Lump or briquettes in the WSK? Which is better?


 
John K BBQ said:
Oh boy... you had to ask that question. You'll get a bunch of different answers. I use briquettes for low and slow/indirect cooks when I'm using the heat deflector plate on my WSK. The uniform shape of the briqs leads to a uniform ignition of the coal bed, to the temperature control is a little less effort with briqs provided that you build the fire correctly. Kingsford Original, Royol Oak, and B&B are all popular brand for briqs here on the forum. This is not to say one "can't" achieve good temperature control with lump, but you may have to adjust vents more often.

I prefer to use lump when doing anything else but low and slow. There is just so much less ash production with lump charcoal.. Lump also burns hotter so it's really nice for searing steaks/tuna and chops, etc.. Some forum members can tell the difference in flavor when using lump vs briqs but my pallette isn't that refined so I really can't tell the difference. I do think the lump smells a little better when lighting a chimney. Some premium brands made with wood from South America have a little different smell vs lump made in the USA. I like Fogo quite a bit. I have used a lot of Rockwood Brand lump (made in Missouri) and it works well too.

Ceramic grills can't handle the ash output of normal briquettes like Kingsford and Royal Oak... I don't know what exactly that ash does to the ceramics but it's one of several reasons why I bought the WSK instead of a BGE or Kamado Joe.
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^^^ THIS ^^^

Briquettes for LnS.. I prefer Kingsford Pro.
Everything else gets lump.. Jealous Devil is my current favorite, though it's hard to find in my area.
 
Cindy -- A lot of us on here use Kingsford Professional Competition (aka K Pro) for our briqs. Costco carries 2x18# units during the warm weather, and it is a good price (about 50 cents per #) when it goes on sale there. Usually around Mem and Labor Days.

As compared to regular KBB, burns hotter with significantly less ash. The bag says it is the Kingsford product targeted to ceramic grills.
 
I'm planning on trying Jealous Devil and Fogo lump for a little compare/contrast. I mainly want to master searing but I'll see how well they do for low and slow, which like others I usually go for briquettes.

Whatever you do, stay away from Royal Oak lump. Otherwise known as a bag of rocks with some charcoal dust :LOL:
 
ZachMendel said:
I mainly want to master searing but I'll see how well they do for low and slow, which like others I usually go for briquettes.
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IMO, kind of a waste of money to do LAS with JD lump coal. JD runs around $1.15# and Costco sells KPro on sale for around $0.52#. as Harry Su says, BTUs are BTUs. LAS is the heat part, wood chunks are the flavor parts. Not that I'm here to spend your money. Just contrasting the two products for cost and net results.

For searing, JD is phenomenal. I haven't used a better product. I have no experience with Fogo so I have nothing to add there.
 
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