Definitely fine price, unless you're using bags and bags of this, the all time low is maybe $1.50 less per bag, and if you're most people at most you use 3 or 4 bags a summer, that's $5 for much easier to find stock
A while ago some folks got on that Stanley camp cup deal so combine that with the coals you can bake up some nice stuff. This idea also works with larger sized pots as well.
You don't always need a full sized BBQ to bake stuff. Say if the oven is busted and you have a backyard and no BBQ but some stainless plates and such you can make an improvised dutch oven. You can find those stainless plates at Dollarama and also some packages of Bisquick just add water biscuit mix which you can add anything into it be it jerky, cinnamon/nutmeg + raisins/dried fuit, oatmeal etc for a nice biscuit. Very handy knowledge to know and practice from time to time to keep the skills fresh. Good knowledge for general cooking as well as for in emergencies. After you learn the methods you can write down the recipies and the amounts/ingredients you used and with what fuel type and keep that info handy in your home emergency kit or camp/outdoor cook kits.
I don't work for Firebox Stove or get any discounts or kickbacks for mentioning thier stuff but I own both the Firebox 5" G2 and the Firebox Nano and am a happy customer. Those stoves are a -TRUE- folding hinged stove that packs super compact and the G2 was well designed. I mention this because I find often when I'm done with the large chunks of lump charcoal I'm left with a lot of small charcoal chips and tiny pieces. That is perfect for the G2 stove if you have the adjustable grate as you can 100% use up all the charcoal even the tiniest pieces and still have good airflow/heat. Great stove for single folks to a small family. If you love cooking kabobs and burgers and enjoying the outdoors this stove is a gem to have. The mid-sized Dollarama/T&T bamboo skewers work best for grilling. You don't have to use it just for charcoal. You can use wood, any dry combustables, alcohal stoves, and if you have a Trangia canister stove attachment you can use the fuel canisters as well.
You can also use a charcoal basket to keep the lump charcoal from falling through the BBQ. (see attached pic) I have the Coleman one from Canadian Tire and it works well in my Weber Smokey Joe Jumbo (18.5 diameter grill) but I recall it working in my Backyard Grill (14.5" diameter) but only one charcoal basket can fit in that which is ok as you can use one basket to save on fuel (on a large or small grill that is) for indirect heat cooking. You will just need to rotate the items you are cooking for even color and cooking.
Hand Test
Use your hand to feel the heat. Of course, every person has a different sensitivity to heat but this works well for me. Just remove the lid from the dutch oven and place your hand just above or just inside the oven. Count how many seconds you can keep your hand there before it gets too hot. It is about 50 degrees per second counting down from 550, so I just count - "550, and 500, and 450, and 400, and 350, and 300, ...".
Seconds Temperature
1 500+
2 500
3 450
4 400
5 350
6 300
7 250
8 200
This is my preferred method. It is consistent and detects temperature instead of estimating the amount of fuel. You do release heat so you need to do the check as quickly as you can.
Lump charcoal will always be hotter then briquettes. Lump can reach 1400F while briquettes can reach 800F
bigbluehippos wrote: ↑
How does this brand compare to Costco's Cowboy brand charcoal lumps? That one is similarly price at $16.49 for 18 pounds around GTA.
Royal Oak lump has been garbage in my experience (have gone through about 6 20lb bags)... 1/3 of the bag is tiny chips that fall straight through my Weber chimney so you lose that right off the top, and the rest is smallish bits that pack together too tightly and stifle airflow, so it doesn't burn hot.
The Cowboy at Costco is much better than RO, but for $1/lb I like the Vision charcoal at Home Depot. My experience is that premium lump is well worth it, although I'd like to find a good balance at the $1.50/lb range rather than something like Jealous Devil at $2/lb.
Strider wrote: ↑
Royal Oak lump has been garbage in my experience (have gone through about 6 20lb bags)... 1/3 of the bag is tiny chips that fall straight through my Weber chimney so you lose that right off the top, and the rest is smallish bits that pack together too tightly and stifle airflow, so it doesn't burn hot.
The Cowboy at Costco is much better than RO, but for $1/lb I like the Vision charcoal at Home Depot. My experience is that premium lump is well worth it, although I'd like to find a good balance at the $1.50/lb range rather than something like Jealous Devil at $2/lb.
I like the Visions brand from Home Depot as well. It burns clean and long. The pieces are reasonable size. $1/lb is not bad considering the amount used per cook.
Koodo $40/6GB
Public Mobile $40/15GB, $35/20GB, lot less with rewards
Tangerine Bank, EQ Bank, Simplii
