Lump vs briquettes


 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Chris Wagg:
Haha, Canadiantire is where I got the lump that I have. They had tons of it real cheap, so I loaded up. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
My Crappy Tire has a pallet of RO lump,$7.49 a bag I think.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">
My Crappy Tire has a pallet of RO lump,$7.49 a bag I think. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
That is likely the 4 kg bag. which works out to 14.98 for 8kg. I think that I would pay the extra $2 or $3 for getting a bag of Maple Leaf or Basques. This way I know I am getting a good bag of charcoal that is Made in Canada.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Joe Dang:
I even tried one bag of some all natural briquettes from Trader Joes. Took to long to light, so the top part was unlit and cold, while the bottom half was burning away. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Trader Joes brand is actually Rancher All Natural Briquets. I use and like them. Good even burn and no bad smells. I will use lump, Royal Oak most of the time, when grilling and Rancher when smoking.
 
The good:

lights fast
burns hot
tastes good
very little ash

The bad:

Burns fast
Huge variation in quality between brands, with limited availability to always use the same brand.
Large pieces can block heat from underlying fire while grilling directly.
Poor quality lump pops a lot.
If your fire gets too hot, it can be more difficult to aggressively choke your fire without it going out. Not a huge problem, but it can happen.

I don't think it is a Brick vs. Lump issue. It's kind of nice to be familiar with both. I like lump in the winter, because it is much easier to light. A mix of both types is nice too... Gives a good flavor with a smooth burn and less ash. It is difficult for me to cook with lump for more than 4-6 hours. Longer cooks are easier for me when I use kingsford or a mix with minion-type method.

Definitely check out the Naked Whiz website. I found a highly rated lump charcoal at my local grocery store.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I found a highly rated lump charcoal at my local grocery store. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I found a highly rated lump charcoal at my local grocery store. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ernie, please share
icon_smile.gif

I have a bag of Full Circle lump from Schunks, but not tried it yet.
On sale, it's $5 for 8.8 lbs.
 
I use Royal Oak lump, the USA stuff, and REALLY like it. It burns very hot, quite a bit faster than briquetes, but the taste can't be duplicated. I only use it for grilling, not for smoking at all, because of the inconsistency of the temps and burn times for longer smokes. My first lump experience was similar to yours, I bought a bag of Cowboy, about burned my self to death with the sparks, few fireworks displays can equal the stuff coming out of my chimney starter. I honestly had to put on welding gloves to dump it the spark shower was so bad. Royal Oak sparks a little, but does nothing like the Cowboy did. The ash when you open the lid is a concern, but if you lift the lid slowly, that can be prevented too.
 
I got a hold of the guy's who make Maple Leaf and they said that Home Hardware could order both lump and briquettes for me.I will be trying both as soon as I can get it,Glad to buy Canadian when I can.
 
I buy RO lump from Canadian Tire and its works
well, its got the name old fashion on the bag.

I have seen it at a couple of chicken and smoke
meat joints.

Anthony
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Millsy:
I got a hold of the guy's who make Maple Leaf and they said that Home Hardware could order both lump and briquettes for me.I will be trying both as soon as I can get it,Glad to buy Canadian when I can. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I just ordered 2 8 kg(17.6 lb)bags $12.99 each of briquettes and they will be in on Thursday.
 
There must be more to Lump than what meets the eye though. How can they sell briquettes for 12.99, and ask 17.99 for the lump? I think that a bag of briquettes will burn the same length of time as a bag of lump will when packed right, so where is the difference other than the quality of the original product?
 
I don't Dave but I will find out.I am fairly new to this charcoal thing and have trouble with the inconsistency of lump.I think I will learn on briq's first then play with lump.I am trying to find a better product than K,plus Maple Leaf is Canadian.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dave K:
There must be more to Lump than what meets the eye though. How can they sell briquettes for 12.99, and ask 17.99 for the lump? I think that a bag of briquettes will burn the same length of time as a bag of lump will when packed right, so where is the difference other than the quality of the original product? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Since lump has no filler lump should last longer by weight. It also holds together better if you're reusing fuel from cook to cook.

Re: the earlier post about large pieces being annoying - lump's pretty brittle. If you just wack it with a hammer the large lump problem gets solved very easily! Small pieces are more of a problem but if you're adding them to the top of a packed ring it's not like they're going to fall all the way through. They'll mostly get burnt.
 
Wow - lots of posts on lump & briquettes.

One thing you mentioned Chris was the ash rising when you lifted the lid. It would happen especially with lump, and I read once (probably on this forum) to lift the lid gently and move it sideways rather than going straight up. It prevents drawing up the light ash. Works for me.

I am assuming you are using a kettle.
 
Lump, it's what I cook over each and everytime I cook on the WSM or any one of the 7 Weber Grills I own, minus the Weber Gold D of course, so make it 6 charcoals grills, WSM's. I just love lump, never had any issues using it.
icon_confused.gif
 
Hi,
I'm very new to bbq-in. I just bought a 18" WSM and love it so far! I've only cooked a whole chicken and 4 racks of beef ribs. My ribs were soooo good that I've been thinking about them and looking at the pics I took of them all week!

On both cooks I used K and oak wood chunks the size of a fist. K so far seems to be real consistent. But after a full charcoal ring and using the minion method, it seems that the ash from K chokes my fire after 4 hrs, I needed to stir and tap the bowl to get the ash to drop which would bring the temp back up.

This weekend I'm conflicted over if I want to smoke a 4 bone prime rib or use the WSM as a grill, and grill a tri-tip. Yesterday I went to Wal-Mart to go fuel shopping. So far I like the K and had no problems with flavor on my chicken and ribs. My wife and I ate the chicken and thought it was good, but my friends and I LOVED the ribs I smoked using K and Oak. So I bought another chimney to help start my WSM either in the standard method or to use 2 if needed when grilling. I ended up also buying Royal Oak lump to just try something different. Here in Denver at Walmart, a 16 LB of K was about $8.50 and a 10 LB bag of Roal Oak (I believe its the USA brand) was about $6.50.

So I'm leaning on grilling a tri-tip for the first time and I think lump for this will be the way to go. I was in Santa Barbra last Nov and down there they do what's called Santa Maria BBQ. Basically they grill over an adjustable grate that they use to bring the food further or closer to the fire, and they use wood for fuel and flavor. I'm going to try to copy that this weekend using a full chimney or 2 of royal oak with some more oak wood. I'll put all the lit coals and wood on one side of the grate so I can sear and have indirect heat on the other side. We'll see how this goes but I'm thinking it should be pretty fricken good if I sear the meat on both sides for about 3-4 min and then move it to the off the hot side and smoke it until its done.

I guess my point is I need to experiment more with everything, but that darn K was very consistent. The lump for grilling should be awesome though to mimic Santa Maria style.

Thoughts?

Thanks!
 
Mark,
My thought on the matter is use whatever works for you. I usually smoke (on either my WSM or BDS) with Rancher briquettes if I can get em or Kingsford comp if I can't and grill with Royal Oak lump. I like the consistancy of briqs when smoking.
Santa Maria style Tri-Tip is terrific. I think the simplicity of the spices and the use of Oak wood is what makes it special. You should really enjoy it.
 
For tri-tip the kettle is more straightforward than the WSM. Coals on one side so you have direct and indirect. I do a reverse sear where you do the sear at the end (so you start that before you get to your final temperature obviously).

Prime rib's really straightforward. You can cook it anywhere from, oh, 225 to 375. The only gotcha is that the cooler you go the more even the inside's going to be (giving that edge to edge pink color), but at the lower temps you'll probably want to add a sear step. One of the recipes here calls for just salt and pepper and with a good piece of meat it's lovely.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Millsy:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Millsy:
I got a hold of the guy's who make Maple Leaf and they said that Home Hardware could order both lump and briquettes for me.I will be trying both as soon as I can get it,Glad to buy Canadian when I can. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I just ordered 2 8 kg(17.6 lb)bags $12.99 each of briquettes and they will be in on Thursday. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I used the Maple Leaf briq's for the first time today with my new rotissary ring and thought that they worked great.I will see tommorow how much ash is left behind.The bag say's all natural and they sparked a little and look like there could be less filler too.For a $1 more than K the price is not a concern.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Millsy:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Millsy:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Millsy:
I got a hold of the guy's who make Maple Leaf and they said that Home Hardware could order both lump and briquettes for me.I will be trying both as soon as I can get it,Glad to buy Canadian when I can. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I just ordered 2 8 kg(17.6 lb)bags $12.99 each of briquettes and they will be in on Thursday. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
I used the Maple Leaf briq's for the first time today with my new rotissary ring and thought that they worked great.I will see tommorow how much ash is left behind.The bag say's all natural and they sparked a little and look like there could be less filler too.For a $1 more than K the price is not a concern. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
It looked like less ash than K to me,I have 2 bags to figure it out.
 
I do a lot of long cooks, 12 to 18 hours in a Big Green Egg. There is no way I have ever been able to get an 18 hour cook using K without adding charcoal and cleaning out the air inlet because there is so much junk left from the K. RO Lump burns hotter, longer, and with very litte ash production. I also like to get the Egg to 700 degrees and sear steak, no can do with K. When I do buy it I will use K smoking turkeys and ribs in the WSM though, it's easier to dump the ash.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Mark (markx3):
Hi,
I'm very new to bbq-in. I just bought a 18" WSM and love it so far! I've only cooked a whole chicken and 4 racks of beef ribs. My ribs were soooo good that I've been thinking about them and looking at the pics I took of them all week!

On both cooks I used K and oak wood chunks the size of a fist. K so far seems to be real consistent. But after a full charcoal ring and using the minion method, it seems that the ash from K chokes my fire after 4 hrs, I needed to stir and tap the bowl to get the ash to drop which would bring the temp back up.

This weekend I'm conflicted over if I want to smoke a 4 bone prime rib or use the WSM as a grill, and grill a tri-tip. Yesterday I went to Wal-Mart to go fuel shopping. So far I like the K and had no problems with flavor on my chicken and ribs. My wife and I ate the chicken and thought it was good, but my friends and I LOVED the ribs I smoked using K and Oak. So I bought another chimney to help start my WSM either in the standard method or to use 2 if needed when grilling. I ended up also buying Royal Oak lump to just try something different. Here in Denver at Walmart, a 16 LB of K was about $8.50 and a 10 LB bag of Roal Oak (I believe its the USA brand) was about $6.50.

So I'm leaning on grilling a tri-tip for the first time and I think lump for this will be the way to go. I was in Santa Barbra last Nov and down there they do what's called Santa Maria BBQ. Basically they grill over an adjustable grate that they use to bring the food further or closer to the fire, and they use wood for fuel and flavor. I'm going to try to copy that this weekend using a full chimney or 2 of royal oak with some more oak wood. I'll put all the lit coals and wood on one side of the grate so I can sear and have indirect heat on the other side. We'll see how this goes but I'm thinking it should be pretty fricken good if I sear the meat on both sides for about 3-4 min and then move it to the off the hot side and smoke it until its done.

I guess my point is I need to experiment more with everything, but that darn K was very consistent. The lump for grilling should be awesome though to mimic Santa Maria style.

Thoughts?

Thanks! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
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