First cook with Kingsford on the WSM

[Lew]

Since I bought 160 lb of Kingsford at HD, I decided to use it for my ribs Saturday. I have always used natural briquettes or lump in my smokers, but for $.25/lb, I am open to change. Here are my impressions. I used 2 chimneys and the minion method.

The K lights faster in a chimney and ashes over almost immediately.

I had to leave the vents open wider to get the same temps I am used to.

Once up to temp, there was not as much visible smoke even though I had 5 chunks of hickory buried in the unlit coals. Ribs had plenty of smoke taste and a good smoke ring.

Temps were extremely stable the whole cook.

2 chimneys gave me 5 hours at 240 with plenty left over. Remaining briquettes were completely covered in ash. Not used to seeing that.

Without the financial incentive, I think my first choice is still RO lump with Stubbs natural briquettes second. Still, I'm quite satisfied with K. Maybe it will grow on me.

 

[jdaniels]

I read through your post a couple times and I'm still confused. You said you used 2 chimneys and the minion method and got 5 hours @ 240? I did an overnight brisket this weekend with the minion method and started with about 30 lit coals and a full charcoal chamber. I started at 10 PM and it took 1 hour to reach 250 and it stayed there until 10 the next morning and then dropped to 225. I walked out onto the deck at 8 that night and was surprised that the smoker was still reading 150.

 

[DAVE IN CINCY]

I must be doing something much different. I lit one chimney (with a brown paper bag). After 15 min. I dumped the lit coals (I didn't count them) into the chamber and filled the remaining area with fresh charcoal. It took alomst an hour for the temp. to go down to 225*.

My experiences are the same with Wicked Good and Kingsford Competition. The WG did burn longer and hotter, but I didn't have a long wait with either brand.

 

[Stewart M.]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by DAVE IN CINCY:
I must be doing something much different. I lit one chimney (with a brown paper bag). After 15 min. I dumped the lit coals (I didn't count them) into the chamber and filled the remaining area with fresh charcoal. It took alomst an hour for the temp. to go down to 225*.

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Huh. That's sort of a reverse Minion. The standard is to fill your charcoal ring with unlit coals and then lay a few lit coals on top. The idea is that you catch the temp on the way UP to 225, and use the vents to keep it thereabouts, rather than getting it up above 225 and waiting for it to go down.

 

[Lew]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by jdaniels:
I read through your post a couple times and I'm still confused. You said you used 2 chimneys and the minion method and got 5 hours @ 240? I did an overnight brisket this weekend with the minion method and started with about 30 lit coals and a full charcoal chamber. I started at 10 PM and it took 1 hour to reach 250 and it stayed there until 10 the next morning and then dropped to 225. I walked out onto the deck at 8 that night and was surprised that the smoker was still reading 150. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Not sure what you're confused about. I used 2 chimneys using the minion method and got 5 hours at 240 "with plenty left over." My ribs were done so I closed all the vents. When it cooled, there was plenty of charcoal left. Based on this I would expect over 12 hrs easy with a full load, not inconsistent with your results.

 

[ChristopherCG]

Lew,

I was a Kingsford user last year as I was new to the WSM and was relatively happy with the results. It burned consistently on every cook, it's cheap and available everywhere.

This year I tried several brands of lump including WGC, Royal Oak and Comp K. I greatly preferred the flavor imparted by the lump compared to K. I did have a harder time controlling the RO but I eventually got the hang of it.

I recently found a Royal Oak lump 100% hardwood briquet at my local grocery store. I have used it a few times and have been thoroughly astounded with it. I got 10 hours this saturday at 240 degrees for a pork butt and had 2 chimneys left over for a 5 hour rib cook on Sunday. IMO it burned better than K, with far less ash and no nasty black smoke on startup.

I used it again yesterday for a high heat beer can chicken but had some trouble getting it over 300. I only used 1.5 chimneys so maybe I didn't put enough in.

Overall, I am a believer. I will use the RO briquets for any of my long cooks and the regular RO lump for high heat cooks. See if you can find it somewhere if you really like the taste of lump. No need to settle for K.

 

[Lew]

Royal Oak lump is my first choice but this deal on K was 1/3 the price. I'll continue to use RO in the Kettle and occasionally in the smoker. If I find that K affects the quality and taste of my cooks, I'm only out $40. Meanwhile, $2.50 in fuel to cook a $7 butt is a lot better than $7.50.