I am Changing from Lump Back to Kingsford


 
J

John Vale

TVWBB Fan
I know the trend is to switch from briquetts to lump. But I have tried lump, 5 bags of Wicked Good Weekend Warrior, and I find it that its inconsistency, higher burn temperatures, difficulty in finding it locally and the added work of having to hand pack the ring to get it to burn evenly just takes some of the pleasure out of the BBQ process. I thought it was just me. But then I read Chris's article here on "Why I use Kingsford" and realized that I was not entirely alone. I guess it is just a matter of focus. I guess I would rather try to improve my cooking skills than build and tend the fire.

John
 
Home Depot here in VA is carrying a new briquette from Rancher. it's an all hardwood briquette with only a starch binder. it seems to last a real long time on slow cooks and burns hot for grilling if needed. and it's 4.99/20lb bag.
 
Wicked Good has Weekend Warrior briquettes now too. I used some for a rib cook a couple of weeks back and they were really good. Very easy to keep a stable temp, and I probably had 2/3 of a somewhat overfilled ring left after about 5 hours, so 15 hours ought to be quite doable with them. Also grilled with the remainder of the bag and they get HOT if you let them.

My preference is still lump, but I admit there are times where briquettes are more convenient.
 
Hate to see that.

There is a learning process. I think I save more time using lump because I don't have to clean the wsm nearly as often.

I can go several long cooks easily before even thinking about dealing with ash buildup. I just got 25 hours on my last cook of mostly used lump from a previous cook. Can't do that with charcoal.

Best of luck though!
 
I tried the Rancher charcoal this past weekend. Somewhere between a 18-20 hour burn on a full ring at 240-250 lid. There was a bit more ash than I have seen using lump. But it's been so long since I used Kingsford, I can't give a comparison. It did seem to burn hot. I was keeping the vents pretty much closed even 12 hours into the cook. I do prefer the smell of the burning lump.
 
I tried the Rancher charcoal and I used Kingsford in the past but nothing compares to the real wood aroma provided by RO lump
 
I use a 50/50 mixture of Kingsford and Royal Oak lump and it seems to work quite well. The other day it held so tight at 230* for 6 hrs without waiver that I had to double check the thrmometer to see if it was stuck. It wasn't.

This allows me to not use so many wood chunks.

I have yet to even put in a full ring, and always have plenty for a brisket or shoulder cook.

I guess that's why there are so many kinds and options available, what works for some doesn't always work for others.
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If you can find Duraflame real hardware briquettes, they are also just charcoal and food starch for a binder like the Rancher. I've used them for a couple of cooks and they worked well, I just started using Ranch lump personally.
 
Originally posted by John Vale:
I know the trend is to switch from briquetts to lump. But I have tried lump, 5 bags of Wicked Good Weekend Warrior, and I find it that its inconsistency, higher burn temperatures, difficulty in finding it locally and the added work of having to hand pack the ring to get it to burn evenly just takes some of the pleasure out of the BBQ process.
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I find that the extra work in doing this is well worth the better flavor I get when using lump. To me, I can smell/taste a coal/petroleum aroma/flavor with K. Wicked Good is a very dense lump, you may find RO lump to be easier to use.
I guess I would rather try to improve my cooking skills than build and tend the fire. John
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But that there is as good as reason as any. Tending to the fire (rarely necessary with the WSM, even with lump) is a very relaxing activity for me. It helps me get out of my high-tech world and back to doing more "old fashioned" things.
 
Does anyone know where to get RO lump in WA state? I have yet to see it, though have not gone out of my way to try to find it.
 
Yep, me too!

I tried lump in various forms. I'm back to Kingsford briquettes again. Everybody I feed my bbq raves about it, and the raves don't increase when I use lump. Why go through the hassle of lump? I find that even when I follow all the advise given here about lump, it still requires much more vigilance than the briquettes require (not to mention the sorting and arranging of the lump in the ring). I get a good night sleep when doing overnight cooks with briquettes. I wouldn't let the pit go more than 3 hours with lump.

Don't feel bad about it. You are already doing giant culinary work with your WSM. I think lump might be more viable for me if I had a pit guru....until then.....it's Kingsford.
 
Hey Lou - I do use a BBQ Guru. I found that with lump, you still have to hand pack the ring to have the lump burn evenly so the Guru can do its job without exhibiting large temperature swings.

John
 
You guys need to try a better quality lump.

B&B, Wicked Good Comp, and Picnic (primarily) are all I use for any cooks longer than 3-4 hours.

I've never had a serious spike, and honestly, the temp control is just as easy as charcoal.

As for loading the ring, it takes all of a few minutes total (less time than to clean out the bottom after every cook, lump can go several cooks easily before having an ash build up).

My first lump cooks were overnight one's using Royal Oak. That was frustrating, as it only had about a 10 hour burn time. Then, I searched for alternatives.
 
Made the switch from Kingsford to Wicked Good Weekend Warrior about a month ago and I'm so glad I did. It's far better for grilling, but in the WSM I can hold 225 for 18 hours and there is so much less ash, which is my favorite part about it. Plus when using a long slow creeping burn you don't have to worry about the acrid smoke that the Kingsford create when they initially ignite.

I still use a few Kingsford to get it going, but that's about it.
 
Craig,
Where are you finding quality lump in central Florida? All I have been able to find consistently is Royal Oak. Last year, I found B&B at WalMart - but my stash is just about out. I liked the B&B, more dense than RO. On one of my last cooks, I used a bag of RO, instead of B&B, and my wife made a comment about something being different. I would love to find something else around home.
 
I too will confess to using Kingsford for its consistency. I used to really fret about temps, but I have found that now that I know the WSM and use Kingsford, I can almost predict what the temp will be when I go to check it. I like lump for direct grilling.

I'm all about keeping it as simple as possible. I like to use all of my grills for what they are best at (to me.) I don't bother with chicken on the WSM cause a beer butt in the kettle is so good. If it's just me or I'm doing kid hot dogs or weather is an issue, I'm using the gasser. I don't try to get too cute with Smokey Joe.

I just wish that Kingsford didn't throw so much ash though. Does anyone in Minnesota know a better briquette that is easily available?

Thanks.
 
Originally posted by Rick Angiel:
Craig,
Where are you finding quality lump in central Florida? All I have been able to find consistently is Royal Oak. Last year, I found B&B at WalMart - but my stash is just about out. I liked the B&B, more dense than RO. On one of my last cooks, I used a bag of RO, instead of B&B, and my wife made a comment about something being different. I would love to find something else around home.
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Rick,

Low and behold the walmart that had b@b now has RO. Fortunatley, I still have about 5-6 bags left.

As for the "good stuff" .....I've been getting Picnic Lump from a restaurant supply house in Tampa. They are Sanwa Wholesale Foods.

The good news for you is that I believe they have opened another location in Sanford. It's supposed to be smaller, and may not have everything that the Tampa location does.

I'll pass on the # when I can. The Picnic costs $7.50 for a 15 lb bag. It's as good as Wicked Good Comp (my last burn went 25 hours on 2/3 used lump topped off with new).
 
Originally posted by Matt Jones:
If you can find Duraflame real hardware briquettes, they are also just charcoal and food starch for a binder like the Rancher. I've used them for a couple of cooks and they worked well, I just started using Ranch lump personally.
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Where do you get the Duraflame? I had a source here last year, but they haven't gotten any yet. They're supposed to call when they do, but who knows when that'll be. I'd like to pick some up, so far that's been my favorite.
 
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