I used the Rancher lump briquettes on Friday night for my two pork butts. Also used it the night before on steaks. Here is what I thought:
1. On the steaks... (1 95% full Weber chimney) no KF smell during start up which was nice. No sparking and didn't take any longer the the KS to be cook ready. After I dumped it in to the 1TG I raked it in to double thick layer and put the grate on. It was rocket hot...hotter than KF in my opinion all the way during the cook...and stayed VERY hot for the duration of the burn...which was way longer than I needed for 2 steaks. I was happy with that!
2. On the overnight. Used a full (even) ring of Rancher and soread 15 lit ranchers on top to start. Came up to temp in fine order...again no KF smell at all. I smoked 2 8lb butts...everything was assembled and together at 10pm. Held target temp of 260* (dome) all cook give or take a few degrees. Never had a spike overnight and pulled the butts off at 1pm the next day...so a solid 14hr cook...and I am happy to say that I had plenty in reserve...much to my amazement. I would say I could have gotten at least 2+ hrs more before needing to refuel. As far as the ash...it never chocked up during the cook like I have had KF do in the past...no need to stir coals at all. I let it all burn out and there was less ash than a KF cook. It was a noticeable difference to be sure!
Overall, with two cooks under my belt, I am happy that I bought 6 bags of it when it was at $2.99...but even at $4.99 its a great price! To be very clear, if you are looking to get the same ash production as lump you WILL be disappointed! It produces more ash than lump to be sure of, but, a lot less than the other brand.
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1. On the steaks... (1 95% full Weber chimney) no KF smell during start up which was nice. No sparking and didn't take any longer the the KS to be cook ready. After I dumped it in to the 1TG I raked it in to double thick layer and put the grate on. It was rocket hot...hotter than KF in my opinion all the way during the cook...and stayed VERY hot for the duration of the burn...which was way longer than I needed for 2 steaks. I was happy with that!
2. On the overnight. Used a full (even) ring of Rancher and soread 15 lit ranchers on top to start. Came up to temp in fine order...again no KF smell at all. I smoked 2 8lb butts...everything was assembled and together at 10pm. Held target temp of 260* (dome) all cook give or take a few degrees. Never had a spike overnight and pulled the butts off at 1pm the next day...so a solid 14hr cook...and I am happy to say that I had plenty in reserve...much to my amazement. I would say I could have gotten at least 2+ hrs more before needing to refuel. As far as the ash...it never chocked up during the cook like I have had KF do in the past...no need to stir coals at all. I let it all burn out and there was less ash than a KF cook. It was a noticeable difference to be sure!
Overall, with two cooks under my belt, I am happy that I bought 6 bags of it when it was at $2.99...but even at $4.99 its a great price! To be very clear, if you are looking to get the same ash production as lump you WILL be disappointed! It produces more ash than lump to be sure of, but, a lot less than the other brand.
REACT TO ME!