I use both. I like the K for the WSM so I can sleep on long cooks, but love the flavor and heat from lump in the kettle. The only lump I can easily get is the RO from WM.

Chris:

All of your tutorials, I believe, use briquettes.....'nuff said, brixitizz.....

I use RO lump or Cowboy lump. That's all you can get around here. Aside from some kingsford. Never found K lump. I haven't tried the competition K yet.

All summer, I've been going back and forth between Grove lump and Competition K. All in, I give the slight edge to the lump due to flavor. The Competition is a bit more expensive, but it does burn a long time at a very consistent temperature.

Been using lump for a few years and I love it. Different brand burn in different ways so you have to learn what is best for you. I use Weekend Warrior now but had great results with the BGE brand.

I use both. I've gotten used to Royal Oak lump for minion and love it for all my smokes. I mostly buy Blue K on sale and use it for grilling on the OTG. It's all good. Use what works for you.

I use both RO and CompK. I'll never buy BlueK again.

I like the CompK as it allows me to really fine tune temperatures like when I'm cooking my competition yardbird on the OTG. But, I truly don't like the bad smell & tons of smoke when firing and the loads of ash.

I actually prefer the RO in the WSM as it produces a much cleaner heat and allows the apple/maple/hickory/etc. to do it's magic. My only complaint is burn time. I normally have to add a bit of RO right at the end of a long cook to finish.

Russ

quote:

But, I truly don't like the bad smell & tons of smoke when firing and the loads of ash.

Russ I haven't used Comp K (I only use lump). Is the Comp K what you're talking about?

I use Blue K 99% of the time. You can`t beat the price and the consistancy. I can just about count out briquettes to gauge temp and time. I can`t do that with lump. Lump is king for grilling at high temps(steaks and such) but I still find myself using the blue K more often, maybe because of the lack of lump availability in my area. RO lump is not at my WM. Thats probably a good thing, "I hate WM" no offence to anyone.
I am going to make an effort to try some other brands of lump (if I can find them). The Cowboy stuff I got was O.K. I guess. For the price I was expecting a little more.

I found some BGE brand lump at my local Ace Hardwear. I never tried the stuff. They wanted 24 Bucks for 20lb bag. Is that price sound normal? if it is, "not on my budget"
I`ll just chip away at the 200lbs of blue K I picked up at HD a few weeks ago, when it was on sale.

After several experiments with everything available in the Atlanta area, I love Trader Joe's hardwood charcoal for smoking and Wicked Good weekend Blend for grilling. Everyone try this if you haven't yet.

Im on the bandwaggon with Kingsford Briquetes in the WSMs and RO lump inthe grill for steaks and burgers and such. but i cant say anything about the wicked good weekend blend, its just hard to find here.

I've been using briqs, but I'm just starting out. I'll try lump one of these days.

The selection of charcoal in Niagara Falls Ontario is limited to say the least. I only use Royal Oak Lump or Kingsford Charwood, whichever is cheaper. RO is always $6.89 for 9lbs and Charwood is $5.99 for 9lbs when on sale. The one store that sells K briqs is $15 for 18lbs, too expensive IMO. Never had a problem controlling the heat in long cooks. I guess everyone is a gasser in this neck of the woods.

I use Basque sugar maple lump, Rancher briqs, Wicked Good briq, and Stubbs briq.

What difference does it make. I can't even find my grill under all this snow.

Last weekend I picked up a bag of Royal Oak lump, my first time trying other than K or Trader Joe's briqs.
I loaded the ring and shook it down a few times, trying to make sure I got it in fairly solid.
I have to say, I was impressed by how stable the temps were. It held at between 255 and 270 for five hours. It was a rib cook, and when I took the lid off to foil, it jumped, but I had it back down in range within minutes.
At the price of the lump, I'm not going to forego briqs, but it helped deliver my best ribs yet, so I'm officially a fan.

I think the briquetts impart an odd flavor to the meat. I say this, but readily admit, if I wasn't cooking the meet, I might not pick up on the "odd flavor".
Once it's in your head it's hard to get out.

quote:

Originally posted by Dave/G:
What difference does it make. I can't even find my grill under all this snow.

lol

quote:

Originally posted by Curt:
Last weekend I picked up a bag of Royal Oak lump, my first time trying other than K or Trader Joe's briqs.
I loaded the ring and shook it down a few times, trying to make sure I got it in fairly solid.
I have to say, I was impressed by how stable the temps were. It held at between 255 and 270 for five hours. It was a rib cook, and when I took the lid off to foil, it jumped, but I had it back down in range within minutes.
At the price of the lump, I'm not going to forego briqs, but it helped deliver my best ribs yet, so I'm officially a fan.

Yeah, I have to agree with this -- same recent rib cook with Royal Oak. I liked the smoke aroma much more. I'll definitely be cooking with it more now, but there just is no comparison with the sale cost of K at $4 for 16 lb. bag.

But also due to the reading here, I'm buying a bag of Stubbs to see what it is like. Same issue, though, just can't beat the cost at which K is available.

Now that I have the side support brackets installed on the bottom segment of my WSM (just completed), I will be cooking some steaks with the RO very soon. It's for grilling that I'm more likely to use the lump. But I'll still mostly grill on my Genesis.

Rich