Burn Time:
Ash Production:

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Commentary

First, let us point out that this review pertains to the Royal Oak lump charcoal which is made from American hardwoods. There are at least 3 other types of Roayl Oal lump charcoal which come from Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. The bags all look remarkably similar, but if you look closely you will find the county of origin listed on the bag. It contained a nice variety of sizes with no scrap or funny stuff. We found some lumber mill scrap (i.e., the sides of logs that had been cut off, known as "slabs" in the lumber mill industry) but not too much bark. It has a mild pleasant wood smoke smell. Below you will see the outstanding distribution of sizes we found in a bag we bought at Wal*Mart. This should dispel the myth that it is the fault of the jack-booted minimum-wage workers at Wal*Mart who stomp the lump into tiny pieces. We are convinced that the size distribution is based primarily on the size distribution being put into the bags at the factory. The amount of chips and dust in this bag was a new record for least amount of chips and dust in a bag of lump charcoal. Large 3.0 pounds 28.2% Medium 4.8 pounds 45.1% Small 2.7 pounds 25.3% Chips/Dust 0.2 pounds 1.4% Total 10.7 pounds The charcoal is easy to light, taking a lower-than-average 2.5 sheets of newspaper to get started in our chimney starter test. The charcoal burns for a long time with a low amount of ash production. It is widely available and is reasonably priced. All in all a very nice product and it gets our Highly Recommended rating. To the left is the rating that our readers have given this charcoal. Now that you have read our review, if you have used this charcoal and would like to rate it and leave your comments, Click Here To view reader ratings of all brands, Click Here.

Other Information

Other brands made by Royal Oak: Chuckwagon, Grill Time, Big Green Egg, Real Flavor (Wal*Mart), Wegmans, Best Choice, and Nature-Glo.

Unusual or Unique Statements

None.

Statements From The Bag

"No chemicals added", "Quick starting", "Hotter fire", "100% Natural Wood"

"All Natural Charcoal

Royal Oak 100% Natural Wood Charcoal is changing the flavor of the backyard barbecue. 100% Natural Wood Charcoal is real charcoal. This naturally shaped charcoal lights quicker and burns faster and hotter than regular charcoal briquettes. There are no fillers added. In fact, this is the charcoal our ancestors used."

"What is 100% Natural Wood Charcoal?

	100% Natural Wood Charcoal	Charcoal Briquettes
Appearance	Looks like wood burned after a campfire. No two are alike.	Pressed pillows of charcoal. Uniform in shape.
Content	Only 100% wood is used. Made from oak, hickory, maple and other hardwoods.	A blend of woods and fillers. Only 100% wood if stated on bag.
Heat Value	Cooks hotter than regular briquettes. Great for searing in food flavor.	Lasts longer for extended cooking.
Time	Takes 15 minutes to get to cooking temperature.	Takes about 30 minutes.

"Guaranteed Satisfaction

'I personally stand behind our product and offer you my guarantee of satisfaction.' J.P. Keeter, Owner"

"For over 60 years Royal Oak has been proud to provide you with premium quality natural wood charcoal. We at Royal Oak stand behind our product and offer our guarantee of satisfaction. We want your barbecue to be successful and if you have any comments or questions please write to us at One Royal Oak Avenue, Roswell, GA 30076."

Lighting Instructions

"For best results, start your fire 15 mintues before cooking."

"1. Ligher Fluid Method. Arrange Royal Oak Natural Wood Charcoal in a pile. Sprinkle with Royal Oak Lighter Fluid.
2. Wait one minute for the fluid to soak in. Light the pile in several places.
3. Wait 10-15 minutes or until nautral wood is ashed over. Spread charcoal before barbecuing."

"1. Optional Light Method. Open air vents on grill. Tightly crumble or twist 3-4 newspaper sheets and place on bottom of grill below bottom grate.
2. Place natural wood charcoal on top of grate. Leave at least 1 to 2 inches of air space between paper and charcoal.
3. Ignite paper. When coals are ashed over, begin cooking (10 to 15 minutes)l Add more Royal Oak 100% Natural Wood Charcoal as needed."

"Do not pour lighter fluid on burning wood charcoal. Never use gasoline to light fire. For best results, store this bag in a dry place."

Photos Of Contents

This is the contents of the bag. Those are 1 inch squares on the measuring bar.

Here is a closer view.

Here are the contents of the bag sorted into large, medium, small, and chips and dust.

Here are the larger pieces we found in the bag.

Other Photos

None.

Photo of UPC Code

Here is a photo of the UPC code on the bag:

Contact Information

Royal Oak Enterprises, Inc.
One Royal Oak Avenue,
Roswell, Georgia   30076

Listed on the bag, but we don't think it works:
www.royal-oak.com

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About This Review If you are unfamiliar with our testing procedures, you may wish to read How We Review Lump Charcoal before reading this review. Also, you can read How We Score Lump Charcoal to learn about our scoring system. The conclusions and final rating given any charcoal are based upon the opinion of the author. We recommend that you use our rating only as a guide. You should read the entire review and decide what is important to you in making any buying decision. Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying glass icon at the bottom right corner. Click on the icon to display the image in a new larger window. If you wish to ensure that you are seeing photographs the same way that we are seeing them, we recommend that you calibrate your monitor to a PC-normal gamma of 2.2. You should be able to see the difference between blocks A, B and C below, as well as the difference between blocks 3, 4 and 5. This review is protected by Copyright and may not be reproduced in part or as a whole in any electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author. You can use the "Email The Whiz" link at the bottom of any of our webpages to contact us about using material from this review.

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