Newbie at Lump


 
C

Chris S Lewis

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Okay,

I know this lump v “K” thing has been kicked around a lot here but I’ve got a couple of questions.
I’ve used Royal Oak lump in the past in my kettle for cooking “black and blue” steaks. It burns MUCH hotter in the kettle then K. So I guess I’m wondering if it’s a different animal in the bullet. I’m guessing from the posts I’ve seen that in the WSM it’s controllable? I think I’d like the flavor more.
My other question, is Royal Oak good enough? I can’t find anything else around here.

Thanks for listening.
 
Chris,

Royal Oak is fine, IMO, I've used it before. They have briquettes also, but you mentioned lump, the lump is good, as I remember, but I haven't used it for about 7 or 8 years, so get another opinion.
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One thing about lump in the WSM is that if you leave the lid off it can swing the temp very quickly when you do get the lid back on.

The other thing I notice is that as it starts to run out of lump in the WSM, the temp also shoots up some, maybe the coal is doing it's final settling or something.

I have never used anything but lump in my WSM.
 
Chris, all I can get localy is RO Lump. I use it constantly and enjoy it over K. The biggest adjustment I had to make when switching from K to lump is the amount of LIT added for minion. It took me awhile to get the hang of it, and so I used K for my lit. Start by filling your ring 1/3 of the way with lump, use a pair of tongs or your hands to move the lump around so it can settle. Also grabbing the ring and turning it back and forth will settle the lump (your trying to fill the gaps between the lump and "pack" it tightly). Then fill another 1/3 to 2/3 and so on... keep adding a little and then make sure its fitting tightly together. When the ring is full toss 8-10 K briq. into the chiminey (I bank them to one side) and light them. Then I spread them around the top of the top of the tightly packed ring of lump and add wood on top. I place my wood chunks on the burning briqs. After you've used K as a starter long enough you will get a feel for how much lump to use as lit. Then you will never have to buy a bag of K again
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Hope this helps.

Brandon
 
Thanks for insight. There's a lump smoke in my near furture!! I'm thinking the classic, impossible to screw up (and I've tried) pork butt.

Thank you again.
 
I found a 10 pound bag of royal oak at walmart for a little more than $5 a bag. I have never used lump before and at that price I have to give it a try. What I wonder about is cooking times. I have always used "k" and I have found that I can get on average a 17 to 18 hour burn at 235 to 240 lid. Will a packed ring full of "RO" cook this long and if not how much charcoal will it take for a cook at this temp for this long. I think with my first cook with lump will be a boston butt. Thanks for any help!
 
Lump in the WSM is golden in my view. I've been using lump for years now. Be a little more careful about stacking in the ring and perhaps us a little less lit for minion and you'll be fine.

I will occasionally use hardwood briquettes as the minion starter but typically just use small amount of lump.

AFA RO Lump lots of people like it. I haven't used it since I have been able to get Humphrey's at wholesale and love it. That's key if you start using lump. Finding a good source at a good price.

Here's a post I made awhile back about a source I found for RO lump and HW briquettes. They seem to keep a consistant stock. I have been in the store in Reading, PA several times now and they always have a pallet or so available. You might want to check out one of there stores if you can't find a consistant supply at good prices:

RO Lump Source

Just give a call first to make sure they have it in stock before you go. But they are pretty cool places and worth a trip regardless.
 
I use a BGE and I was wondering if you use lump differently in a weber?

We make sure there is some air space when piling on the lump. The combustion air comes in from below so we need to allow air to move.

Also, after we light it we let the starters burn out and then don't cook anything on it until the smoke coming off is clear or faint blue.

Lastly, avoid south american R.O. as it tends to spark and give off flying ash like crazy! It says right on the bag where it's made, so when you see the 20 lb bag on sale at wally world for $10, make sure it's a product of the USA!
 
We use only lump in our WSM's. If you're used to K, first thing to get used to with lump is it takes a little more to get it all arranged in the coal ring. after a while, you get the hang of it. I also use a second grate perpendicular to the first under the coal, so the smaller pieces don't slip through. There is far less ash created from the lump so you shouldn't have to worry about ash suffocating your fire. The only thing we use k for now is the LaCaja China and the Orion
 
Like Dann B says, I sue double fuel grates (crossed) in the WSM and the Performer. I don't worry about stacking in the Performer, and actually in the WSM only during long overnights for Butts, etc. Otherwise I just dump it in the ring and give it a shake. Stacking for long cooks helps eliminate hot temp spikes, but frankly I haven't had all that much trouble, maybe on one or two cooks where I was too lazy to stack carefully.
 
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