Bought a bag of FOGO to try something new instead of my tried and true Royal Oak. It’s been awful. Bag full of tiny pieces that suffocate the egg, big pieces don’t ignite. Need three starters to get it going. Uneven burn. Massive amount of fireworks. Anyone else have an awful experience with this brand?
by drivingrain27
28 Comments
Never had that problem. Fogo is the best charcoal that I have used.
You just described every experience I’ve had with Royal Oak.
I use Fogo now after having tried almost all the other big names and have so for over two years without major issue. Are you using the black bag or tan one? When I bought the black bag, which is smaller pieces, the bottom did have quite a bit but I didn’t have any issues with it burning. I switched back to the large chunks in the tan bag.
Fogo used to be great but the last six months, forget it. The spitting and poor burn turned me off of it. I’m referring to the black bag stuff. The gold bag stuff I still use for long cooks w/o any issue (bigger pieces). I’m still hunting for something else. Jealous Devil was a disappointment.
fogo is a top tier brand with only two or three others comparable.
I think they did have a quality control issue with one batch because about 3 months ago I got one bag that was like you described, but the 5 or 6 since then have been perfect.
email the company and they’ll probably send you a free bag or two.
I didn’t like it either. I remember not liking the taste and the way it cooked. I used both the black and the tan bag. They were the same.
Regardless, brand of coal and type of coal cooks differently so there is an adjustment to it all.
It seems like all brands have declined in the past few months I’m getting this a lot.
jealous devil is my favorite so far … fogo black bag is eh…
No. Have not had that issue at all.
Fogo is the Cadillac of lump charcoal. It’s possible you got a bag that was mishandled. Royal Oak is trash – literally – I’ve found partially carbonized 2x4s in bags of that stuff.
Must’ve been a really bad bag of Fogo if you’re comparing it to Royal
Fogo black was good but occasionally not great. Fogo gold has been amazing. No issues.
I literally had this exact same issue this weekend. I bought the tan bag. I did a long smoke on Saturday without much issue. Sunday I went to grill chicken and I experienced the same issues you referenced. It took way too much effort to get it going and then when I grilled I had fireworks everywhere (cooked at around 400°)
The last bag of FOGO I bought was pretty much garbage. Nothing but shake. Based on what I’m seeing here, I think I’ll contact them, see if they’ll replace it.
I recently avoided FOGO because I feel like I saw a lot of similar posts the past few months. Maybe they went through an issue, afaik they’ve had a solid reputation.
But what I picked up was kamodo Jo and it’s been great so far
I have never had a problem with it. I actually just bought a bag of B&B yesterday because I did not want to drive to Ace Hardware. It made me realize that the drive would have been worth it
I use the FOGO gold bag or jealous devil if I can’t get to Ace Hardware. Yesterday I had to pick up some B&B but I will be picking up some more FOGO today and the B&B will be stored away u til the next grill emergency
YES! Huge FOGO guy here, and over the summer had a bag full of tiny pieces. Awful experience. I shake and feel the bags now just to make sure.
I stopped buying the FOGO black bag after a foul odor once. I had the fireworks issue on a bag of Green BGE lump on two bags.
I pretty much use Jealous Devil Chunx at this point
I’ve used it more than most and don’t recall having this issue.
Idk if anyone else has had this experience, but I’ve gone through probably 10 FOGO bags and in my experience some of the ones I pick up from Ace are beat to shit with much smaller pieces. The ones shipped to my house directly from FOGO were much better.
BB is my go to. Every time I try something else I am annoyed with myself
Maybe I’m the crazy one, but I’ve never had an issue with Royal Oak.
I use FOGO regularly – did have one bag a year or two back that I could not get to light – I think it may have had some dampness issues when I bought it.
Weird in my experience it’s been great on all fronts. The only thing that’s a bit awkward is that it’s hard to light the premium bag but that’s about it.
Sorry for your experience, but that sounds like my royal oak experiences lately.
Jealous devil or big green egg Brand only. Fogle has a really weird offputting taste to me.
What do people think of the BGE lump? I only have used this and felt like it was good