Jealous devil?


 
Michael Richards said:
I think it worth says that I have tried 4 different types/brands of Lump Charcoal over the last few years and never really master cooking over the stuff and really identify as a briquette guy, but this experience has been very different.

The first reason I love the stuff is that it takes less time then any other charcoal I have ever used to get ripping hot and ready to pour from the chimney into the kettle. To add to that I am not uses as much charcoal because it does get so hot that I don't need a full chimney to grill up a couple chicken breast for a Wednesday night cook or for the first part of a reverse sear steak cook. The combo of those two factors has really cut down that wait/prep time for using charcoal. I have been ready to cook in like half the time then when using most other products. Once I light it through the whole process there is so little gray smoke and it smells so clean and with this "bright" "fresh" smell. Once it is hot it heats the kettle up evenly and I am ready to cook. The core reason I like it is the results of cooking on it. It is a superior experience cooking over this charcoal. I have posted both these shoots over in the photo section so I know that most of you guys have seen them, but just look at these results. The first is that Picanha that is perfectly red from end to end, the second is the Tri Tip we sear marks I have never been able to create before. For both these cooks I started with like a fourth of a chimney of hot new Jealous Devil Churx LX in the SnS and put the meat on the indirect side. When the steaks hit 110 I took them off and throw some more fresh JD XL in the SnS, just enough to cover the hot charcoal and again in 10 minutes the new charcoal was red hot and the thermometer on my kettle was pinned. Then I went to sear and get these results. I have never had such good results searing. The quality of the food I am pulling off the kettle using this charcoal has been really really good. Next, when I shut down the kettle I am blown away at how much of the charcoal is left over to reuse for the next cook. I will only use charcoal that is left over from last nights Tri Tip for the chicken thighs I am going to grill up tonight. I have gotten two meals out of every batch of JD XL I have used. Now I am only five cooks in (the two below, some chicken thighs, some chicken breast, and smash burgers using the CI skillet over the JD in the Smoky Joe) and all have been in the hot and fast category. I have not done anything long or low and I don't know how this would do in my little WSM 14 or my kettle with the Aura Kettle Zone Cooking System knowing how hot it can burn. After my first cook or two, I thought I am not going to use this for low and slow, I will keep using briquettes for that, but each cook I use JD XL I get more intrigued to try it low and slow. I have a low and slow planned for Sunday. Depending on how busy I am going to be I may or may not try JD XL for that cook. The one thing I am not sure of yet is I have some VERY large pieces (like won't even fit in the chimney) and I just have been moving those pieces around and using more manageable "normal" size pieces. What do I do with those massive pieces? How do I break them into more usable chunks? I told you above briquette guy here.

I know the sticker shock is there, I paid $25 for 20 lbs., but I know if I was using my favorite briquettes I would be getting ready to be almost through 2-16 lbs. bags after tonight's cook. I know I am not even half way through the bag of JD LX. I am very intrigued to see how long this bag last me. I know Brett and Darryl have post similar beliefs experience, but I really do think there is much more of a cost balance then I thought there would be when I bought it.

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i do break up some of the largest piece when i cook. i'll heat them in the chimney and once they get hot and i pour them over to my charcoal baskets, i use my coal rake and give them a firm tap along the grain and they break easily into smaller pieces.

your results sound very similar to my first few cooks too. i really came to love the JDXL product, especially on direct sear of steaks, salmon, burgers, kabobs and even on my char siu (indirect and then a sear).

i used JDXL on my recent St Lous cooks, using the E6 deflector plate. they had a real nice clean smoke profile and i didn't add any fruitwoods as i wanted to see how the JD did on 225-250 longer type cooks. report is it worked very well and flavor was great.

for my pizzas, i am using KPro and CA white oak chunks i have. while the JD would likely impart a nice flavor, i just have a few bags left of KPro, B&B charlogs & briqs and 2-3 Cowboy briqs (which i like the flavor most of all briqs i've used.)

on my last brisket, months ago, i used B&B charlogs and they worked well. that was a HAF cook, total time was around 5.5 hours.

i have found JD does do well in lower temp cooks where vents are dialed down.

I do recall reading though the lump should not be used in WSMs. maybe someone can point to that exact post, of which it was fairly recent (last 60-90 days).

i think your experiences are very similar with what others have experienced and shared. at first i was a little skeptical but then the cooks and protein quality really was different. enough so that i made the 100% switch and won't buy other lump coal.

for my cooking types, i likely am doing 60% indirect at 350-400F, 25% direct and sears and using my CI grate and 15% indirect for lower and slower cooks (ribs and briskets).

of note, i have found JDXL to be amazing on seafood too; lobster tails, shrimps and scallops. and salmon on direct sear on the CI grate is truly next level flavor (hard outside sear and rare inside). last time i did this i had CI grate temps at 1050-1100F.
 
Using leftover charcoal, is always recommended in my opinion, even if it's not Jealous Devil, and regardless of the make/model of the smoker and or grill. I have also had success using lump charcoal in my WSM. Someone on this thread has already pointed out that breaking up some of the longer/larger lump pieces is important. I found this was especially important when using lump in the WSM for a longer cook. The longer pieces tend to work against you by igniting larger sections of the coal bed when what you want/need is a steady ignition rate/heat source.
 
Rick Petillo said:
Brett, when you use JD in the E6, do you reuse leftover for the next cook?
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100% of the time. I do this for all leftover coals (briqs too).

I cook maybe 95% of the time in the charcoal baskets (CBs is my usual abbreviation in my posts). I do this for two reasons; keeps the coals nice and tight for maximum heat concentration which works very well for searing using center cooking ring/surface/often i have my CI grate in for that, and because using the CBs makes for ridiculously easy leftover coals cleanup as i can pour the residual coal(s) right into a chimney, shake out the ash/residue and add new fresh coal/lump atop the old burnt coals and light up a new batch.

a full sized Weber chimney only needs to be filled around 3/4 to 7/8 to fill the Weber CBs, so don't overfill a chimney as it's just waste, IMO, and your cooking grate won't sit flush atop the CBs anyway.

i cook in this method for both direct searing and indirect cooks; searing be a steak, carne asada, chicken or fish. and when i do yard birds or indirect, i'll push the CBs to the top of the grill in a circle and that generates up to 450/500F heat for full open vents cooking on the E6.

on the rare occasion o just drop coal onto the coal grates, i hate the cleanup and mess it makes. pretty much this only happens for pizza cooks which i want more surface are to heat my pizza steel.

lmk if you have any additional questions.

and welcome @Rick Petillo. don't know if we've spoken yet.
 
John K BBQ said:
Using leftover charcoal, is always recommended in my opinion, even if it's not Jealous Devil, and regardless of the make/model of the smoker and or grill. I have also had success using lump charcoal in my WSM. Someone on this thread has already pointed out that breaking up some of the longer/larger lump pieces is important. I found this was especially important when using lump in the WSM for a longer cook. The longer pieces tend to work against you by igniting larger sections of the coal bed when what you want/need is a steady ignition rate/heat source.
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that's great info on breaking up lump for WSM cooks. this'll help WSM owners.
 
I found some at my local Ace Hardware in Orangevale @ $29.95/20lb.bag. I was excited and had been wanting to try on recommendation from Harry Soo's channel. Used it twice, and while I felt it was nice dense even size chunks, I found it to give off some errant smoke and flavors I didn't like. Was disappointed. Really wanted this to be the one. I had been using B&B lump with Oak, and found the pure Oak at the same Ace and returned the 1 bag of JD I didn't use and got 2-20lb bags of B&B for $18ea. For me, in the WSM it didn't work as hoped. I also used a BBQ dragon blower to try and control my temps better and got more smoke than I desired. Could have something to do with it? I put a post out about using blower and temp regulators? Looking for feedback here too. Not as seasoned as some of you guys out there, just trying to perfect my Q, like all the rest of us. Blessings!
 
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Always reuse charcoal. Why waste what you’ve paid for?

Even if I just knock the ash off and put fresh coals on top, it ALL gets used. Regardless of grill/smoker.
 
D. Dix said:
I found some at my local Ace Hardware in Orangevale @ $29.95/20lb.bag. I was excited and had been wanting to try on recommendation from Harry Son's channel. Used it twice, and while I felt it was nice dense even size chunks, I found it to give off some errant smoke and flavors I didn't like. Was disappointed. Really wanted this to be the one. I had been using B&B lump with Oak, and found the pure Oak at the same Ace and returned the 1 bag of JD I didn't use and got 2-20lb bags of B&B for $18ea. For me, in the WSM it didn't work as hoped. I also used a BBQ dragon blower to try and control my temps better and got more smoke than I desired. Could have something to do with it? I put a post out about using blower and temp regulators? Looking for feedback here too. Not as seasoned as some of you guys out there, just trying to perfect my Q, like all the rest of us. Blessings!
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I use a temp controller occasionally (Thermoworks X4 with Billows) and have never seen a difference in smoke or flavor profiles.
 
Brett-EDH said:
100% of the time. I do this for all leftover coals (briqs too).

I cook maybe 95% of the time in the charcoal baskets (CBs is my usual abbreviation in my posts). I do this for two reasons; keeps the coals nice and tight for maximum heat concentration which works very well for searing using center cooking ring/surface/often i have my CI grate in for that, and because using the CBs makes for ridiculously easy leftover coals cleanup as i can pour the residual coal(s) right into a chimney, shake out the ash/residue and add new fresh coal/lump atop the old burnt coals and light up a new batch.

a full sized Weber chimney only needs to be filled around 3/4 to 7/8 to fill the Weber CBs, so don't overfill a chimney as it's just waste, IMO, and your cooking grate won't sit flush atop the CBs anyway.

i cook in this method for both direct searing and indirect cooks; searing be a steak, carne asada, chicken or fish. and when i do yard birds or indirect, i'll push the CBs to the top of the grill in a circle and that generates up to 450/500F heat for full open vents cooking on the E6.

on the rare occasion o just drop coal onto the coal grates, i hate the cleanup and mess it makes. pretty much this only happens for pizza cooks which i want more surface are to heat my pizza steel.

lmk if you have any additional questions.

and welcome @Rick Petillo. don't know if we've spoken yet.
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Thanks @Brett-EDH!

I definitely would prefer to re-use coals, but the admittedly few times I've tried it, it just seems to affect cook repetabaiblity. It may just be all in my head, but it feels like when I re-use, I fight the cook a bit more - getting it up to temp, or holding temps for a while.

so to the point of minimizing waste, I started tossing all but completely unburnt coals so that I didn't ruin a nice cut of meat, trying to save a few $$ on charcoal. Do you just give the chimney a gentle shake when you sift the ash? In kamado mode for a long cook, since you're not lighting all of the coals, how do you configure the old coals? Do you put the JD on the bottom or the top of the fresh coals?

I would definitely prefer to use JD if it can work in low and slow kamado mode. my summit is right next to the house and the smoke smell stinks up the whole house if I use something like KBB. B&B and Blues hog seem to be better, but they definitely still give off more smoke than JD. I'll give it a whirl on the chuckie I plan to cook tonight/tomorrow.
 
My reused typically is what I light to start a cook, in my chimney. If there’s some still left, it gets a few new coals added and away we go.

If I’m using baskets, used goes in the chimney. If there’s still more used it goes on top of new charcoal in the baskets. If I’m using snake, any used not in the chimney goes front of the line with a couple new pieces mixed in. If I’m using my Summit Charcoal, the entire charcoal section is filled and new placed on top of used, since I use the gas-assist and the used then gets burnt first. And if I’m two zoning for chicken or steaks, it all get pushed to one side and I let ‘er rip, I’ll pull the used stuff to the opposite side if there’s a little, or remove it if there’s a lot and it doesn’t get burned. That’s a relatively quick cook and I want maximum fuel and heat right away.
 
Last night I reused the JD from Thursday night's cook, I decided to throw two new pieces in with it and fired it up. Poured it in the slow n sear opened the top vent and it got to around 400 on the hot side. The lowest ever since starting using JD. I thought, maybe I spoke to soon about the performance of this stuff. I grilled up 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs, (they come out perfect) I just using the hot side for most the cook and all was good. But then I went to shut down the vents and when I went to shut down the bottom vent I realize I never opened the bottom vent. The JD keep the hot side of the slow n sear, with the bottom vents completely shut down, with mostly reused charcoal hot enough to cook 8 chicken thighs, yeah I am impressed.

As for leaving the bottom vent closed, never done that before... I was literally on the phone (using an ear bud) with my boss during the first half of the cook... So... No.... I don't blame my amazing wonderful boss...
 
WOW! Glad to see the Jealous Devil Lump bandwagon rolling. It took ya all a while. I promoted this charcoal on here 6 years ago & told people to give it a try then. Didn't get much a response. Some people say its too expensive, but since I light my charcoal with a hand held portable propane torch I don't get lit up any more. My shirts don't have little tiny burn holes in them anymore. Or even worse burn marks on my head. Love the smell as it comes up to temp. Its like BBQ victory & it performs the best that I have seen at high elevations. By the way the Fogo axe breaker lump is very good. It comes from a different country & has a little bit different start up smell. but performs just like JD Lump. Ya all might want to give that brand a shot also. The thing about JD lump & getting used to it is the consistency that it provides time & time again. So, learn your smoker & your lump. Its fun & so easy to do. Easy as gas.
 
JD really screwed up my cook last night, although I'm sure many will say it was operator error and is an inevitable product of lump vs briquettes. I was doing a whirlybird on my summit. What I normally do is to fill the charcoal baskets on the side of the bird as it rotates above a center drip pan. Anyway, after lighting a chimney of JD, I dumped it into the baskets and it just really struggled to keep temps high for the cook. It got up around 425 pretty quickly but then it cooled off throughout the cook. What I think happened is a result of the irregular shape of lump. I don't think a chimney full was enough heat due to the irregular size of the coals. At the end of the cook, there was just one or two big lumps in the basket whereas I usually have a decent amount of briquettes at the end of a cook.

I wound up having to finish the bird on my gasser just to get dinner on the table, which ruined all that rotisserie skin.

For those big users of JD, or lump in general, how do you get around the different sizes and getting what you need? While the product has a lot of appeal to me conceptually, I'm not really looking to hand sort through a bag of charcoal to get what I need.
 
Rick-SC said:
JD really screwed up my cook last night, although I'm sure many will say it was operator error and is an inevitable product of lump vs briquettes. I was doing a whirlybird on my summit. What I normally do is to fill the charcoal baskets on the side of the bird as it rotates above a center drip pan. Anyway, after lighting a chimney of JD, I dumped it into the baskets and it just really struggled to keep temps high for the cook. It got up around 425 pretty quickly but then it cooled off throughout the cook. What I think happened is a result of the irregular shape of lump. I don't think a chimney full was enough heat due to the irregular size of the coals. At the end of the cook, there was just one or two big lumps in the basket whereas I usually have a decent amount of briquettes at the end of a cook.

I wound up having to finish the bird on my gasser just to get dinner on the table, which ruined all that rotisserie skin.

For those big users of JD, or lump in general, how do you get around the different sizes and getting what you need? While the product has a lot of appeal to me conceptually, I'm not really looking to hand sort through a bag of charcoal to get what I need.
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KPro is my go to at this point.
 
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