primeats Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 What is the strangest thing you have found in your charcoal basket after burning a load of lump charcoal? Aside from a nice collection of rocks, I just found a thoroughly burned D cell Battery! Yep, you read that right! hopefully I didn't poison anybody with any toxic cast off! I never used the pork butts we cooked(all 4 of them) Wonder if the folks at Royal Oak will reimburse my for the food, or am I just being paranoid? Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 Re: Foreign objects in lump charcoal I found some metal strapping all burned up in the bottom of my basket a few weeks ago. Like you, I thought to myself, "damn, i hope that wasnt galvanized". I have found fiberglass in cowboy, which doesnt surprise me since cowboy is clearly lumber scrap. As for RO, its mostly some rocks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeDJ16 Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 Re: Foreign objects in lump charcoal In RO, I find mostly rocks or concrete (but only on rare occasion). Now in Cowboy, I have came across all sorts of unidentifiable metal, rock and odd looking wood pieces. Enough so I only buy it in a pinch. -=J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tucker Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Re: Foreign objects in lump charcoal I use Cowboy a lot, have found rocks, concrete pieces, no metal yet, thankfully. I cannot find anything other than BGE near me, and BGE seems to have a lot of petroleum odor to it which imparts to the food. What stores are you finding RO in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeDJ16 Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Re: Foreign objects in lump charcoal What stores are you finding RO in? All of our Walmarts carry Royal Oak. We have some brand of lump in all of our Lowes, Home Depots and Ace Hardware too (but usually it is Cowboy). Not positive, but if I remember correctly from Whizzy's Web Site, Royal Oak makes BGE charcoal (Whizzy?). I am still holding out for Dennis to send me some Coffeewood charcoal!!! -=J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNakedWhiz Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Re: Foreign objects in lump charcoal Yes, BGE is made by Royal Oak. The fiberglass found in Cowboy is most likely ceramic insulation from their kilns, according to them. Cowboy is no longer lumber scrap (at least what I've bought in the last several years). It looks more like Royal Oak, but usually mostly small pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Re: Foreign objects in lump charcoal What stores are you finding RO in? All the Wal-marts in Central FL also carry RO. You might give them a try? The cleanest lump I have ever used was Lazarri. I have been through probably 1000 pounds of their foodservice bags of mesquite, and never found a single foreign object in there. Too bad I can't get get their oak wholesale, too. I can get the mesquite for $13 per 40# bag, and no shipping since they keep it in a local distribution warehouse. To get the oak, I would have to pay to truck it in. I also went through more than a few bags of wicked good, back when yo could still get their competition blend, and never found any rocks in there, either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tucker Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Re: Foreign objects in lump charcoal Thanks FM. I don't recall seeing RO in WalMart, but will give it a more concreted effort next time. I will also look into Lazarri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linuxwrangler Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Re: Foreign objects in lump charcoal The cleanest lump I have ever used was Lazarri. I have been through probably 1000 pounds of their foodservice bags of mesquite' date=' and never found a single foreign object in there. Too bad I can't get get their oak wholesale, too. I can get the mesquite for $13 per 40# bag, and no shipping since they keep it in a local distribution warehouse. To get the oak, I would have to pay to truck it in.[/quote'] Fortunately I just have to cross the bridge to Lazarri's So. San Francisco place where I can pick up big bags of oak charcoal. They sometimes have other charcoal like orange wood and they carry as either firewood or smoking chips almond, apple, walnut, hickory, alder, and cherry. It's worth a trip if you are in the area on a weekday. Just don't expect a shiny retail place - it's a big dirt lot and tin warehouse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Re: Foreign objects in lump charcoal Sweet - Im working in San Jose next week. This might be one of those times where i need to exercise one of my perks; 3 free checked bags. And the last time I asked, the weight limit was 70# instead of the usual 50#. In any case, I might just have to bring home 150# of oak charcoal Anyone know if charcoal is treated as a hazard, or needs to be declared as checked baggage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdbower Posted June 23, 2011 Report Share Posted June 23, 2011 Re: Foreign objects in lump charcoal Anyone know if charcoal is treated as a hazard' date=' or needs to be declared as checked baggage?[/quote'] You're flying out of NorCal, tell them it's part of a carbon sequestering program to help California stay carbon neutral. Charcoal has been hit-and-miss with me when I'm honest about it. Shipping via UPS they said it was hazardous, via USPS it was fine (or vice versa). I've never tried the TSA, but expect nothing but a fine powder when you get home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyboy Posted June 24, 2011 Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 Re: Foreign objects in lump charcoal I found a Railroad spike in my last bag of Cowboy!! My biggest concern/unanswered question is; were the creasote loaded railroad ties the spikes are normally pounded into part of the charcoal??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
primeats Posted June 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 Re: Foreign objects in lump charcoal And do they use a battery operated air-hammer to pound in the spikes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdbower Posted June 24, 2011 Report Share Posted June 24, 2011 Re: Foreign objects in lump charcoal Hopefully you don't find bits of Phineas Gage in there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobvoeh Posted June 25, 2011 Report Share Posted June 25, 2011 Re: Foreign objects in lump charcoal I can't recall finding anything after using Royal Oak, but I can't say the same thing for Publix Greenwise. Lots of rocks. Several per bag. The Greenwise is usually my backup for when Wallmart is out of RO. It used to be better, but they must have changed who is making it for them. The chunks are very dense, therefore a bag is usually only 3/4 as full as they used to be, but they are the same weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted June 26, 2011 Report Share Posted June 26, 2011 Re: Foreign objects in lump charcoal I can't recall finding anything after using Royal Oak' date=' but I can't say the same thing for Publix Greenwise. Lots of rocks. Several per bag. The Greenwise is usually my backup for when Wallmart is out of RO. It used to be better, but they must have changed who is making it for them. The chunks are very dense, therefore a bag is usually only 3/4 as full as they used to be, but they are the same weight.[/quote'] Dense is good...whats the smell/flavor like? I bet publix would hand you a new bag if you carried a handful of rocks in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeDJ16 Posted June 26, 2011 Report Share Posted June 26, 2011 Re: Foreign objects in lump charcoal I can't recall finding anything after using Royal Oak' date=' but I can't say the same thing for Publix Greenwise. Lots of rocks. Several per bag. The Greenwise is usually my backup for when Wallmart is out of RO. It used to be better, but they must have changed who is making it for them. The chunks are very dense, therefore a bag is usually only 3/4 as full as they used to be, but they are the same weight.[/quote'] Dense is good...whats the smell/flavor like? I bet publix would hand you a new bag if you carried a handful of rocks in there. I find the really dense and shiny looking pieces are the ones that spark more. Which was the case with that terrible Kingsford lump I got once. Guessing they are not carbonized as much, weigh more and are cheaply made. I would much rather have the lighter, duller looking pieces. Our Publix carries it too, but after trying one bag, I never tried them again. -=J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
