps are from finished wood. Don't know if this is true or not, but I could see how this could easily happen.

 

[richtee]

Honestly, I don't think it would matter much if they were finished or not. As I have made lump for applications other than BBQ'ing/smoking, the process is most likely going to cook off any coatings on the wood. Now, I dunno about penetrating type treatment/preservatives, but a layer of stain/varnish/bits of glue is gonna be LONG gone before the charcoal is half done.

 

[vlap]

I almost always used CB lump. It burns nicely and I don't find the ash to be that bad. Once or twice I did see a piece that looked like plywood and another time I found something that resembled a rock or maybe part of the kiln insulation (I believe that is ceramic) This is 3 incidents in many bags of CB and many smokes. I never found an off flavor and I have not died. You will not have a bad smoke should you use it.
I finally tried a bag of the Royal Oak the last smoke I did. It burns nicely and I was pleased but did not notice anything that makes me think I need to make a change. I will use either.

 

[wutang]

Thanks for some input from the other side of the fence. Sounds like either Cowboy or RO would still be better than the briquettes I have been using.

 

[vince]

I have used Cowboy once and no problem with it, RO is good but harder for me to find, I use B&B most of the time and that site gives it poor ratings also, I happen to like B&B and think they maybe off on how they rate the stuff at times

 

[richtee]

Ratings like these are to be given consideration, but let's face it: Not everyone cooks the same way, or however you use the product. As you gain experience you can adjust for any performance differences inherent within your charcoal, smoker, attitude...ect...heh.

Cowboy is fine. Use it and get used to it.

 

[flash]

I believe it does, but so does RO in my opinon. They do burn hotter than briquettes, but maybe that is the reason they burn up so quick

 

[richp692]

I have been using cowboy with no problems. All I can find around here by me is kingsford or Cowboy. Stay away for the kingsford lump, I've lit off fireworks with less sparks than kingsford lump.

 

[crusty ol salt]

My options are like rich p, the choices of lump charcoal is CB or nothing at all. I occasionally find RO, but it is not the made in usa bags that I have read about. the quality of the RO i have been getting is nothing to brag about. I think it(RO) contains a high percentage of sap wood, CB on the other hand being a by product of a manufacturing process has much more core hardwood. I have found that the larger bags of CB do have larger chunks of charcoal in them.

 

[wutang]

Maybe it just comes down to what is available in your area and what you have experience using. And just like Queing there can be regional differences and some personal preference involved. Thanks to everyone who answered back.

 

[smoking gun]

I have had a hard time finding lump at times There always seems to be plenty of cowboy around though so in a pinch I did buy 1 bag. The bag I had did have some insulation type stuff in it and some charred plywood as well. IIRC plywood has some kind of glue in it to hold it together. I just tossed those pieces and burned the ones that looked like pieces of 2x4s and other lumber. It burned fine, produced a bit more ash than RO and got me by. Since then I found a good supply of RO made in USA at the local W-Mart. It is really good lump and the pieces are on the large side with very little dust. This past weekend I bought the last 8 bags they had though so before long I'll be looking again. The best lump I've used was Frontier brand I bought at Meijers. It is made from south american hardwoods and although it takes more heat to get it going (the pieces are very dense) once it's lit it burns a loooooong time. Unfortunately the Meijers here only had 3 bags. They're loooooong gone. lol Guess it's time to check there again though. Gotta stock up for winter.

 

[jminion]

Cowboy is kiln dried material and leaves you with no coals as it burns down. Use other product and you will see the difference. There are much better choices.