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Update (08/03/13): Cowboy has changed the charcoal that is sold in this packaging. It is no longer the scraps from milling operations such as molding and flooring. Rather it is the more conventional lump made from tree limbs, etc. We are doing a review of the new lump which comes in this bag. However, according to the Cowboy Charcoal website, they now sell the traditional milling scrap as "Cowboy Gold". We have yet to get our hands on some to review, but we are looking.....
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This is an updated version of this review. Since this review was originally done, we have added more tests and because Cowboy is so easy to find around the country, we felt we should update the review and bring up to our current standards.
When we first wrote this review, we had heard a number of people on various forums praise this brand of lump charcoal and we were anxious to open our bag. We were left wondering why it gets such extreme praise. It appears to be a good basic charcoal, but that's about it. Of course, Cowboy has also been vilified on the web with accusations that they use scraps with finish on them. And there's a lot of knee-jerk types of statements to the effect that since the charcoal is made from scraps of wood, it can't be very good. So, let's see what this charcoal is really like.
The charcoal is indeed basically all scrap. We pick through every bag fairly closely and we can honestly say we didn't find a single piece of charcoal that wasn't scrap lumber. It should be noted that the raw material stream for Cowboy is the scrap from milling operations that make molding, flooring, etc. None of their raw materials have any finish applied. This is all unfinished kiln dried hardwoods.
You can see the distribution of sizes from an 8.8 pound bag in the photo down below. This table shows you the weights of each pile. As you can see, you get about half a pound more charcoal than the weight listed on the bag. There are no really large pieces, but most of the small and medium pieces are usable. The chips and dust amount is very low:
| Large |
0.0 pounds |
0.0% |
| Medium |
1.3 pounds |
13.8% |
| Small |
7.6 pounds |
80.9% |
| Chips/Dust |
0.5 pounds |
5.3% |
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| Total |
9.4 pounds |
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It lights about as quickly an any lump we have tried and it has very little smell, so this would be ideal lump for anyone who really only wants heat and no smokey flavor. It lights so quickly due to low density/carbon content, so it will not last as long as some other more dense charcoals like Wicked Good charcoal. In our burn test, it burned a below average length of time. The ash produced, however, is very low.
One aspect of this charcoal that really stands out, though, is the maximum temperature you can attain with it. In our maximum temperature burn test, this charcoal achieved a screaming 1030 degrees, the second highest (missed by 10 degrees) maximum temperature we have measured so far.
Note that you can also find Cowboy charcoal sold under the following brand names: Wild Oats, Williams Sonoma, Martha Stewart (Kmart), Fresh Market, Whole Foods, Genuswine.
UPDATE (September 1, 2007): We continue to find strange things in Cowboy charcoal. If it weren't for concerns about strange items in bags of Cowboy, it might have barely squeaked up into the recommended rating. We have no idea what this is, but here it is for your viewing pleasure:
UPDATE (September 10, 2004): We have received two separate reports that ceramic insulation from the kilns used to make Cowboy charcoal has been found in bags of Cowboy products. The ceramic insulation was found in Whole Foods and Wild Oats charcoal, both of which are made by Cowboy. Both individuals who found the insulation in the charcoal contacted Cowboy and Cowboy indicated that the material is indeed ceramic insulation. The insulation has been described as "cotton fluff" and "like fiberglass insulation". Cowboy told both individuals that the material is harmless. One individual contacted an EPA toxicologist who indicated that this material is "is probably as carcinigenic as asbestos" and should not be allowed to contaminate the product. As always, we want to be sure you understand that we are not qualified to judge the information provided by Cowboy or the EPA toxicologist. However, we strongly encourage anyone using Cowboy or one of the other brands supplied by Cowboy to carefully examine the charcoal when they add it to their cookers. Be on the lookout for foreign objects, especially anything that looks like fiberglass insulation. It may be harmless or not, but it doesn't really cost you anything to be on the lookout and remove it if you should find any.
UPDATE (February 13, 2004): We recently purchased a bag of Cowboy lump for use in our burn time comparison test. We are a bit distressed to say that we found a sheet of plywood in the bag:
We wrote to Cowboy for an explanation and they say that none of their suppliers makes plywood so Cowboy doesn't know how the plywood could get into their supply stream. We continue to receive stories of odd things found in bags of Cowboy lump. This is the first truly bad item we personally have found, but the stories do concern us. At this point, we recommend that you keep an eye on what comes out of the bag before you let it get into your cooker.
UPDATE (June 9, 2003): We have added a photo down below of how Cowboy lump is shipped and displayed at Lowes. Four 10-pound bags to a box. One of the knocks on Cowboy is that kiln-dried lumber when converted to charcoal is more fragile than wood in its natural state. At least if you buy it at Lowes, the bags should be protected somewhat by the box. You can also find Cowboy lump in 20 pound bags at Ace Hardware. We asked our friendly Ace Hardware man how they came, and he said that they arrive at the stores on pallets. So, no boxing for the 20 pound bags.
UPDATE (June 7, 2003): For those of you interested in these things, the June, 2003 issue of Gourmet magazine indicates that Cowboy produces the lump sold as Martha Stewart, Whole Foods and Williams Sonoma. And of course, we already knew that Genuswine Lump is also Cowboy.
UPDATE (August 20, 2002): We have surmised in a number of places that Cowboy lump, being made from kiln dried scrap, would have less smokiness to it than other lumps made from raw wood. The other night we cooked some chicken breasts over some fresh Cowboy. Sure enough, we could taste almost no smoke flavor in the chicken, and we all know how poultry can suck up the smoke. So, this lump may be a good choice for those who don't want the smoke flavor in their food.
If you can find this lump for a more reasonable price than we did (20-pound bags are cheaper and Ace Hardware is always more expensive than other places. We have heard of people finding 20-pound bags for $8.), it is a good basic charcoal. We'd also like to point out that Cowboy Charcoal is preventing a lot of this scrap from ending up in landfills. Also, according to the June, 2003 issue of Gourmet magazine, Cowboy Charcoal is made in a more environmentally-friendly way than many charcoals. The gases that are driven off of one retort are burned to heat the next retort rather than being released into the air. So, we give it our above average rating:
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