lump charcoal in WSM questions


 
J

John Baldessari

New member
Hi all -- today gave lump charcoal a try in my WSM for the first time, and now have a couple questions. A little background:

Had a lot of difficulty w/ keeping the temperature up. I started off with a couple fully lit chimneys of the lump charcoal, and let the smoker burn for about an hour at around 250 F before adding any meat. After I added it, however, the temperature kept dropping, despite having the top and bottom vents opened all the way. Temperature hovered around 200 on the lid thermometer (was cooking ribs).

At the three hour mark, took top off the bottom, and discovered most of the lump charcoal was out -- (!!). Put the unlit charcoal back into a chimney and relit. After that turned the door upside-down and propped open slightly to get enough air to the fire to keep it burning up around 275 F. Whenever I shut the door however, the temps dropped and lump charcoal started going out again. Seems like it couldn't get enough air, even with all the regular vents (top and bottom) opened all the way -- ?? Charcoal brand was "Cowboy" lump charcoal, and seemed to be fine otherwise -- not wet or anything like that.

Anyways, was just curious if maybe lump charcoal normally doesn't work that well in the Webers. The owners manual recommends against it, IIRC. What are your thoughts -- does anybody else have this sort of trouble? How do you get it to burn hot? Or is it better just to stick with the Kingsford brickets in a WSM?
 
John, I have only used lump for almost a year in my WSM.Never had the problems you describe. Dumb luck I quess.
 
I use Cowboy and although I admit it isn't the best, I have never had any problems like that. Just did an overnight cook with two vents closed and one at 25 percent and it went all night. Must be a bad batch. Makes you wonder what kind of wood they are using that won't burn...
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A certain manufacturer always uses regular Kingsford in all their testing and development of grills and smokers. Generally it's the most widely available and most consistent product.

lots of people use the lump with good results, so maybe it's a different approach or things to watch for...
 
Hmmm... Very odd. :-(

I may try just burning another batch from the same bag tonight (w/out cooking/smoking anything) and see what happens. Could probably try some more out in our normal grill (which gets plenty of air) as a control sample, too.

If I have the time and get around to it tonight, I will report back with the results soon.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by John Baldessari:
Hmmm... Very odd. :-(

I may try just burning another batch from the same bag tonight (w/out cooking/smoking anything) and see what happens. Could probably try some more out in our normal grill (which gets plenty of air) as a control sample, too.

If I have the time and get around to it tonight, I will report back with the results soon. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

John, every time a new member says that they are going to do a cook without meat, IT MAKES ME CRY. Throw some meat on the dang thing and cook!!!!!!!!

Mark
 
John, Have you tried this with any other brand or even another bag of Cowboy? Last week I used Royal Oak lump for the first time and had no problems at all.

The reason I ask about another bag is that one time I tried a cook using a half ring of leftover briquettes from a previous cook. That was the only time I had any trouble maintaining a temp in my WSM. We tend to have relatively higher humidity and I decided that really caused trouble with those leftover briquettes. It's always possible that your lump was somehow not wet, but still not as totally dry as you would expect. Just a guess.

Rich
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I started off with a couple fully lit chimneys of the lump charcoal, and let the smoker burn for about an hour at around 250 F before adding any meat. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Fill the ring with <span class="ev_code_BLUE">unlit</span> then top with 1/8-1/4 of a <span class="ev_code_RED">lit</span> chimney. Add your meat when you assemble the cooker and catch your temps when 25-50 degrees from your target, no need to wait on temps. It is much easier to catch/hold temps if you start with cold meat and a cold smoker.
 
Cowboy brand lump has a very well deserved reputation for being the most readily available crap you can put in your wsm or any other cooker. I found that out myself before reading all the posts online about how it would burn up in a New York minute and had flooring scraps in it.
 
I use lump all the time but have never seen cowboy brand. I use Weekend Warrior with great results. Never any garbage in it. Had great results with Royal Oak also.
 
John -

I think that Glenn is on to your problem. With the Minion method most users fill the charcoal ring with unlit (in the case of lump it is usually a good idea to pack it in sort of tight due to different shapes). You then need to light about 1/4 of a chimney of lit and then add it on top of the unlit and then assemble the cooker. It looks to me like you are starting with all fully lit charcoal and burn times will be significantly reduced.

-Don
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Don Dukes:
John -

I think that Glenn is on to your problem. With the Minion method most users fill the charcoal ring with unlit (in the case of lump it is usually a good idea to pack it in sort of tight due to different shapes). You then need to light about 1/4 of a chimney of lit and then add it on top of the unlit and then assemble the cooker. It looks to me like you are starting with all fully lit charcoal and burn times will be significantly reduced.

-Don </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Don, Cowboy charcoal IS so bad that when I skim a post and catch that brand I ignore all other pertinent detail. You and Glenn are right, though. It's best to use Jim Minion's method for smoking with lump.
 
Ok, now thinking may be due to poor charcoal quality. Even when used in our regular brinkman grill (pretty well ventilated), some bigger hunks of charcoal failed to stay ignited / burn all the way down. Hmmm...
 
John nice to know someone else on here who lives in wichita! If you go downtown on douglas in the Delano district( west of the river) on the south side of the road after the round about brick clock thing if your headed west on douglas, there is a BBQ shop there and they sell some kick arsh lump charcoal there.....Ozark Oak I think, its a mom and pop shop so if you buy more then one bag they'll give you a discount!
 
Everyone is on to your problem. For starters Cowboy lump is crap, made of something like 90% scrap flooring and cabinet wood. I've cooked with it twice using the minion method because they sell it at Lowe's Home Improvement. I've never had a problem with it smoldering out, but have had problems with it burning and turning to ash, in about half the time as other lump charcoals do. I think a little research into the minion method would go a long way for you. Fill ring with unlit dump a starter full of lit on top, wait 10 minutes with smoker disassembled still for charcoal to catch, assemble smoker, snap beer.
 
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