i do believe Kingsford and Royal Oak are the best briquets. Another option is "real" charcoal, usually mesquite. That stuff burns seriously hot, and the flavor is real nice but is quite a bit more expensive. We use one of the little rectangle Weber Charcoal Grill that the legs fold up over the top for easy stowage and retrieval. We used the Weber Smokey Joe for 20 years. They are a nice little Q, but the set up, take down and stowage features aren't quite as generous as the rectangle one. Seems with a little Q you don't have to worry quite as much about whether the charcoal is of real high grade. Then, I have a Weber Q1000 gas grill for parks that don't have a place to dump hot coals. The grease thing is a pain, but it has a drip pan and I wipe it out pretty well prior to stowing it.