Chris Smith
TVWBB Fan
I recently decided to give lump charcoal a try for the first time on my Performer, so I picked up a bag of Tru 'Cue from HD. I poured a full chimney and first of all was amazed at the size disparity in the bag. The first pour resulted in two very large chunks which of course didn't fire up fully like the much smaller pieces. I did my best to shake things around to get more in the chimney and turned on the starter.
After the fuel was ready to go I spread it out on the grate...and wow, that didn't go very far. One chimney of the stuff covered under half the grate, which could be expected but the amount and size of small chunks meant I had very little heat to work with. Outside temp was in the low 40s which may have contributed, but I felt like I was working with very uneven heat and I think the highest I ever saw on the lid therm was 400F. I kept the lid on as much as possible and had the vents wide open.
Perhaps I need more practice or better scrutiny of the lump I'm using but after two cooks I'm wondering if I should be using two chimneys in the winter. I cooked four boneless chicken breasts on one chimney load and they took a good bit longer than I was expecting.
I'd like to stick with lump for the lower ash and acrid smoke at startup but it definitely is testing me in the early going. I don't know how I'd sear a pair of steaks like I prefer on one chimney.
After the fuel was ready to go I spread it out on the grate...and wow, that didn't go very far. One chimney of the stuff covered under half the grate, which could be expected but the amount and size of small chunks meant I had very little heat to work with. Outside temp was in the low 40s which may have contributed, but I felt like I was working with very uneven heat and I think the highest I ever saw on the lid therm was 400F. I kept the lid on as much as possible and had the vents wide open.
Perhaps I need more practice or better scrutiny of the lump I'm using but after two cooks I'm wondering if I should be using two chimneys in the winter. I cooked four boneless chicken breasts on one chimney load and they took a good bit longer than I was expecting.
I'd like to stick with lump for the lower ash and acrid smoke at startup but it definitely is testing me in the early going. I don't know how I'd sear a pair of steaks like I prefer on one chimney.