Stubbs briquettes not cooperating as usual!


 
D

Dave Russell

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Guys, this is just a FYI regarding a bag of Stubbs briquettes from Lowes that has been in my shed a few weeks.

I started the cook 7:30 this morning with vents 100% open, and left them there, allowing the temp to climb up to about 275 by 11:00. Well, I watched it slowly go back down with no vent changes all the way down to about 215 by around 12:30!

I wish I could've seen how far it would die down, but one of the bottom butts hit 170. After I got finished foiling and rotating, I tapped the legs several times and put my plastic drum back on. The temp climbed up to almost 325 in short order, has thankfully only dropped down to about 300, and will hopefully cooperate from here out.

I've never had a bag of Stubbs do this before, and it lit off the same as usual.
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Glad I decided not to do an overnighter! Any ideas as to what gives? I'm guessing there's a lot more binder(ash) than usual, and come to think about it, the smell was a lot stronger when it was in the chimney...so it STINKS when you get an inferior product, especially when you've been so satisfied that you repeatedly recommended it.
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Funny you mention it smelling. I lit a chimney of Stubbs last night (first chimney out of a newly opened bag). I walked past the Performer while it was getting going and there was a definite odor that I'm not used to smelling from Stubbs (similar to K but not as strong). It made me stop and think to myself, "that's odd". I didn't notice it burning any differently though(I was grilling, not smoking)...and I had forgotten all about it until your post.

Wonder if they've changed something?
 
99% of the time if you are having a hard time lighting charcoal or lump, and you have a funny smell, it means it has absorbed to much moisture from the air. All charcoal will do this if it is stored somewhere where it can absorbe moisture and eventually it gets to be a problem.

Living in Oregon were it rains 7-8 months a year I can't tell you how many times I have ruined a brand new bag of charcoal by just leaving it under the covered porch overnight. It really doesn't take long and once it happens you need to wait for a spell of hot dry weather to dry the charcoal back out.

I now store all my charcoal in the garage as far from the door as I can get it. And if it is humid or damp out I don't set my ring up untill I am actually ready to light it.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Glenn W:
I tried Stubbs before and it worked great, however most dont know that it is made by Cowboy. Just FYI. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah, I've never liked reading "Cowboy" on the bag in fine print, but it's always worked 100%, NO COMPLAINTS HERE...until today. I've got one bag in the shed I might actually try to get Lowes to give me my $$ back for.

It's funny how I can smoke three to four butts for fourteen-sixteen hours, even using water in the pan, but the same bag is only barely enough to get four done with no water, foiling for two to three hours, and a plastic drum around the smoker the whole time. I even added 3/4 a chimney of lit K at the end of the cook to just make sure they'd get done with a little time to spare. Oh, regarding the drum, it warped on me.
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I was kind of afraid of that. I can still use it, though..at least for now.

Oh...and thanks for the link, Glenn. I suspect the Wicked Good is kind of high, but I'll check it out. I also might order some of the RO chef's select briquettes through DOITbest.com.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Don Cash:
Funny you mention it smelling. I lit a chimney of Stubbs last night (first chimney out of a newly opened bag). I walked past the Performer while it was getting going and there was a definite odor that I'm not used to smelling from Stubbs (similar to K but not as strong). It made me stop and think to myself, "that's odd". I didn't notice it burning any differently though(I was grilling, not smoking)...and I had forgotten all about it until your post.

Wonder if they've changed something? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

"similiar to K, but not as strong"...

yep, that's how I'd describe it, exactly. I could care little about the smell, though. I've been using it 'cause it doesn't ash up and start suffocating itself like K often does. This bag was worse than K by far though, and was definately different stuff than what I've used before.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by JIRodriguez:
99% of the time if you are having a hard time lighting charcoal or lump, and you have a funny smell, it means it has absorbed to much moisture from the air. All charcoal will do this if it is stored somewhere where it can absorbe moisture and eventually it gets to be a problem.

Living in Oregon were it rains 7-8 months a year I can't tell you how many times I have ruined a brand new bag of charcoal by just leaving it under the covered porch overnight. It really doesn't take long and once it happens you need to wait for a spell of hot dry weather to dry the charcoal back out.

I now store all my charcoal in the garage as far from the door as I can get it. And if it is humid or damp out I don't set my ring up untill I am actually ready to light it. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'll take that into account, and I've heard that about the smell and moisture. However, it lit just fine, and was ashing over in the chimney just as fast as usual, if I'm not mistaken. Also, my temp seemed to climb just as fast as usual, although the drum helped. (I noticed there at the end that when I took the drum off to tap the legs that the temp dropped 10 degrees or so real quick.)

I will take your advice concerning the moisture, though. Thanks.
 
Interesting you guys should bring this up, as I was just thinking about the rain and how the humidity might affect my charcoal (both Royal Oak lump and Stubbs All-Natural briquettes) sitting at length on my covered porch. The last few days, we've had a lot of unseasonal rain, which makes 100% humidity in the air. A couple of days ago, as I was preparing my OTS for a 4-hr pork baby back rib smoke, I wondered what the humidity might do to the charcoal, and if it would have an adverse effect. The day before the smoke, I placed the unlit charcoal in the OTS to prepare for a mini-Minion burn and took the humidity into account. All the charcoal bags were very flexible and almost felt wet. I went ahead with it anyway, and left everything out as it were. The next day, the briquettes lit fine, and the smoke went off without a hitch.

I normally keep all my charcoal in my garage, but lately, I've been keeping a stock of some out on the patio so it's there for when I need it. I've never had a problem or even considered the humidity until now. Of course, I also live in Boise, Idaho, and the climate here is technically "high desert", so we don't have even half the rain that JIRodriguez has in Oregon. My brother- and sister-in-law live in Portland, Oregon and it sure is a lot wetter than here!

Having said that, I also have not had any problems at all with Stubbs briquettes, and most likely this is due to the climate I am in. I am going to try, however Royal Oak Chef's Best briquettes through DOITbest.com since there is a couple of local stores here that accept site-to-store shipments, and the price per pound is $0.48/lb. for Royal Oak briquettes and $0.56/lb. for Stubbs briquettes at Lowes.

Sorry for the rambling; this thread just struck a chord with me since I just had it on my mind a few days ago!

Dave - good luck with your future cooks and charcoal purchases!

Barret
 
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