My humble opinion on lump charcoal


 
Danny Pagel

Danny Pagel

New member
My brother (who is an excellent award winning bbq competitor) told me he has been using lump charcoal due in part to alot less ash to clean up. I recently purchased a HUGE bag (I could not find anything smaller) of Royal Oak lump charcoal (can I say Royal Oak on this page?) I set up my 18" WSM as usual to cook a 8 lb pork butt. I was using the minion method with pecan chunks. My brother recommended using about 10-15 charcoal briquettes in the chimney to pour into the center of the lumps,this keeps the sparks down while lighting. Everything was going as usual untill about 5 hours into it...not realizing the lump charcoal was almost spent ( i wasnt keeping a close enough eye on the pit temp) I added more lumps but.. thinking the remaining lumps would ignite the newly added lumps I was WRONG. This caused a stressful amount of time to go by until I was able to get the temp back up. I had to use a torch to get the new lumps fired up.
Everything finally turned out ok. My pork butt was cooked through and was pretty tasty.

I didnt like how fast the lump charcoal burned up. If I had used the equal amount of Kingsford (can I say Kingsford on this page?) initially I could have cooked all night instead of just 5 hours before having to add more coals. Sure, the clean up was easier but I was cooking in my backyard and dont really care about the amount of ash left behind.

In my humble opinion: I think Kingsford charcoal briquettes and Weber Smokers are forever married...all others are just an empty affair.
 
Thanks for sharing your "humble opinion" or "your personal experiences",
Because that's all that matters.:wsm:

Tim
 
I use lump all the time. just put more in any left over can be used next time. I did try kbb briquettes this weekend smoking beef jerky. I used the snake method and temp was very stable with briquettes.
 
You can say Royal Oak and Kingsford here.

There are many paths to the same destination. Sounds like you're finding what you and your family/friends enjoy.
 
Dwain Pannell said:
You can say Royal Oak and Kingsford here.

There are many paths to the same destination. Sounds like you're finding what you and your family/friends enjoy.
Click to expand...

Ditto what Dwain said.... Keep doing what works for you and your family.
 
Kingsford Competition in my WSM's and kettles. Royal Oak in everything else.

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I'm a big fan of KBB in my WSM. I like lump for some stuff like getting my offset started and occasionally I'll run my grill with it. You'll find some VERY strong opinions about charcoal. My favorite brand of lump is no longer available in my area (Full Circle). I may try the Royal Oak next as Home Depot is carrying it now.
 
I don't like the taste some lump puts off for smoking. I like most of my smoke flavor coming from the wood I add. I also have experienced flair ups. in the end though, I can't say the difference was HUGE, but given the fact kingsford is cheaper and more consistent that's what I use.
 
Chris Conro said:
Has anyone here ever tried Coshell?

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B003Z0C10O/tvwb-20
Click to expand...

No, and frankly, at that price, I shall not likely be trying it.

I get excellent results from Kingsford Original and buy a large quantity (as much as 400 lbs. at a time) when it goes on sale. It's consistent results make my smokin' and grillin' considerably easier. That is to say, I KNOW what is going to happen. It is predictable and predictable is GOOD!

Keep on smokin',
Dale53:wsm:
 
There are reasons to use either one, at different times, for different cooks. It comes down to personal preference. I like variety, so I'll use both at different times.
 
I never use lump for long cooks. I find it unpredictable for maintaining consistant temps. But use lump a lot for grilling.

Aussie Heat Beads exclusively for L&S, or Weber 240's if I've run out. But that's just me. :)
 
I like using both for certain things... i love lump for high heat shorter cooks and imo you cant replace kingsford for lower long smokes.
 
Wow, these opinions on charcoal are all over the place. For people that claim that they can;t get long slow burns on lump in my opinion they are using the wrong lump. I get 20 hrs @ 250 temp on my rotten egg using Wicked Good Lump or my new favorites Rockwood or Basque sugar Maple lump. These lumps will burn low & slow for hours on end if loaded right & lit right. If I used briquets to go that long the ash would plug up the ash catcher, then put the fire out. That is just my humble opinion. I even burn lump in my pit barrel now. Well, have fun with whatever you use, it's all guud in the end.
Keep on grillin'!
 
I use both, but more often than not, lump for grilling and kingsford briqs for smoking. The nice thing about the briquettes is they are uniform in size and shape and therefore seem to compact better, leaving less airspace in between pieces. This is one (if not a major) contributor to the shorter burn time on the lump. When using lump for low 'n slow, I've found you have to be a little more careful in making sure you've compacted everything to minimize airspace.

As others have stated, there are many paths we can take to get to the same destination. Lump, charcoal or logs doesn't matter; it just slightly changes your approach.
 
I also use both. I'm a big user of KBB due to it's low cost and consistency. And I always have RO on hand for certain cooks. I do however always seem to find some level of frustration in all but the most expensive bags of lump...RO and Cowboy pretty much always are good for a rock or two (or three) and some insulation. Just my .02.
 
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