Twin 15LB Briquets

Not a good overall charcoal...anymore.:
I used to be a Kingsford guy. It used to be that you could run to any supermarket and buy a 20lb bag of Kingsford for a reasonable price and get good quality burn everytime. Well, as you may have noticed, Kingsford has changed the structure of their charcoal. Now it has "sure fire" groves cut into each briquette. Yes this charcoal burns hotter, but it definitely doesn't burn longer, especially for long smokes. I used to get 5-6 hours of burn-time when using a high quality smoker. With the new design i'm lucky to get 2-3 hours of even heat. Kingsford decided to cut "sure fire" groves into each briquette. These are groves that are quite deep and they say that you get higher grilling temperatures. While this may be true (because more airflow travels through the briquette instead of around it) it certainly doesn't work well for those of us that smoke for long periods of time. Bye-bye to the old Kingsford that we've come to know and love. It is virtually impossible now-a-days to find the old, better quality Kingsford. They don't offer their classic briquettes anymore, every bag (including the Match-Light bags) now have these groves cut into them. Like I said, this may work good enough for steak and other quick meals, but not for the smokers. I have now moved on to Duraflame. I find this charcoal to be a very good all-around charcoal. You can sear steaks with it and you can also do nice long smokes with it as well. I truly believe that the "sure fire" groves are a marketing ploy aimed at weekend grillers. I believe that Kingsford is now cutting corners in order to gain even more profit while offering a much lower quality briquette. First they decided to stamp each briquette with a letter "K". This lightens up the charcoal a bit, but now with the "sure fire" groves they have found a way to really lower the cost of production while offering a lower quality product to your average backyard griller. You get less charcoal per bag now. They have cut the weight in the product substantially, but you don't get the same amount of charcoal. Kingsford says that you still get the same number of briquettes per bag, but with the new "sure fire" groves the charcoal weighs less so you get less lbs of charcoal per bag. It's truly sad to see Kingsford fall into that category where business becomes greed, despite having cornered the market already. This is all my opinion, but after using the new charcoal I feel that it's the truth. Even though I now dislike Kingsford I still couldn't give it a 1/5. The briquettes are still good enough for your typical meal, but as an all-around charcoal it's terrible. I strongly urge you to start buying another brand of charcoal. Royal Oak and Duraflame are both great quality charcoals. If you're tight on your budget then Sams Club charcoal (purchased at Sams Club and Wal-Mart) offer decent burns for the price. I now advocate Duraflame as they offer good quality charcoal for a good price.

Kingsford Isn't the Same:
Wow, the previous reviewer really summed it up well...I'm a low and slow smoking fan and I agree with everything that was mentioned...in the name of "better" Kingsford has essentially lowered the quality of their product, put less in the bag, and is getting a larger margin of "profit"...well, not from me anymore...I seek out and now use Duraflame for all my cooks...grilling or low and slow in a smoker.

I don't use Kingsford anymore.:
I agree that Kingsford is not what it used to be. You used to be able to get a lot of classic Kingsford at the CostCo for not much money. I use the term "classic" advisedly, much as one might say there is a "classic" Spam; I understand old Kingsford had a lot of coal in it, but we liked it anyway. Now you get much less for the money, I will not reward that behavior with a purchase. Seems like there is a higher percentage of wood in the current version, but it is softwood. I do not regard that as an improvement over coal. I think I do detect a sort of chemical smell when the lid is on the grill. And old Kingsford was already more than hot enough to burn your food. I see large piles of this stuff lingering in the local WalMarts. Royal Oak appears to be (deservedly) popular. Hopefully there will be continuing public resistance and Kingsford will change its ways. If not, oh well, can't be #1 (or even in business) forever, I guess. And Classic Coke doesn't taste like real Coke either.

Still the best:
Kingsford has been making the briquette for many years, they know what they are doing. I have had NO problem with the new product, consistant size and performance every time. I did notice the new product is a little hotter but if you are a true griller and bbq guy, the "slight" change in your routine is all you need. The best product for your Weber or any charcoal grill and taste! Leave the lump for the Prius driving bunch!