635984 Sun Jul 12 12:35:20 -0700 2009 23 12 Boston Area 0 4851451 Brookline Ice has the Natures Own Hardwood Lump Charcoal along with the Cowboy. The Natures own was 20# for $13.00. It is like one stop shopping, propaine, ice, and anything else you ned to BBQ. Sun Jul 12 12:35:20 -0700 2009 23897 crimsonca 1 4851816 That's pretty sweet, in previous years they only had cowboy and some royal oak briquettes (really bad quality). Sun Jul 12 15:48:15 -0700 2009 4851451 10607 Luther 2 4853134 They seemed pretty easy to light , burned clean and carmilized nicley. Mon Jul 13 06:47:07 -0700 2009 4851816 23897 crimsonca 3 4853194 How do you BBQ with ice, Ive never tried it. Seriously though, I tried the Royal Oak recently and found it quite good, much better than Cowboy. Got it at Market Basket. I think my local WF (Bedford) was carrying something other than Cowboy recently as well, could be Nature's Own? Mon Jul 13 07:02:50 -0700 2009 4853134 196033 justbeingpolite 4 4853327 I know there's at least three different kinds of Royal Oak, produced in different countries. Also, my comment was about the briquettes, I can't make any comment on the Royal Oak hardwood they sell at BI&C. Mon Jul 13 07:43:49 -0700 2009 4853194 10607 Luther 5 4853829 I've used both the royal oak and the cowboy kind, and don't really see a discernable difference. The cowboy might cook down with less ash, but can't say for certain. Mon Jul 13 09:56:46 -0700 2009 4853327 123153 devilham 6 4854128 The problem with Cowboy is that you get too many small and thin pieces that burn too fast. Mon Jul 13 11:25:51 -0700 2009 4853829 29052 El Guapo 2 4856354 Their brands change frequently. They used to carry Maple Leaf , which is a far better lump than these other brands, but is no longer imported from Canada. Tue Jul 14 04:27:37 -0700 2009 4851816 22725 AHan 1 4854108 BBQ Barn in Arlington is a good resource. http://bbqbarn.com/ I forget what brand of lump I got there last, but it was high quality. Mon Jul 13 11:20:17 -0700 2009 4851451 11093 Bob MacAdoo 1 4854273 Just as a couple of points of reference (I happen to just have been researching the care and feeding of my new Big Green Egg): The Alewife Whole Foods stocks a couple of different varieties of hardwood lump, including 20lb bags of Wicked Good Weekend Warrior (lump, not briquettes.) for $19. Russo's in Watertown is reportedly also a dealer of Nature's Own, don't know the price. Mon Jul 13 12:04:19 -0700 2009 4851451 11116 Ruprecht 2 4854552 Hey Ruprecht, When did you get the Egg? What size? Have you had a chance to use it yet. Last I heard you had the big Weber with the attached table and gas lighter. Guapo Mon Jul 13 13:20:21 -0700 2009 4854273 29052 El Guapo 3 4856357 Hey EG, I got a BGE on the internet three years ago. I got the "large" which is a great size for my situation. We do everything from Thanksgiving turkey (about 22 lbs. max) to ribs and pork shoulder brisket to basic grilling. In addition to BBQ Barn, I've bought wood and lump online at various sites. Tue Jul 14 04:30:02 -0700 2009 4854552 11093 Bob MacAdoo 4 4857149 Ditto on the large. So where's a good local source for 8-10lb briskets for smoking? I doubt many supermarket meat departments have that size with the fat cap still on. Tue Jul 14 08:46:01 -0700 2009 4856357 11116 Ruprecht 2 4855961 Russo's does finally have Nature's Own again. (It was MIA until a week or so ago.) It is $9.50 for an 8.8 pound bag. I thought I would never see the day that Whole Foods had a better deal on anything than Russo's, but the Wicked Good charcoal at WF is a better deal than the NO charcoal at Russo's. Who'da thought? By the way, if memory serves, the last time I bought NO charcoal at Russo's the price was a lot lower. Strange. Mon Jul 13 21:02:10 -0700 2009 4854273 177209 PinchOfSalt 2 4856307 Wicked Good is probably the best lump I have ever used. It has really big pieces and burns very long with minimal ash. Tue Jul 14 03:24:03 -0700 2009 4854273 22275 janzy 1 4856314 I just picked up and 8.8# bag of Royal Oak for $4.99 at the Burlington Market Basket. Trader Joe's used to sell Cowboy, which was fine in a pinch, but beware...they are selling briquets now. I was careless and learned the hard way. Tue Jul 14 03:37:04 -0700 2009 4851451 77061 bear 2 4857246 a little off topic but does anyone have any tips on where to find reasonably priced, quality meat (especially beef brisket and ribs) to smoke? preferably in the metrowest area? Tue Jul 14 09:08:45 -0700 2009 4856314 142311 allwirka 3 4863238 Costco is best for ribs (babybacks and spares) and brisket (flat). I get full briskets (flat + point) at Restaurant Depot in Needham. Low prices so both stores do big volume -- turnover and freshness are excellent. Anybody have additional recommendations? Thu Jul 16 04:33:11 -0700 2009 4857246 118575 spicyivan 4 4863283 Don't you need a card or be in the trade to get into Restaurant Depot? Thu Jul 16 05:08:56 -0700 2009 4863238 22275 janzy 4 4863891 For MetroWest the only other thing I would mention that Brazilian butchers can sometimes be a good source for full racks of Beef ribs. They usually cut them flanken style to sell. So many have popped up in Framingham, Hudson, Shrewsbury, and Worcester, I am not certain which one to point you to... but would probably try Fresh Beef Market or Casa de Carnes in Framingham, or Casa de Carnes Solucao in Worcester (this is the one I am most familiar with). Market Basket in Ashland is probably a decent place to get racks of ribs (they usually cut them in half, so flag down a butcher if you need a whole rack). There are some in-town options which are pretty easy from the pike. Lord Jeff's at Newmarket is excellent for pork ribs (and oxtail), I know some hound wasn't happy with brisket from there but I have done ok. Smoked hocks, turkey wings and all sorts of things for collards, in general good for southern sides. Puritan Beef at Haymarket validates parking (and you get a gift card if spending more than $50). They always have pork ribs and butts out, but have a lot more in the walkin (including cuts I can't get from Lord Jeff's)... in fact the meat out of the walkin tends to be fresher. I wouldn't come from Metrowest, but Johnnie's and Market Basket often have decent sales on ribs and almost always have them in stock. Their prices are often less than the unit (sometimes even the case) price at RD, but don't know about Cosco. McKinnon's is usually good for pork butts, with varying prices, and they often have baby backs although sometimes only seasoned (?). McKinnon's can order brisket with the cap on, but you have to give them 24 hours usually. I don't know anybody which sells cuts with the cap on. For Restaurant Depot you need to sign up as a business, which doesn't have to be a restaurant or borrow a card from someone. The are other ways to slip in, although they are checking a bit more closely when someone gives a restaurant name and doesn't have a card. In any case they just started carrying Calabro (cheese) products which are worth checking out, they have huge blocks of Queso para Frier which are easy to grill on skewers... and have a lot of the Leidy's products which I like (I wish the kielbasa wasn't quite as smokey, but in metrowest there are other options for that). Thu Jul 16 08:32:42 -0700 2009 4863238 12962 itaunas 5 4864033 And speaking of Johnnie's they have full racks of spare-ribs for $.99/lb next Tues, Wed, Thurs. Thu Jul 16 09:06:33 -0700 2009 4863891 12962 itaunas 6 4864062 Awesome. Do you know if they are St. Louis style? Thu Jul 16 09:13:55 -0700 2009 4864033 77061 bear 7 4864080 Untrimmed. They do sell St Louis style ribs, but I believe only seasoned/cooked. Usually they are fairly accomodating about cutting meat, even sale meat, so you might be able to get them to do the work for you paying the full untrimmed rack. Update: looks like they probably have St Louis style ribs for $2.79/lb. Thu Jul 16 09:18:56 -0700 2009 4864062 12962 itaunas 8 4864088 Thanks so much. I'll definitely head on over. I don't mind trimming myself, although the results usually aren't too pretty. Thu Jul 16 09:22:12 -0700 2009 4864080 77061 bear