Royal Oak Chef's Select Premium Hardwood Lump Charcoal Briquettes for Grills and Smokers, 40 Pounds

Once you have an egg, you spend time learning and finding what works best. One brand burns really hot. 900 degrees is easily attained. Another brand, I could not get to 900F no matter what. One of those was royal oak natural wood charcoal. Just not good. Smoked at 250 all day. The problem with wood charcoal is they get thrown around. Delivery to delivery. I end up with a bag of small pieces that is of no use. This charcoal is hard. A little larger than normal charcoal briquettes. The pieces allow for great airflow. Getting up to 700, 800 degrees is easy. That is it. To get the last little bit, I use real wood. I smoked for about six hours at 250F and then put the fire out. I was surprised at how little I had actually used. That makes it a great but for the money. I can get high temps quickly. Flavor is OK, I always use different wood for that.

I've avoided briquettes for many years, ever since I bought my first kamado style smoker and learned of lump coal about 5 years ago. The chemical taste of standard charcoal briquettes was a real turn off once I had experienced smoked food that didn't have that taste. I gave these a shot because I was tired of the inconsistency of lump coal and was extremely pleased to find that these briquettes do not add any chemical tastes at all! In fact, they impart a mild apple or maybe hickory wood smoke flavor when used for low and slow sessions. Not enough smoke flavor to really say that the food is "smoked" but it's there, in the background. This inherent smokiness has allowed me to cut back on wood by about 20%. This coal also burns hotter than all the lump coals available in my area (Royal Oak, Cowboy, Kamado Joe). I used to struggle with bringing my Masterbuilt 560 up to 600 degrees but now I can easily reach the 700 degree maximum. 40lbs is huge so you'll probably want to divide it up into smaller totes so that it's more manageable and the bottom will have some dust/pieces from all the jostling during shipping but it's no more than what I expect to find in any lump coal bag.This is my go-to coal now. I wish I would have tried this years ago!

This charcoal is AWESOME! I’m an avid griller I would say it’s my passion) and I’ve used so many different charcoals over the last couple of years, from kingsFord instant light, to petrified wood charcoal of various brands and so on, and out of the 10 different brands I’ve tried, this is probably the best one I’ve used. It does require lighter fluid, however it stays lit and holds heat so well. So many times I’ve had charcoal that won’t stay lit or get nice bright red and ashy even after dumping lighter fluid all over it, but these brickettes retain their heat well and stay evenly lit and bright red for a couple of hours so they won’t go cold halfway through grilling your steaks. The flavor this charcoal gives to whatever you’re grilling is also outstanding. Tonight I made some of the best burgers I’ve probably ever made, and it really gave them the flavor Im always chasing after, every time I grill. I don’t normally leave reviews but this product is too good people gotta know about it! If you’re looking for great quality charcoal that stays evenly lit, has even hot heat, and gives beautiful flavor to your food, look no further. I can honestly say I think I’ll be buying this from now on.

Well I thought that 40 lbs would last a while BUT.....my wife really likes the flavor, texture, juiciness and me cooking everything. I have two kamado grills and this charcoal works great in the big one and the little one that we keep in our RV. I have cooked all sorts of meat in several different ways including pot roast. I have baked bread, cooked pizza and made soups and chili using this charcoal without any kind of complaint. The fire and temp is very easy to control I think partly because the briquettes are uniform in size and consistency so the burn is very consistent. I use about ten pounds a week and the price is good compared to the lump that I still use periodically. Try this stuff, you won't be sorry.

I purchased a gravity smoker a few months back and have experimented with a few types of charcoal (lump and briquettes). These have become my go to favorite. I used to add wood chunks into the shoot and ash tray for extra smoke but honestly it's not needed. These produce a wonderful thin blue smoke which imparts a lovely smoke flavor. My last few smokes have been without any supplemental wood and I've loved the results. Great smoke rings, sweet/non-bitter smoke flavor. The combo of oak and hickory produce an excellent result for just about any meats. A full chute lasts about 7 hours with this charcoal at 225. This will be my go to everyday charcoal from now on.

So I was expecting lump charcoal. This is briquettes. Not a problem. Very smoky at startup. Seriously thought the FD was going to show up. I used the same amount as I would with regular briquettes and holy hot. Only needed half. They burned much much longer. Happy so far👍🏼🤙🏼

I tried this after using Jealous Devil lump charcoal, which was pretty darn good. RO charcoal is less expensive, burns very steady, and is easy to be able to add more to my smoker. It doesn't burn as hot as the JD, but it does burn right where I need it to be. Very nice value premium charcoal.

trying to find a substitute for weber charcoal now that i can no longer get it. tried this. it burns hot and fairly quick. too hot for smoking and also doesnt last long enough to consider for smoker.nice hot burn w decent flavor for grilling though. but rather use lump if grilling. Briquettes good for smoking - in theory - because of even burn rate.bought a few bags here when it was $32ish about a year, maybe 18 months ago. now at $48, not such a good value even though its is 40lbs. at $32 it was a decent deal