Lump not recommended in WSM


 
I always did have trouble reading the owners manual on the stuff that I use
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My not-so-educated guess regarding the owner's manual advising not to use lump would be that lump is known for burning hotter and quicker than briquettes and those characteristics might be enough to be completely confounding to the new user. I find it amusing that if you ever call the Weber help line about the WSM, they point you straight to this website and the discussion forums. Best of luck as everyone fires up for the game on Sunday.
 
I think it burns hot, but novice uses of the wsm will likely end up like me, with a fire that burns inconsistently if you don't load it properly. I had terrible luck with the RO lump, but i've learned from my mistakes and should be ok next time around. I would not have had the same problems if my inaugural cook was with briquettes.
 
Funny....in the winter I use lump because Costco stops carrying briquettes. When the briquettes are available, I will use those (unless I run out, then I use the lump I have on hand for grilling.) I do notice that with the Lazzari hardwood lump that I pick up at their place in Brisbane (which is supposed to just be hickory and oak....but has a good dose of mesquite in most bags) that I need to go easier on the wood chunks for smoke or I can oversmoke things. Interestingly, this is not an issue when I use Big Green Egg lump. Perhaps this points to a more complete carbonization process with the BGE stuff?

Oh, and as for the manual, it is most useful as kindling for your first chimney of coals.
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Rich
 
I may be in the minority....but I've had great success with Royal Oak. Although I purchase it from a restaurant supply store that one needs a membership to buy from. So maybe RO sells them better quality charcoal??? But I can easily get 13-15 hours out of a full ring if I pack it tightly and have gone longer a couple times. I use a clay pot in the pan...maybe that has something to do with it.
 
I'm with JMiller as well - great success with Royal Oak, and I get mine from Wal-Mart. A tightly packed charcoal ring and I've gone repeatedly 15-18hrs with no problem. For those having any issues getting long cook time out of lump, trust me when I say you need to literally hand lay each piece of lump to get a Tetris-like packed ring.

I have noticed better luck with using all 3 vents with lump instead of just using one vent to control temp. I.E. instead of closing 2 vents and leaving 1 vent 1/2 open, close all 3 vents equally to 1/8 open. I've found if I don't then the lump doesn't burn equally on all sides. Although not that it matters for cooking I suppose?
 
Well, I bought my WSM over Christmas, and have cooked briskets, butts, ribs, chicken, turkey, and pheasants in it so far using only lump. I don't take any special care to arrange the stuff for a more efficient burn either. Now, I cook mostly during the day so, I don't worry much about twelve hour, unattended burns. On a long cook, I may have to add a lit chimney of charcoal. I did kinda know how to cook BBQ going in, but I have yet to use briquets.
 
I agree that trying to learn to use the WSM would be more difficult if the novice started with lump right away - possibly leading to him/her getting frustrated and giving up completely. (Which might not be totally bad if it resulted in a bargain-priced WSM being sold on Craig's list, but that's another subject.
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) Better to learn to cook on the WSM with a good-quality briquette, and then graduate to lump (if one so desires).
 
I mainly used regular K, but the last two smokes, including one I'm doing right now, I've used lump and it seems to work great. The only thing is you have to lay the lump in there just right to pack it well, as opposed to just dumping briquettes in there.

The manual is probably written for inexperienced people whom Weber doesn't want to scare off by having them screw up the temps. So, they probably figure if they can get people to use briquettes, they might be able to control the temp better and make them like their WSM better.
 
I've used both K briqs and lump with good results on both. My last smoke got over 12 hr burn on 9lbs of lump- smoked a fairly large bos. butt @ around 300 deg and came out very well- same quality as if had smoked at lesser temps.
 
I just used lump for the first time in my WSM this past weekend. One was a quick smoke for salmon and the other was a long, slow one for brisket.

I had no problems using lump at all. In fact, it seemed almost easier than using briquettes. I think the key is to get decent lump that you can pack in there really well.

I found some lump at Sam's called Best West. They had a 40 lb bag of it. The thing that surprised me was that it had some HUGE pieces of lump in there. At first I didn't like that, but when I used them it worked great. I put the big pieces in and filled in the gaps with a bunch of the smaller pieces. I didn't have to add any for about 12 hours. And the temps were very easy to keep.

Regardless of what the manual says, I'll probably just stick to using lump in my WSM from now on.
 
Someone mentioned BGE lump. That is made by Royal Oak but much higher in price. I've used both K and RO Briquets and now use Cowboy lump. It sparks a little but keeps constant. I order it thru Ace Hardware for $11.99 per 20# bag. It ships to your nearest store.
 
I was a dedicated K user until last summer. I tried RO Steakhouse lump because it is readily available at Menards. It smelled nice on start up, but it was a little less stable initially. I think it had to do with not packing the ring real tight. I got sick of finding rocks and insulation in the RO and I saw a discussion of Grove lump on a blog. I can find it at any Piggly Wiggly around my area for $10.69 for 20 pound bag. No foreign material in three bags, large chunks and it burns very hot with little ash. Naked Whiz gives it a good review too. If you live in Wisconsin, this might be a very good choice for lump. The hardwood comes from Canada and is bagged in Wisconsin in Cedar Grove. I'm loving it so far.
 
Get some Royal Oak lump at Walmart. Out of over 60 competitive bbqer's polled, Royal oak was the number 3 lump used, with Wicked Good being #1. I can't remeber which one was #2 at the moment. I used Wicked Good a lot, but was going broke paying more for shipping then what the charcoal cost, same thing with RealMontana, but I still indulge in some Real Montana lump now and then, wow is it good stuff, espcially their maple lump.
 
Originally posted by Michael Freeman:
I just used lump for the first time in my WSM this past weekend. One was a quick smoke for salmon and the other was a long, slow one for brisket.

I had no problems using lump at all. In fact, it seemed almost easier than using briquettes. I think the key is to get decent lump that you can pack in there really well.

I found some lump at Sam's called Best West. They had a 40 lb bag of it. The thing that surprised me was that it had some HUGE pieces of lump in there. At first I didn't like that, but when I used them it worked great. I put the big pieces in and filled in the gaps with a bunch of the smaller pieces. I didn't have to add any for about 12 hours. And the temps were very easy to keep.

Regardless of what the manual says, I'll probably just stick to using lump in my WSM from now on.
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Ya'll gotta listen to this guy, us Freeman's know the Q.
 
I kept wondering why it wouldn't let me use the name "Mike Freeman" on the board. Now I know why. :p

At first I didn't like RO, but I think that was because I wasn't used to lump. Now that I'm used to it I love RO. And even though Comp K is definitely better than regular K, I think I still prefer lump.
 
Originally posted by Michael Freeman:
I kept wondering why it wouldn't let me use the name "Mike Freeman" on the board. Now I know why. :p

At first I didn't like RO, but I think that was because I wasn't used to lump. Now that I'm used to it I love RO. And even though Comp K is definitely better than regular K, I think I still prefer lump.
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Tis a amall world Mike, what makes it even smaller is I moved to Cape Coral from Pensacola.

Mike
 
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