Coals for first try at my new WSM`

[Brian Dobz]

Hey all

In anticipation of my Tuesday delivery of my new WSM, I am gathering supplies...

I saw at Costco they have a two pack of Kingsford Comp. briquettes.
They are in a brown bag.
Would these be a good choice for a rooks first run at it?
I think they came to about $.50/lb. If I remember correctly there were two 18lb bags for $18

Thanks
Brian

 

[Tom Mccann]

Some may differ here but that's what I use.

 

[Bill Meredith]

I think they'll be just fine. It should produce a lot less ash than their regular briquettes (my biggest complaint with Kingsford).

 

[Reggie Grubbs]

Costco also has a $3.50 off coupon for that item. I think its effective as of the 9th.

 

[Mike Freel]

I have used comp and regular Kingsford and had good results with both. Like was mentioned the comp burns with less ash and it also burns a little hotter and faster.
Good luck and welcome to the WSM club.

Mike

 

[Brian Dobz]

Thanks guys!

Yeah Reggie, my wife just pointed that out!
Looks like I will be waiting a few days!

 

[Dave Russell]

K comp is GREAT for high heat cooking, and also fine for short cooks like chicken or ribs, since it burns faster. For the same reason though, IMHO, it's not the best choice for an overnight pork butt or brisket cook. Therefore, when you get ready for your first overnighter, if you'd rather use regular old K blue bag or another brand, I'd recommend first trying that same charcoal on a short cook to get a little feel for any differences that you might see. (You might even want to purposely waste a bunch of fuel by seeing how your cooker runs, several hours past whatever you're cooking is done.)

Even though I use K blue bag for it's cheap price when I get it stupid cheap at Home Depot, I use Stubbs briqs(Lowes) for overnighters. Rancher (Trader Joe's maybe?) briquettes are also good. Good briqs like those and also Wicked Good should last just as long or longer than K blue bag, and you won't have the ash buildup (that can cause temps to plummet) as with either formula of K or even RO briqs. Lots of folks use plain old K bb though, and report no problems. Myself, I find the need to knock the ash off the coals, maybe as early as six hours or so into the cook. Some folks just set an alarm to do just that and check on things.