Cowboy Southern Style Hardwood Lump Charcoal (20 Pound)

I love this stuff, been using this specific brand for several years now. Love the flavor, gives off tremendous heat and it snuffs pretty easy. I typically snuff the coals after I'm done grilling by closing everything off. Next time I come to grill I only have to top off my pile of charcoal. I grill pretty regularly and this stuff goes a long way if you snuff it when you're done. I've tried other brands and I'm not impressed with them.

There are many good brands to buy, yet I keep coming back to the value and quality combination for this lump charcoal.

Just what my husband wanted

It's a decent lump charcoal and burns completely leaving very little ash. It does crackel and pop, throwing off lots of sparks, mainly while burning in the chimney starter. I use mine mainly for heating my smoker. I found by saving used paper towels in a soup can or such, you can pour used fry oil or shorting in the can over them, and these paper towels become excellent charcoal starters underneath the chimney starter. There is no fuel oil flavor transfer like when using charcoal lighter, and it's a good way to use pan drippings and such.The lump charcoal has some very large pieces, clearly limbs and branches, that can be more difficult to get into smaller chimney starters. There is also a control issue as to smaller sizes, as the last bag I got had lots of very small pieces the size of a quarter or smaller. These fall through the starter, so if you pour from the bag you can have a lot of pieces falling through. All things considered, it's better to have large pieces than small, as these can be broken into more manageable sizes, or used as is to provide a longer lasting heat. Long lasting heat is important during hot smoking larger cuts of meat. There's lots of lump charcoal that's composed of medium sized pieces, but pound per pound, these cost more. I like the fact that this charcoal is available in a 20 pound bag, as that is enough for doing large cuts of meat, or many more smaller cuts of meat. I would give this 5 stars if the size of the lumps were more consistent through out the bag. That's my only reason for not giving it 5 stars. Actually a bag full of all large pieces would do me just fine, as most lump charcoal sold, has smaller pieces than are to be found with this brand. For the cost it's a decent value. It comes shipped inside of another box, so I have never gotten a bag in damaged condition so far, and I have used this brand for several years now.

Great sustained quality. I have been using this product for 7 seasons. I use it to get things going in my Lang smoker and for grilling on my Weber. I both cases the product delivers long lasting heat. It creates a good bed of coals to that allows me to maintain a consistent heat. This is very important when I need to smoke meats low and slow at a consistent 215 - 225 degrees. The coals quickly fire up again when I need to throw on another log. If I need to grill on the Weber, I can quickly get things up to 450 - 500 degrees and stay there when grilling steaks. Excellent product.

A friend of mine recommend this brand to me. I had been looking for a good Hardwood lump charcoal to use for my smoker that would last longer between having to add more in my smoke box and keep constant temperature.I am very happy with this brand! I've smoked chicken thighs and pulled pork and they have turned out great! The lumps are nice large size compared to other brands I have used which help reduce the amount of lumps I need when using my smoker. The price point is also good for someone like me who is an amateur at BBQ.

love the heat, cooking flavor and easy light...still trying to get my head around the price

I have always used the original Cowboy charcoal, but sometimes the pieces need to be broken into a usable size, so I thought the bricks were a great alternative. unfortunately they use a binder in the charcoal that burns too fast...it didn't work out for us, so we are going back to the original cowboy charcoal. be careful to check the size and weight before you order.