Komado Joe Charcoal Sales Event

[Dono]

UPDATE:  COSTCO ALREADY SOLD OUT AND PULLED THE AD

If anyone likes using Komado Joe lump, and you have a Costco membership, it’s on sale through April 11. 4-20# bags for $79.99 and free delivery.  
 

https://www.costco.com/CatalogSearch?dept=All&keyword=Komado+joe+charcoal

Edited April 6, 2021 by Dono
Sold Out

[tony b]

Came up empty at the CostCo website. 

[Dono]

7 minutes ago, tony b said:

Came up empty at the CostCo website. 

I just called Costco online customer service tony b.  She said they had such a huge response they have already sold out of their allocation and had to pull the ad.   Unfortunate!!    

[tony b]

Same thing happened last time they ran this sale. It's such a great deal. I managed to score a box last time, but that's the way it goes sometimes. 😢

[Dono]

It is a great deal.  She did say they would more than likely be getting more in and suggested checking the Costco website (Item #1325502) frequently.  Although no timeline for restocking was able to be provided.  Good luck!    

[Syzygies]

Fogo Premium Hardwood Lump

I just had four bags of various FOGO charcoal delivered, to help protect my hoard of KK coffee charcoal. They're my next favorite source.

Pok Pok Thaan Thai Style Charcoal

This is extruded like KK coconut, but with a different flavor profile. Expensive but worth a try. I love it, but perhaps I just miss Thailand.

[GrillnBrew]

15% off FOGO when you spend $50 using code FOGOSEASON15.  I've been disappointed in their black bags lately, lots of chips and dust, but that could just be from mishandling during shipping, trying the yellow bag this time.  I'll also keep an eye out for the KJ at Costco.

[Dono]

Yeah, thank you both!!  I’ve heard good things about Fogo. I’ll check them out. 

4 hours ago, Syzygies said:

This is extruded like KK coconut, but with a different flavor profile. Expensive but worth a try. I love it, but perhaps I just miss Thailand.

Syzygies, how would describe the flavor profile?  

[Syzygies]

14 hours ago, Dono said:

Syzygies, how would describe the flavor profile?  

One of the more descriptive Amazon reviews for Pok Pok Thaan Thai Style Charcoal says "Slight fruitwood flavor, much lighter smoke than mesquite, hickory or oak."

It depends how you use it. Those of us hooked on KK extruded coconut lump love it for how it burns with a nearly neutral flavor, so the smoke we taste is the smoke we deliberately add for flavor, using smoking woods. Nevertheless, one friend with keen tastebuds (he has won wine tasting competitions where they permute the same 12 bottles a few hour later) could pick out the coconut. I can even pick out the coconut, but I could see colors on our black and white TV as a kid, so who knows about me!

The Achilles heel to any ceramic cooker used for low & slow is that we're continually burning unlit charcoal as we cook. You can't simply light everything at once and coast 24 hours. In a wood-fired pit, people tend the pit, ideally having one fire to create embers and another to actually cook using only fully developed embers. If we use ordinary charcoal for a low & slow, we taste the charcoal as it lights. I can use ordinary (good Fogo lump) charcoal in my Solo Stove because I'll use too much fuel, then wait till it burns down to almost spent embers. All fires taste roughly the same at this point (though Mesquite is still a bit nasty!).

KK extruded coconut lump doesn't impart off flavors as it burns like a fuse, for ceramic cooker low & slows. That's why we love it.

Pok Pok has more flavor, but it's not objectionable even if it burns like a fuse. The flavor reminds me of roadside barbecue in Thailand, but I could see colors on our black and white TV as a kid, so who knows about me!

This is all relative. Some people like wretched amounts of smoke. I imagine they've had their heart broken too many times on the trail of commercial barbecue, so they want to taste lots of smoke to be sure. Once my wife tasted barbecue using the smoke pot I devised, I was never allowed to use wretched amounts of smoke again.

My rear shed is a museum collection of every generation of extruded coconut charcoal sold, Richard through initial Dennis experiments through current Dennis. If I ever ran out and couldn't get KK extruded lump, I'd happily use Pok Pok for low & slows. It's also great for general use if you can ignore the price.

[tony b]

Here's a 2nd alternative to the THAAN. I use it in my yakitori grill. Very similar to cocochar.

Sumi Charcoal | KORIN

@Syzygies - at the bottom of my stash of boxes of Dennis' cocochar in the garage, there's still a couple of boxes of the old RJ stuff that was awesome. That's how I'll know that I'm running out, when I get down to those! 

[Dono]

Syzygies, thanks for the thorough education on this extruded charcoal!!  I really appreciate it. I was pretty limited on the amount of coco char I could buy with my order.  So I will definitely give this a try.  
 

6 hours ago, tony b said:

Here's a 2nd alternative to the THAAN. I use it in my yakitori grill. Very similar to cocochar.

Sumi Charcoal | KORIN

@Syzygies - at the bottom of my stash of boxes of Dennis' cocochar in the garage, there's still a couple of boxes of the old RJ stuff that was awesome. That's how I'll know that I'm running out, when I get down to those! 

Tony, thank you as well for your recommendation!!  I’ll check it out tonight. 
 

I really appreciate the wealth of wisdom and experience here.  It’s also super awesome that y’all, and so many others are so eager to share it.