Lump charcoal


 
S

Steve Meadows

New member
Greetings, everyone! Has anyone ever used lump charcoal in their WSM? I have used KBB for years, with very good results, but was looking to experiment a bit with my rib cooking this summer. If you can let me know if you've had any success, I would appreciate it. Thanks!
 
I only have 14.5" WSMs, so I've started using lump, primarily to see if the reduced amount of ash gives me longer burns before the ash buildup snuffs out the fire.

Before starting to use lump, I usually used the following briquettes: B&B Competition Oak, Kingsford Professional, and Blues Hog.

I'm not a huge fan of how Kingsford Professional smells when I light it in the chimney, and all of the above briquettes fill the WSM charcoal bowl with copious amounts of ash. Keep in mind both of my WSMs are the 14.5" model which doesn't have as much room. I have not mounted the heat shield externally (yet).

Here are the lump varieties I've used:

B&B Oak Lump (brown bag) - Smells nice when lighting, less ash than their briquettes, but often sparks heavily when lighting in chimney. I get these from our local Ace and they do display the charcoal outside; it has been VERY wet lately in our area, to say the least. It burns somewhat hotter than any of the briquettes I was using above.
B&B Hickory Lump (green bag) - To be honest I didn't see much of a difference between this and the previous one, but I only bought a small bag of this.
Whole Foods Store Brand Lump - Had a terrible experience with this. Burned out quickly, pieces were tiny, lots of ash, and there were pieces of what appeared to be prefab flooring inside the bag. My uncle Raymond swore by this stuff, but he moved to another country for work a while back, so the product has likely changed since he last used it.
Rockwood Hardwood Lump - I've been pretty happy with this one! Nothing to complain about. Lights reasonably well in the chimney (I did not experience the difficulty lighting some reviews have mentioned, but I'm also pretty tolerant/patient when lighting the chimney). Burns very hot, not a huge pile of ash afterwards.
Lazzari Mesquite Lump - Full disclosure, so far I've only opened a bag of this stuff and taken the lump out to store in plastic containers. I noticed it comes with some huge pieces (whole tree limb sections), so we'll see how that goes. The text on the bag warns of sparking when lighting. My cousin Lee-Huang swears by this brand's charcoal (both mesquite and oak varieties), and he's an impressive cook, so I figure I'll give this stuff a shot. They recently changed ownership, and I don't think picking this up in bulk in Brisbane is still an option.

I recommend feeling the bags at the store to get an idea of what size the pieces are in the bag. I've had some bags with lots of little broken bits, which aren't really usable.

This site has the most extensive collection of lump reviews I've seen, though the site is geared towards kamados: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumpindexpage.htm?bag

To be honest, my family usually just wants chicken parts smoked hot and fast, which the hotter burning lump has also been handy for but is probably not actually needed. With a full charcoal bowl of fresh lump I can easily get the stock dome thermometer to 350, but hot and fast chicken is finished long before ash becomes an issue.
 
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Steve Meadows said:
Greetings, everyone! Has anyone ever used lump charcoal in their WSM? I have used KBB for years, with very good results, but was looking to experiment a bit with my rib cooking this summer. If you can let me know if you've had any success, I would appreciate it. Thanks!
Click to expand...
It's a little bit of a learning curve compared to the K but I've been using lump since 08, I use RO ( Royal Oak ) because it's easily accessible and relatively cheap, But there are some better ones.
Get a bag and try it. If you do like it then you should mod your charcoal grate so the smaller pieces don't fall thru.
www.virtualweberbullet.com

Charcoal Grate Modifications - The Virtual Weber Bullet

A few charcoal grate modifications that will improve the performance and ease of use of your Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker.
www.virtualweberbullet.com www.virtualweberbullet.com
 
I don't have a WSM, but I have a variety of other smokers and I vary what I use depending on the cook. I even mix it up sometimes.

Home Depot just started carrying Jealous Devil which is what I currently use exclusively when I use lump.

I also like the Rockwood lump, but it's not sold locally unfortunately.

Here is a database of lump charcoal. It's quite detailed.

The Lump Charcoal Database -- Naked Whiz Charcoal Ceramic Cooking

Reviews of many brands of lump charcoal, with viewer ratings.
www.nakedwhiz.com

Edit: Ooops, I see Michael Chen above already posted this site!

One other point, I think it's a good idea to buy local off a pallet if you can, rather than buy from a site such as Amazon. I think the bags that are delivered get thrown around a lot which results in too many broken small pieces. Best to purchase off a pallet straight from the manufacturer before anybody has a chance to bang the bags around. Hence, any warehouse such as Home Depot or Southern States with the bags still on the pallet would be a better option. Gently place the bags in your cart, pay, and gently load into your vehicle. :-D
 
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I've used it, I consider it a PITA. Lump is oddball shapes and sizes, they don't nest neatly and fill a charcoal ring well. There's a lot of very small pieces ...too small....and then there's some huge pieces. You may have to spend time breaking them up etc which is just undesirable. Just doesn't work as well as briquettes. For a long cook you're not going to get the same amount of charcoal in the ring usually, and it won't last as long. For grilling, yeah it burns hotter and you don't need it to last long. Despite those benefits, most people use it because they think it's "real wood" today, which is all marketing.

Given the choice of lump or Kingsford I'd take the lump though. Kingsford is horrible when lighting. The stench will make you have to take a shower and white smoke will smoke out your neighbors. That is the very last charcoal I will use. I don't know how they sell that stuff honestly. Kingsford thinks people want the fastest time to light... That's pretty much it.... Well making it as cheap as possible. The proliferation of lump in the past 15 years.... Should show them that's not the case but you know they're slow learners.... Or just cheap.
 
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Im kind of miffed that tractor supply apparently quit carrying the cowboy natural briquettes. Just looked on their site and not there i was getting ready to order some..... I'm down to one bag left. By the way, you can't trust tractor supplies inventory they will show they have stuff in stores that they do not have. After probably driving around 75 mi looking for charcoal at several different stores and then finally realizing that they were just wrong..... I finally figured it out. Their inventory tracking on their website sucks. But you can order things for pickup.

I only like to buy charcoal once or twice a year. Because whenever you go to a store to look for it .....it's never there. Only that Kingsford garbage ...... Or 58 different kinds of lumps since every manufacturer jumped on the lump bag bandwagon and every person with a grill believes that that's the best thing to use. All you routinely find most places is a bunch of different kinds of lump and maybe some Kingsford.

Nobody keeps good briquettes ion the shelf like they should year-round, many places discontinue even carrying it about october.

So searched for where else I can get some from........ Walmart.com .... Had it $18 for 2x20 lb bag packs.

And no delivery charge...same day. The no shipping is huge for charcoal. Often, the shipping is as much as the charcoal.

320 lb being delivered today...... No delivery charge..... Didn't have to leave my desk,😊 that should get me through most of this year
 
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Steve Meadows said:
Greetings, everyone! Has anyone ever used lump charcoal in their WSM? I have used KBB for years, with very good results, but was looking to experiment a bit with my rib cooking this summer. If you can let me know if you've had any success, I would appreciate it. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Hello - that's all I have ever used with my 18" - I would say about 15+ years at least. Same answer for my Weber Kettle. Basically since both were new. I keep a small bag of hardwood briquets for starting purposes on the smoker.Typically Humphreys as I can get it reliably at a grain supply very reasonable and it is really good quality. Stay away from Cowboys. I've tried Royal Oak as well some Sugar Maple lumb, just always went back to Humphrey's
 
Brett-EDH said:
So charcoal isn’t real wood? Explain. I’m listening.
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It's..... just Carbon. .. but it's still in the shape of wood....... It's what's left after the wood was burnt without excess air. You can make it out of any organic matter.... Weeds, grass, etc. A lot of commercial activated carbon is made out of coconut husks.... But that's because of the porosity and surface area for absorbing contaminants.

Visually, the cowboy charcoal briquettes seem to have little tiny chips of unburnt wood in them. Possibly for smoke flavor. They also claim they only have 5% vegetable matter (starch) as a binder.
 
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Kingsford......is yuck imo.
That ingredient list doesn't mention starch anthracite coal. And it should have starch as a binder also.

But here's what the duraflame site says about cowboy charcoal:

Anyway, my phone says my 320 lb of charcoal is 3 minutes from my house......😊 I can't get over somebody delivering that for free.... Same day. Walmart must have gotten it in for the spring.
I wonder if Latonya will bring it around back and stack it for me..?
 

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MartinB said:
It's..... just Carbon. .. but it's still in the shape of wood....... It's what's left after the wood was burnt without excess air. You can make it out of any organic matter.... Weeds, grass, etc. A lot of commercial activated carbon is made out of coconut husks.... But that's because of the porosity and surface area for absorbing contaminants.

Visually, the cowboy charcoal briquettes seem to have little tiny chips of unburnt wood in them. Possibly for smoke flavor. They also claim they only have 5% vegetable matter (starch) as a binder.
Click to expand...
okay, so you're talking about Briquettes.

charcoal, in it's natural form is true charcoal, no additives.

i am using JD XL and it's 100% wood. in fact it comes in the bag as wood chunks.

jealousdevil.com

XL Lump | Premium Lump Charcoal | Low Smoke, High Heat

Use the best lump charcoal available whether you're a competitor, pro chef or backyard hero. No sparks or heavy smoke. 1100F+ max temp! Order Now!
jealousdevil.com jealousdevil.com

Our flagship charcoal is a super-size, ultra-premium lump. Crafted from one of the densest hardwoods on the planet and specially carbonized to remove impurities. The result? Hotter, longer, and cleaner burns with incredible flavor. Without sparks, pops, bitter smoke or excessive ash.

  • Huge, industry-leading lump size for maximum performance
  • 100% natural quebracho blanco “axe-breaker” hardwood
  • No sparks, pops, flare-ups, excessive ash, or heavy smoke
  • 1100F+ max temp – reduced refueling & maintenance demands
  • Award-winning flavor preferred by champion pitmasters, pro chefs, and competitors
  • Gorgeous water-resistant, resealable packaging with convenient carry handle
 
Just a reference for folks to read at their leisure:

everything-you-need-to-know-about-charcoal-from-briquettes-to-binchotan

It's a good primer. I love using hardwood lump. For a number of reasons found there. To each his own.

Use both and try them out. Lump actually adds flavor that I like. Creates a lot less ash, so "breathes better" during long cooks as the ash
doesn't cake up as much, etc. It burns hotter over the duration of long cooks and burns a bit longer in my personal experience.

During clean up I also keep the unburnt chunks and save them for the next cook.

This discussion can go on for ever and take pages :)

Briquettes are just fine, but not great - to each his own. There's a lot of reading material out there that you can read to help you along.

But bottom line to the original question - using lump in any of the weber products I own have NO impact on the life of the product. If it burns briquettes it will burn lump just fine.

As far as Cowboy which I tried a few bags of in a pinch - I found a lot of hardwood moulding scraps and other stuff I did not like. It also sparked and flared a lot. Tried those few bags over a couple years. Never bought another bag just didn't like it. I would just use K if I had to use Cowboy as my lump charcoal :) And by the way K makes all hardwood briquettes too. The standard K has charcoal that made primarily from sawmill waste, so just a little different than using hardwood briquettes.

When K shows 70% charcoal it doesn't say hardwood or what that 70% comes from. After all Kingsford was started by Henry Ford - to use all the wood scraps from wheel making (hardwood rims then) and other scrap from framing operaions (yep hardwood there too). It became a secondary marketable product from his manufacture of automobiles. Pretty ingenious IMHO.
 
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MartinB said:
Kingsford......is yuck imo.
That ingredient list doesn't mention starch anthracite coal. And it should have starch as a binder also.

But here's what the duraflame site says about cowboy charcoal:

Anyway, my phone says my 320 lb of charcoal is 3 minutes from my house......😊 I can't get over somebody delivering that for free.... Same day. Walmart must have gotten it in for the spring.
I wonder if Latonya will bring it around back and stack it for me..?
Click to expand...
Wal-Mart has free shipping on orders over $35.
 
Mark_E said:
I was in Ace Hardware today and they had Rockwood Lump for $26 for a 20# bag - Rockwood is ranked #1 on the nakedwhiz site out of 140 brands of lump.

Review of Rockwood Lump Charcoal -- Naked Whiz Ceramic Charcoal Cooking

Review of Rockwood Lump Charcoal
www.nakedwhiz.com
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Rockwood is popular in the BGE circles. I picked up a bag last father's day timeframe. It was on sale and I had a coupon and I picked up a bag of Cowboy Oak lump at the same time which was also on sale.

I had a slight preference for the Cowboy Oak over the Rockwood and I cooked with both on the WSK and the BGE.

I also have Lazzarri Mesquite and Jealous Devil XL.

my only critique of the JD XL is it takes a bit longer to get going than the mesquite or the Cowboy Oak. I seem to recall the rockwood was a bit slow to get going on one of my BGE cooks. There is a chance that this was just me varying the startup sequence.

Cowboy Oak, Rockwood and JD XL all are fairly mild smoke flavor and I'll toss a handful of pellets or wood chips on the lit coals to get some more smoke rolling.

For Beef I use Cherry chips along with the Cowboy Oak.
Pork I either use hickory or apple.

Lazzarri mesquite has a stronger flavor and the lump brings plenty of mesquite flavor. I only use it on hotter cooks like chicken. I might mesquite smoke a turkey breast but I've stopped using it for beef or pork.
 
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