But They Wanted a King

  Israel had an interesting form of government. There was no king, at least not a physical one. There was God, and He was always right, things in Israel went great when God was listened to. Things in Israel went poorly when God was not listened to. There were prophets, they helped discern the voice of God. One of them was good, his name was Samuel, but alas, his sons were not good, they were corrupt, they took bribes, had special interests, sound familiar? God could have spoke to his people, a solution could have been found, but they wanted a king. So a king they got. Things were never quite the same. Now the well being, even the very existence of Israel seemed to depend on how well the king listened to God, where then was the choice of the people in this? See:1 Samuel 8-to the end of Old Testament for details.

 God had a plan, God always has a plan, and He's always right. He decided to make a physical appearance, in His son. A creature 100% human and 100% God. Jesus came, was the ultimate sacrifice for all, and brought forth His bride, the church. After God physically left, He came in form of the Holy Spirit, indwelling in all who believed. Leading, guiding and spreading light. Fast forward, a lot has changed, because the church met a world government, and they liked each other. A new nation, America. The church is in America. The people have Christ within, the ability to learn, grow, shine light, sharpen each other and not repeat the mistakes of Europe. However, we wanted a king. Enter the era of mega churches, administrative style church leadership, pastors worth millions, overpaid, or over worked, sometimes both at the same time, counselors within and without, picking up pieces, praying with people. A passive audience, spectating and realizing deep within that this isn't as interesting as football (insert your favorite sport here) and wondering, isn't there more than this? There is more, there is an indwelling power in all believers but we wanted a King so our leaders "get to do it all". 

  The United States of America is in trouble, people are worried, it looks like the disunited states of somewhere in North America. Things were worse in the past, but we didn't live through that. The church has the indwelling life, but the people are not united either. Some say that socialism is from hell. Others say socialism is how you are best able to be your brother's keeper. The indwelling life is still there, and all people who believe and have it, could turn to God, the answer could be revealed in the shower of light, but a candidate says he will "make America great again", and we wanted a King. Later when this candidate shows several character flaws that further drives his political opposition wherever they went, they have an opportunity to not respond in kind, to not be driven by him. They have access to that indwelling life, some of them already have it. They could lead, and consult God. However another candidate, a soft spoken old man promises to "bring decency back to the White house" and we wanted a king. 

A lot of this is just my opinion, and I never directly mentioned voting until just now. I don't care if you vote or not, I don't really care to much who you vote for. Also, it doesn't really matter that much what I think, but if you did vote, I bet God is really interested in the why. 

-Loren

Charcoal Test Kroger Revisited (Part 7)

 The Kroger test was run on a warm afternoon and the ash pan picture was not taken at the right time, the charcoal hadn't had time to burn out completely. So I decided to retest under similar conditions to Royal Oak Natural. This lead to refining my conclusions a little as well. Ash pan the morning after:

35 minutes to reach 200 degrees.

Peak temperature 354 degree.

200 to 200 degrees burn time 151 degrees.

Updated conclusions: 

Firstly, the Kroger got hotter this time than it did when it was warm, this speaks well of my Assassin grill's build and insulation. Secondly, the discrepancies between the 2 Kroger burns shines a light on the simple fact that in a outdoor grilling environment the discrepancies in the shape of the charcoal mound, how the lighter gets on with it's job, and other factors make more difference than the charcoal itself. If we were to conclude that all the briquets performed equally that would give the win to Royal, because in this area all are sold at approximately 50 cents per lb, and the Royal is 77% as dense as Kroger, and 91% as dense as Kingsford. So, it burned equally hot with less weight since the test was done by volume. (More literal bang for your literal buck.) Ultimately, the main reason to select a given briquet over another is preference, and I prefer Royal because of how close to natural lump it is. The other 2 have various different proprietary ingredients. On a side note, Charblox burned as advertised but didn't get hot enough to justify the cost. If they revisit their pricing to be competitive with briquets, I would probably keep them on hand for long cooks.

Charcoal Test Wrap Up (Part 6)

  As you scan through the blog, you notice 4 different charcoal tests, I originally set out to do do 3, but a friend kindly donated a bag of Kingsford Blue Bag, ie "Original".  So, I tested 3 different types of briquets and what I consider to be the markets best lump, each was measured by volume, because volume is how you grill. Very few people have a scales by their grill where they measure out 5 lbs and cook. Almost everyone fills their tray to a point, or their chimney etc. So I measured it out with a chimney. Measuring by volume gave Rockwood a chance to justify it's cost, it failed, more on this below. When I weighed the charcoal with the same bucket, the Kroger weighed 13lbs, Kingsford 11 lbs, Royal 10 lbs, and Rockwood 6 lbs.

  Of the three briquets, the Royal Oak Natural is my favorite as of this writing, it has the fewest ingredients, and it's test was done under the harshest conditions. The other 2 briquets performed as well, and burned longer, but in warmer conditions. The other briquets have many different ingredients that are proprietary and secret. Kingsford claims to be all natural and burned nearly as hot as Royal, so it would get the nod over Kroger for me. 

  Lastly, we come to the Rockwood, I wanted it to be the best. I love how fast it came to temperature (and it's test conditions were as harsh as Royal). and how little ash it left behind, I like how the smoke was clean through the entire 200-200 burn. However, it costs 44% more than the Royal by volume and burned for less time at lower temperature than any of the briquets. Of course it would probably win the burn contests time and temperature both if the tests were done by weight, but it costs over twice as much by weight as the Royal. I think for me, the answer is Royal with wood chunks for flavor, then failing to find that, either Kingsford blue bag or another brand with the same ingredients as Royal. 

 Edited on 10/25/21 I tested the 2 extruded hardwood brands: Charblox and Prime 6. I found that they were over priced. You are paying for the density of the charcoal. If you have a grill with limited space, and want to pack more weight in per cook, this is beneficial, but for the rest of us, I would not buy it until the price per lb. drops in line. I am using Fogo lump right now, it burns like Rockwood. Scientifically speaking, lump burns better per lb than any briquet and leaves less ash. Downsides are cost and lack of density. Lack of density is not a problem if your grill has the room. Burn lump if you can find a good one at the right price for your budget with no junk in it and if it's been thoroughly carbonized. If your concerned about cost, a natural briquet seems to be the best value play. 

 If you clicked on this from the science tab and want to learn more about how I reached these conclusions, in detail, click on 2020 and November in the archives section. There you will see all the other parts to this test. 

Kingsford Blue Bag (Part 5)

 Ash pan the next morning:

Preheat to 200 degrees: 41 minutes

Peak temperature: 351 degrees

200 degrees back to 200 degrees time: 152 minutes

Smoke was bitter during startup, it got clean but maybe slightly more bitter than Royal Oak Natural, would call this a draw.

Any ties having to do with temperature should fall the way of Royal Oak Natural, ambient air temperature was aprox 20 degrees colder when the Royal Oak was tested. 

About the test: http://lonny90.blogspot.com/2020/11/charcoal-testing-setup-and-ground-rules.html

Kroger Charcoal Briquets Test (Part 4)

 This test was done at a time of 20 degrees warmer temperatures than the others, I am not quite sure how to account for that. Also the ash pan picture was taken almost immediately after the test due to time constraints. I shook the charcoal grate to get it all down and get an accurate representation. Ash pan picture:

Preheat time to 200 degrees: 44 minutes

Smoke was bitter, but cleaned up in second half, much like Royal Oak Natural.

Peak temperature reached: 342 degrees. 

Time from 200 degrees back down to 200 degrees: 190 minutes. 

About the test: http://lonny90.blogspot.com/2020/11/charcoal-testing-setup-and-ground-rules.html

Royal Oak All Natural Hardwood Charcoal Briquets Test (Part 3)

 Ash pan the next morning:

Preheat time to 200 degrees: 38 minutes.

Peak temperature reached: 354 degrees.

Time from 200 degrees back down to 200 degrees: 133 minutes. 

The smoke was clean for a briquet, but still bitter, only after the peak temperature was reached did the smoke clean up to about the same cleanliness as the Rockwood did. 

About the test: http://lonny90.blogspot.com/2020/11/charcoal-testing-setup-and-ground-rules.html

Rockwood Charcoal Test (Part 2)

 Ash pan the next Morning:

Preheat time to 200 degrees: 26 minutes

Peak temperature reached: 316 degrees

Smoke was ultra clean, only smell was grease from the grill, could have baked bread. This is my preference because it allows me to add more smoke with the wood of my choice. 

Time from 200 degrees back down to 200 degrees: 110 minutes.

About the test: http://lonny90.blogspot.com/2020/11/charcoal-testing-setup-and-ground-rules.html