Author Topic: Walmarts Backyard Grill charcoal briquettes: NO!  (Read 8180 times)

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Offline teesquare

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Re: Walmarts Backyard Grill charcoal briquettes: NO!
« Reply #14 on: March 10, 2015, 10:40:10 PM »
Thanks for the info. I do like the Stubbs but Unless its on sale I don't like paying for it. Walmart has decent price on Stubbs though. I'm hoping to grab some on sale this Spring. I'll buy whatever's cheap though. When KBB goes on sale $10 for 40 lbs, well, I'd be stupid not to stock up. I've used so much already this year.

Ahem.... :)
"Cheap" - can be quite expensive...The cost difference between filling the basket in your PBC with a cheap unknown variable charcoal - vs - what you know works is not much for  cook or two. But, it is always a good idea to experiment, and find a product that meets your criteria for price/performance. So, why not try 1 bag - and do a dry run burn of a basket load? You are not risking much money - and no meat....just a little time to take notes AND...I do recommend keeping a journal to note the burn properties of each charcoal you test.
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Offline Pappymn

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Walmarts Backyard Grill charcoal briquettes: NO!
« Reply #15 on: March 10, 2015, 11:02:35 PM »
I'm not touching this one, as I'm a moron
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Offline Tonybel

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Re: Walmarts Backyard Grill charcoal briquettes: NO!
« Reply #16 on: March 11, 2015, 12:17:03 AM »
That's too bad you got a bad bag.

I have used this brand before and it worked great for me. For smoking and grilling.
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Offline Paul Hart

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Re: Walmarts Backyard Grill charcoal briquettes: NO!
« Reply #17 on: March 11, 2015, 01:36:36 AM »
I meant whatever is good that's on sale. Not CHEAP exactly. I wanted to try this stuff because I've heard it was ok and because it's cheap. To its credit, the second half of the basket seemed to do better once I got it lit with the Stubbs. Not sure what the original problem was.
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Offline teesquare

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Re: Walmarts Backyard Grill charcoal briquettes: NO!
« Reply #18 on: March 11, 2015, 09:11:56 AM »
Just thinking about 3 possible reasons for the uneven burn:

1. prevailing wind:  was the intake vent facing the direction of ANY breeze? That could cause the side closer to the vent to catch much faster than the other

2. Uneven lighter fluid distribution: If for any reason your application of lighter fluid favored one side of the basket....it would ignite and possibly raise the heat enough to cause an evaporation of the fluid on the side that did not get as much.

3. size of briquettes: The PBC was designed around using KBB. KBB is available every where, and pretty consistent in performance. ( I am not promoting it as the high performance choice, or any choice. I am merely pointing out that the PBC was designed using it :) ) When you use a larger sized briquette - I wonder what impact that can have on the airflow/temps in the basket? Just a question.....
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Offline Paul Hart

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Re: Walmarts Backyard Grill charcoal briquettes: NO!
« Reply #19 on: March 11, 2015, 09:40:45 AM »
I wondered the same thing about size. Those have an indentation on the briquette itself to allow airflow between them. Like I said, second half worked fine. Maybe needed a little longer to light? The side that lit was evenly to the right side of the intake. Side that didn't was On the left. Both sides had about equal amounts of lit charcoal poured in. The basket was full so it not working its way around from the lit side was also strange. It was almost dead split down the middle.
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Offline muebe

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Re: Walmarts Backyard Grill charcoal briquettes: NO!
« Reply #20 on: March 11, 2015, 09:42:25 AM »
You will not get the same results in your PBC with various types of charcoal. Even Kingsford regular and competition have different temps. Different charcoal will be processed differently and burn differently in the PBC basket. With a regular Weber kettle you can adjust the upper and lower air shutters to compensate for this. Although the PBC has a adjustment on the lower opening this does not do a bunch without upper adjustment. Keep this in mind when changing fuel brands/types.

I like to go with what I know works for me and gives me the same results everytime when using the PBC.

It is possible that bag was subjected to higher humidity or perhaps exposed to rain.

There is already a certain moisture content to charcoal or it would not stay together.

Your lighting procedure might have been the reason.
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Offline smokeasaurus

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Re: Walmarts Backyard Grill charcoal briquettes: NO!
« Reply #21 on: March 11, 2015, 11:39:48 AM »
I'm not touching this one, as I'm a moron

I completely disagree with that comment Pappy  :) :)
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Offline Big Dawg

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Re: Walmarts Backyard Grill charcoal briquettes: NO!
« Reply #22 on: March 11, 2015, 05:27:09 PM »
I'm not touching this one, as I'm a moron

Count me in ! ! !





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Offline drholly

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Re: Walmarts Backyard Grill charcoal briquettes: NO!
« Reply #23 on: March 11, 2015, 06:24:12 PM »
I'm not touching this one, as I'm a moron

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Offline Paul Hart

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Re: Walmarts Backyard Grill charcoal briquettes: NO!
« Reply #24 on: March 13, 2015, 02:15:19 PM »
I'm giving it a second chance. Going to allow a bit longer to light before I close it up. I hope I don't regret this. With the briquettes being larger, I have to adjust the amount going into the chimney. I think 40 will clear the whole basket out. Wish me luck! I shall MAKE it happen!
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