Who Makes The Best BBQ Charcoal? 

As a 51 year old cooking fan, and using charcoal for the first time since I was a kid, this is some of the best advice I've seen so far. It's been very trial and error so far but getting better at judging heat methods. My only wonder is what type of brick to use. Living in Canada, I haven't seen Fogo or Max available but could be location and will certainly try Kingsford and Royal Oak. Thank you for a fantastic take on the best way to bbq. Cheers!

Does anyone else love his voice?

Very well done and a pleasure to watch. Thank you!

Great video!! Thank you for the information..

Great informational video! thank you!

Amazing video i definitely appreciate your time and dedication.

Great video! Would love to see a similar video with lump i know hard to narrow it down so many brands these days. For briquettes I like to use the webber ones good bang for my buck

Great video. Love how u tested them all. I too get the kingsford from Costco. Does what I need it to do so I’ve been happy with it.

Excellent video, Kenyatta! You used very fair comparisons and provided meaningful results! I bbq/grill almost every night and have used each of the brands you tested. The durability and re-usability of the briquettes is very important to me, and I have found B&B to be much more useful for a second cook than the other brands. Other cooks may value a different quality in their briquettes! Thank-You for this very informative video!

Excellent. Thank you for the experiment. It was well worth.

That is very good to know. Thank you

Loved the review! Surprised by the results.

Thank you for this video comparison. My go to has always been Kingsford! I have tried different lump charcoal in the past but have never had any issues with the King. I do miss the old 2x20lb for 9.99 sales at Lowes! Couldn't ever pass that up. I got so much from them that o still have some from those days, lol! Unfortunately with this day comes cost so I will be seeing what else is out there. Thank you again!

Great video, I love using Kingsford charcoal.

B&B orange bag is my go to

Great vid thanks

This is an awesome video that was done pretty fairly and equally. I've been a Kingsford guy for ages and I have tried B/B and RO a few times. But, I keep coming back to Kingsford because it's consistent, and I can find it at SAMS. But you're correct, there's nothing wrong with any of these you've tested. Thanks again for your time and efforts on such a long test.

Thank you for the video sir!

Thanks for the video! My go to charcoal is Kingsford. Mainly because my Daddy used it. 😎 I'm just getting back into backyard BBQ so I would grab what my Daddy used. I was pleased to see that it came in second.

B&B for competition. Kingsford for backyard, parties, and catering. Thanks for the breakdown!

This was a fun video to watch. Reminds me a lot of the guy who has the channel called project farm

Very nice comparison video. Your parameters for the tests were very professional and the results were interesting. I've been grilling on a 22" Weber kettle for over 45 years and have predominantly used Kingsford due to it's price and it's widespread availability.

Thanks for the video. I like B&B most of the time but will add a little lump in the bottom of the LSG management basket and then pour 1/2 of a lighted chimney of B&B on top, 10 minutes later the wood goes on top and burns nice and clean. Seems to get the offset going pretty well.

Wow!!! That was an excellent designed experiment coming from someone who does Design of Experiments for a living. I would have liked if you considered ash accumulation along with burnout after 2 hrs. I find Kingsford produces much more ash than Band B along with burning out faster. I would have given Band B second with Royal being the winner. You are among my favorite BBQ teachers...I hope you continue to educate the masses.

Your video edits are A1. Great science project the only think missing was the the tri-fold presentation board 😂😂😂😂

Excellent video! Really good editing to cram hours of burning into 26 minutes. Good method. The best TASTING briquets are Kingsford Professional, when you can find them on sale, IMHO. A marked difference in flavor. I could smell it right away after lighting off the cook. I have always used briquets in my Weber Performer but not in the KJ. After your video, I'm going to give it a shot in the KJ. You opened my mind up a little. Thanks again.

Thank you for the comparisons. I normally use B&B and as noted below there's always some left for a second burn. I recently tried Royal Oak when I found it at a big box store. I can't say it was bad, but I noticed the smoke coming off it at the initial lighting was excessive compared to any others I've used like Blues Hog, Jealous Devil, B&B and Kingsford.

Thank you for your service sir 🫡

Great video!

It should have been mentioned that Fogo was made from coconut shells which is not a traditional hard wood. Also, I find that B&B is a good burning charcoal however, it leaves a lot of ash behind more so that Kingsford. I would have like to have seen a category for how much ash was left over. Besides that, I enjoyed the video. Thanks for doing this. ..JJ

Awesome video. You did a fantastic job. New subscriber here!!

I just got four 14 pound bags of Royal Oak briquets for $8.99 a bag at Smart & Final. Nice!

Great and comprehensive video, as always I believe many of us are in the same boat with Kingsford and their professional briquettes, esp. if you do a lot of grilling and slow cooks, and are a suburbanite. I get some occasional broken or torn bags of briquettes and lump at work as well, at times, for a substantial discount. After working Memorial Day my wife made me drive to Lowes where she had seen some briquettes on sale. They had Royal Oak Super Size in ten pound bags for $5. I had to scoup up a bunch because I don’t always have to be super picky with the different things I cook on my grill and smoker. I have only used the Royal Oak once because I discovered I still had an open bag of Kingsford Professional. And unless I have doing a slows snake method, I use a cheap weed burner to get my charcoal going. Cheap weld on the weed burner so I had broken off halo piece that helps spread the flame. Sometimes I don’t get a great flame which was the case when using the Royal Oak, and it was harder to light/ get the big briquettes going. Their lump is excellent, and I had read the Royal Oak briquettes were I bit dirty burning compared to the Kingsford, and it certainly seemed the case getting them going. They burned along time before I had to cut all the air. Might be a bit better having a dirtier burn this winter when everyone else will be inside, but at 50 cents a pound for long burning charcoal, and not having to cook high temp pizzas, these will do just fine.

The bnb no good with pit barrel needs a lot air flow then gets too hot , I love the cowboy brand the lump and briquettes they easier to control . Can’t never go wrong with the og blue tho

This was a very fun video to watch. I use a lot of Jealous Devil and Kingsford when needed. I wasn't surprised with the results of the JD vs. Kingsford considering we can fit so much more Kingsford in a single chimney whereas JD's briquettes are the size of a baseball

Thank you so.much all that money just to test and post for us thank you again

I switched to Royal Oak after doing some research. I am very pleased with Royl. Oak

Always Royal Oak, Kingsford if not with the knowledge that I have to use more because it burns out much faster. After all the Years of grilling experience Royal Oak is the best in my opinion keep grilling!!

Very nice presentation,

I've tried nearly all of these, and i must say that cowboy all natural briquettes are better than all of them, and a good price too. They taste better, are less brittle, last longer, and can be reused on multiple cooks because they hold together so well.

🏆 great video sir.

I like the cowboy brand charcoal, as well

So I bet Kingsford would be the best best for high temp, short cook times like ribeye and NY strip. Well done video

I'd love to try Fogo simply for what it's made from.

Well Done, my friend!

My Walmart just started carrying Royal oak all natural briquets and also the super size briquets. I plan on trying both of them. Lately I have been using Cowboy briquets, which are pretty good I think. I also like Kingsford original. I am curious to try royal oak after seeing this video.

Great video! but about taste a steak?

Unfortunately we do not have as good a choice in the UK, so as you have seen I tend to stick to Weber which are v good. I like Heat Beads but they are v difficult to light.

Listened to this video on the way to town yesterday to get briquettes for my gravity smoker. Went with the royal oak, and when I woke up this morning my temp had nosedived, I couldn’t figure out why. Hopper was still half full, fan was blowing hard. Turns out the royal oak was clogging up the grate with large clumps of ash. I’ve been having to baby sit it and really give the grate a hard shake every half hour or so when the temp starts to dive. Will def be going back to B&B or even good ol blue. Never had that issue with either of those.

I love Royal Oak,it’s the best!!

Royal Oak ! They are the best I agree !!! Kingsford, I used to buy when it was on sale. It burns way too fast for me. I quit buying it 3 years ago. I put enough on the grill to get it to 350 or 375, threw chicken leg quarters or chicken on the grill, and before the chicken was done after about 45 minutes the grill was about 250 degrees. I had to add more charcoal and bring it back up and it took too much time. Royal Oak I get a constant temperature for about an hour to an hour and a half easily.

The weights are in accurate because the chimneys are not fully on the scale. But it’s still great comparison video.

Good to know you can’t go wrong with Kingsford. Have you done anything similar with BBQ’ing with different “flavored” woods with the briquettes?

Great video! Thanks. I was wondering if you counted how many Royal Oak briquets fit in your chimney and how much that weighed. I've found that, here in Wisconsin, Royal Oak is far more cost-effective than Kingsford. For instance, Kingsford is on sale for $11.99 for a 16-lb bag ($0.75/lb), while Royal Oak's normal price is $8.49 for a 15.4-lb bag ($0.55/lb).

you can find kingsford profecional charcoal two 18 lb bags for 18 at costco and those charcoal is natural and burns strong

I really like jealous devil xl.

Just picked up two 20lb bags of Kingsford for $11 at my local mom and pop shop for Memorial Day 💪

Thank You sir. I love it. Questions I think we all have but never would have gone through the process and I thank you. Also feels like one BBQ bro having a friendly conversation with another BBQ bro.

I normally use Kingsford Professional, mainly because I can get them on sale at Costco certain times of the year. They light easily, but I suspect they don’t last as long as the original.

Well Done.

I have watched a ton of these reviews because i find them very interesting. And each one just reinforces my choice to just stick with Kingsford original. It lights fast, burns hot and long, and is cheap compared to everything else.

I've been with Kingsford for a long time, but I have noticed that they seem to be burning out quicker of late. I assume that's related to the lower density (30 Kingsfords in the chimney weighed less than the Fogo 30 briquettes - I wonder if their formula has changed since 2020). I've been leery about switching though as the other brands were unknown to me (again, nothing but Kingsford for years and years), but will be giving B&B and Royal Oak a test run soon! Video and experiment very nicely done!

FOGO is slow burning and more dense in thickness, and burns at a lower temp better for smoking, Kingsford reaction indicates chemical additives, I usually use Royal oak that temp check was told me slot, Never heard of FOGO before. But if I see it it will be in the shopping cart, Royal Oak last long, but the temperature whoa.... Thanks for the this compare side by side.

Biggest factor that differentiates the brands and the inconsistency from this experiment, is weight. Keep in mind that weight will cause the charcoal to die out. I think that kingsford was a little over half of pound. Definitely causing to extinguish faster, not running as long as other brands that weight 2 pounds or close to the 2 pound mark. Also the last test was not weighted, not knowing how much was placed on the chimney. Best test would be more efficient with weight test. That would be more accurate how much would it take for a pound of briquettes take to be ready and so on and so forth.

B&B hands down

thanks for the info, did you ever try coconut shell briquettes, if yes does it give bad taste?

Very well produced 👌

Great video. Ive been a B&B guy for charcoal and lump. Kingsford for me stays so smokey for so long, so ive strayed away from them. Also, random thought. Lately my weber charcoal starter rusts out quicker and quicker. Im tired of replacing the charcoal starter. I bit the bullet and bought a TMG starter basket, that has a lifetime warranty. Hasnt arrvied yet, but looking forward to it.

B&b briquettes only cost about $10 a bag at academy Sports. FYI. Ace hardware routinely sells the same product for $5 a bag more across almost the entire line.

Did you guys see that 50 dollar bill with Royal oak on it? Just kidding great vid!

B&B at ace hardware and academy sports!

Kingsford

Great video, but you should have measured out 0.5 lbs of each brand and seen how long the same weight would burn. Great video none the less! Thanks!

Am wondering on difference in: 1. Scent. 2. Composition. Is there any noticeable differences in these? Wasn't mentioned unless I missed it.

I use to go with Kingsford OG and catch those sales, but nowadays, I usually run B&B comp oak or JD the most. I still do like OG Kingsford for smoking turkey, chicken, etc. I think that OG Kingsford with some apple chunks doesn't overpower the meat. When I use B&B comp oak, I think I get a pretty strong smoke flavor even on quick cooks like grilling chickien, links, etc.

Great Video. Question for everyone: I've tried several bags of B&B Orange Bag Oak, and for whatever reason it seems to give the food a weird taste. It's not necessarily bad, but it just taste weird to me. Anyone else experience this? I love B&B lump charcoal, but the briquettes taste weird to me... Never experienced this with Kingsford or Lump. Idk, got a bag of Royal Oak to try for the weekend at the lake.

I’m sticking w/ Kingsford 😊

Sir if you don't mind/if you know can you tell me the chemical uses for making these briquettes??

I need help guys. Weber Kettle, SNS Kettle, or PK300? I'm seeing vastly different opinions on reviews. It's my first charcoal grill, but I buy things for the long haul, so I plan to use it for decades.

I recently bought some Kirkland briquettes at Costco at $18.99 for 2 - 20lb bags. Just used it last night and was impressed. Wondering who makes it for Kirkland, my suspicion is that it is Royal Oak. It burns hot, smokes a little longer and looks the same as what you reviewed in this video. When I shut down my Weber Performer, there was a lot of fuel left. If Kirkland is Royal Oak, I'm happy with the Kirkland. Any insights?

Have tried all of these but once I tried B&B I haven’t bothered with any other brand.

BnB is great. I use less for hotter and the same amount of time than most others. So BnB lasts longer and is a better bang for your buck

Hey, I didn't see any blues hog charcoal in this lineup unless I missed something

I'm curious about the regular Kingsford vs the professional ones

I'm a B&B man

Interesting - briquets and charcoal aren't the same thing so it sucks that Jealous Devil and Fogo can make great lump charcoal but just botch their briquets. On my kamado grill/smoker, I use only Jealous Devil big lump and it is fantastic.

After 15 years I have quit Royal Oak Lump. It’s just dust and chips. I’m all in for B&B. Plus it’s cheaper at Academy Sports.

Where did you get the charcoal cause those prices are ridiculous. It’s typically cheaper for all those brands

do the all natural ones not use gluing compounds? how does that work, the cheaper brands smoke insanely long... never buying them again only real wood charcoal.

If you use charcoal is that considered bbq? I’ve been going back and forth with this logic.

What about taste?

Fck the blue bag, go orange

Question? Why would ANYONE buy charcoal (or a grill) @ Ace Hardware? Ditto for Home Depot. Ever hear of Walmart??? Secondly Fyi charcoal briquettes ARE NOT what they were in the 1950,s & 60's! Remembering dad used them, 3 days later the grill was still hot! Last time I tried briquettes, they had a "core" that would not burn! Some kind of inert non combustible filler? At any rate natural lump works for me! I put my chimney on my gas stove under the range hood on high to light, only takes a few minutes, carry it outside holding a plate under the chimney,

This is definitely not a fair comparison. The royal oak was by itself, so there was no residual heat from another chimney next to it, and you did the royal oak later in the day, so the outside temperature was lower allowing the coals to burn longer.

@edpritchard3001 5 months ago Great video!! Thank you!