I know I should be asking this on a BBQ site, but I wanted to hear what you guys think. I cook with my Weber Smokey Mountain several times a year, and so far have only used Kingsford briquettes. Very good results, but sometimes in cooler weather I have a little trouble keeping the temperature up. I hear that lump charcoal burns hotter, so I thought it may be a good idea to use it or maybe mix some in with the briquettes. By reading some reviews people generally like it, but very inconsistent quality no matter the brand. Very small pieces, rocks and other debris. What has been your brand-specific experience?

I am a lazy, gas grill, pellet smoker guy, however folks around here say this is the best:

https://www.hastybake.com/products/3-bags-hasty-bake-hardwood-charcoal-45lbs-new-smaller-size

Hasty Bake has been making charcoal grills since 1948 and was one of the original manufacturers of residential grills.

Thanks. Looks like HB makes some fairly serious grills, so maybe they know what they're doing with charcoal too.

I prefer lump charcoal because it's all natural. Briquettes are made with a lot of stuff that isn't wood, lignite and anthracite coal and other assorted chemicals that you probably wouldn't want on your ribeye.

Kevin

I thought someone was talking about the website's Christmas present for sticking the members with this Infolinks crap whether we want it or not.

Check out virtualweberbullet.com. great people & info over there.

Exactly. I haven't used briquettes in over 30 years. Yes, the size is inconsistent and there are occasional rocks. Burn is MUCH hotter and the flavor is more like a campfire than a chemical fire. I like to get the temp up to 500 degrees or more and use some direct and indirect heat. I haven't done any smoking, mainly because I'm impatient and want my meat...One of these days, though...