Ready to give up on Lump


 
BobJ

BobJ

TVWBB Super Fan
Bought my 1st 2 bags of lump, this happens to be B&B, I'm having nothing but issues trying to get this stuff lit in a Weber large chimney. The chunks are for the most part pretty big, like bigger then 3x3, some are maybe 6x4 limbs. I've tried placing them in the chimney to get them to pack down a bit more but I still end up resorting to a torch after the paper burns away. I have been reusing the left overs from the last cook, mixing in anything over 1"x1".

How do you folks get yours to light?
 
<shrug> I light B+B all the time in a large Weber chimney, a double wide sheet of newsprint wadded up below the screen with a couple of squirts of vegetable oil. The only time that I have had problems is when I have an excessive amount of fines and small pieces, or if it's noticably damp. In 10-20 minutes, I've got a load of hot coals.
 
I like B&B lump but I prefer briquettes all day for this reason. You gotta play tetris with the the chunks to get a full chimney.
 
There must be something wrong with this bag. I dumped the chimney shown above, 10 min later I started some roadside ckn, after 35 min more the fire is down to 250 according to the lid thermometer.

I moved everything over to the Genny. I'll try the other bag but this one goes to the dump.
 
The thing I don't like about lump is the huge variation in size. I started sorting the pieces out and breaking up the bigger chunks to avoid the tetris game that Dustin refers to, which seems to help with consistent lighting and get a more even temperature across the cooker. Basically if I see a piece of lump longer than my palm is wide, I break it.

That's weird how you got a "dud" bag. I've never had that experience. I have used B&B briquettes, but never lump. I'm not a big fan of the B&B briquettes due to the strange colors I saw in the charcoal after my cooks. My go to lump is Royal Oak or Rockwood, I have not had issues with either.
 
Maybe it got wet at some point. All I know for sure is I don't want to hassle with it. I've used the bag 4 times so far, none of which started nicely. This is the only time I had low temp from it, this is also the only time I spread the coals over the whole grill as opposed to using the basket/s.

I have 3 bags of briquettes, those I know how to use.
 
Sizing issues are up to the manufacturer, and how well it's screened before bagging. Smalls & fines should be sent to briquette manufacturing, large chunks should be broken down.

I stopped using Royal Oak lump after I got better than a 1 lb. chunk of clinker in the bag, and RO flat out did not care.
 
I find this humorous for a reason that won't make sense to you normal members. I smoke and grill at our walkout basement 10X12 pad, above which is our deck. It's the perfect structure for having erected an overhead tarp suspended by an ad hoc PVC frame and enables me to cook outdoors at 0-100*f, rain, snow, or shine. After 3 years of KBB, exclusively, I was ready for some lump. After my first lump fire, I was left with half a dozen pinholes in the tarp, which I didn't discover until the next downpour. So I bought a bicycle tire tube to patch those holes but I would love to try some lump again. I keep pondering a span of aluminum foil or tin across the PVC frame as a workaround. Now it's on my list again :)
 
BFletcher said:
I find this humorous for a reason that won't make sense to you normal members. ... :)
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Normal members??? We have normal members??? Who are they???

BobJ said:
I'm having nothing but issues trying to get this stuff lit in a Weber large chimney.
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Don't use a chimney. Make a pile of lump in your kettle. Stick a starter cube or two into the middle of the pile (I use the Weber cubes). Light the cube(s). See the first method in this video:
 
Now that's worth a shot, I have a box of starter cubes. Been using a chimney for so long I didn't think about not using one.

I wonder if the Black Diamond, is a uniform as the video makes it look , or if it's more like a McDonald's commercial where what you see is not what you get? My B&B sure doesn't look like that.
 
Bought a big bag of lump years ago when I got my performer and wasn't impressed, it popped a lot and put embers on the food I was grilling, ended up using 1/2 a bag before I give up and finished it on my offset smoker. been straight briquets ever since. And I have been happy enuf that I haven't needed to search for something better,
 
I use lump for 90% of my cooks. BB is probably one of the worst I have ever tried for the reason you mention its really dense and lights slow and also burns slow. If your local Ace carries Rockwood give it a shot it burns clean within minutes of getting it going. I would even take royal oak over the BB.
 
Followup. I tried the "bad" bag of B&B, starting a pile in the grill using 2 fire starters. After 25 minutes coals around 1 of the starters had lit for about a 4" circle, at the 2nd starter, almost nothing started. A bad thing about starting, or in my case attempting to start, the fire right in the grill is that many of the smaller chunks fell right thru the coal grate while I was piling it up.
 
BobJ said:
A bad thing about starting, or in my case attempting to start, the fire right in the grill is that many of the smaller chunks fell right thru the coal grate while I was piling it up.
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Adding a second coal grate and turning it 90degs helps keep the smallies from falling thru.
When i light lump in the chimney I add a layer of briqs in the bottom, that also helps smallies from falling thru.
Once I see flames likin the top I dump it.

Tim
 
That's what I was thinking, the 2nd grate. If I decide to try lump again.
 
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BobJ said:
That's what I was thinking, the 2nd gate. If I decide to try lump again.
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The Slow N Sear also has a nice grid built into the bottom that helps keep the smaller pieces from falling down.
2nd charcoal grate is a much cheaper way to go for sure though.

Speaking of charcoal grates....my wife bought me one of these stainless steel charcoal grates and so far so good. It's just a charcoal grate, but hoping it'll be the last one I have to buy as the standard ones wear out after a few years. This SS one is twice the price of a standard, but if you plan on keeping your grill for a while, it's a good investment.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F9YJ5P6/?tag=tvwb-20

Some of the used grills I purchase sometimes have rust starting to form on the brackets that hold the grates. I even had a piece of the bracket snap off from rust. Wondering if when the standard grates start to rust if that transfers over to the brackets? Maybe, maybe not
 
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When I rebuilt the guts of my charcoal grill a few years ago, I ended up finding a piece of stainless expanded mesh for the bottom of the charcoal tray. It's showing no signs of corrosion or failure.
 
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