briqettes and lump question


 
I'm about to do my 2nd smoke (brisket again) with lump does the lump burn faster than briqettes? My 1st smoke with briqettes went 13 hours and still had plenty. Great smoke it was too.
 
Robert, It depends on the quality of the lump you are using. I can usually get 16 hrs out of a very well packed full charcaol ring of Royal Oak lump. Pack it real good when you fill the ring to eliminate any big air gaps in the lump. I fill the ring 1/3rd and shake roack the bowl back and forth. Repaet 2 more times. The more dense/higher quality lump you use, the longer the burn time. Good luck from a lump head.
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Jamie B:
Hi Bryan, I'm going to try Royal Oak lump too. How many hot coals do you add to the full ring? thanks! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
For using lump the first few times, I reccomend using briquettes to light the lump, till you get a feel for using lump. Lump varries so much in size so that's why the briqs to light off the lump for new lump users. It's no different than using briqs as your fuel. The more cold meat you have in there, along with the outside ambient temp determies howm much lit to start out with. If only doing one butt, and it's fairly warm out about 8-10 lit briqs will work. On the cool side, and you have 2 butts in the WSM 16-20 will work out good. Just remember to start shutting down the vents about 25-40º before your target temp. Good luck.
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Once you find the right amount of lit briqs to use for your cooks, then just eyeball that into the size and # of pieces of lump to use to light off the lump.
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I love using lump, but the first time you need to be fully prepared to have to load more fuel in. When people talk about a "Full ring" of lump they mean it!! I too thought i had filled the ring only to find i had to add significant fuel 3/4 of the way through my cook.

All that said, the smell of a good lump is worth the hassle. It's just a matter of learning how to pack your charcoal. It's almost a sport!! haha. It really helps if you have some sort of modification to help close some of the gaps in the charcoal grate.
 

 

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