Hopefully we will get a selection of other brands soon, but for now all we have here in Aus is the blue & white original as Kingsford has just hit the country.
Once you start talking fuel you are really talking voodoo magic - everyone has his own version that he prefers....
In my experience the good ole blue bag kingsford has the most repeatable and consistent output and burning behavior of anything on the market. If you are doing research on different smoker designs and you don't want the fuel to mess with your results then that's the one to go with.
I have never tasted the binder in any brand of briquette - it's borax and essentially inert. I know that part of what you are paying for is left in the ash pan but I figure it's a small price to pay for a reliable product with no surprises. jmtcw ...
And on the eighth day God created barbecue …. because he DOES love us and he wants us to be happy.
Current smokers: Egor (trailered RF) and Easybake (tabletop pellet drive)
I have used Kingsford with wood chunks and Lump with and without wood chunks. The feed back that I get is that the Royal Oak lump is much more flavorful without being too much. I do prefer to use the Lump for sure. I do however back load the lump with Kingsofrd as it does burn for longer. I do this when I am doing long smokes and am going to wrap whatever I am smoking. Kingsford us much cheaper so it is good for just supplying the heat to cook with.
I have to agree as well, the other Qplaces I've been to just don't seem to get it when I was watching their smokers, too much puffy white smoke bellowing out of their stack.
AZ, that is a great idea using lump for the initial smoke and finishing with Kingsford for the heat after the wrap. I have not used charcoal or lump much. I did when I first started but went to pellets and learned my cooking on pellets. Now that I built my GF, I am going back to Kingsford and lump. This weekend will be the first cook and the wife wants me to do a small rib roast and then a bunch of chicken quarters that we will eat and give some away to friends as taste testers.
Looks at a piece of meat and wonders how many ways can I smoke that.