Urgent: Q'ing right now


 
Michael G. (Canada Mike)

Michael G. (Canada Mike)

TVWBB All-Star
Hi,
Short version: If I use the Minion method with charcoal rather than briquettes, will I need to add more charcoal? How long can I expect the heat to last?

Long Version: I inadvertently bought charcol instead of briquettes. I am now smoking to 7 lb boneless pork butts. I started at 9.30, and am concerned that the charcoal might burn faster than briquettes. OTOH, I've often had the difficulty of keeping heat up. Right now it's 7c, 44f here in Toronto, so it's nice to have a hotter fuel, but will I have to replace it?

Thanks,
Canada Mike
 
That's a tough one to answer not knowing what type, how full you filled the ring, what your temp stabilized at, etc.

But, I'll assume you mean lump charcoal (briquettes are charcoal also, just a different type), and you filled it as full as the ring would hold. If you didn't use too many lit to start it with and didn't get run-away temps, you should be able to control the vents, keep the temp stable and it should last the full cook.

It's not a disaster if it doesn't. Just open the access door and add a few unlit chunks toward the end of the cook if the temp drops off and you've already compensated all you can by opening the vents to keep the temp up.

Good luck, don't sweat it. Keep the temps relatively stable and you should get a good long burn.
 
There are a number of people on the board who prefer and use lump. Here's a thread that discusses the two options and might be helpful to you.

Paul
 
After the cook, so a moot point, but you said you used the Minion Method, then you said you put a starter chimney of lit, topped by another starter chimney of unlit. That would be the Standard Method, and won't get you the long burn times of the Minion Method, so you would probably have to add more lump to keep the cook going.

Minion Method - you fill the charcoal ring of the WSM (not the starter chimney) with unlit briquets or lump, then light 10-18 briquets or chunks of lump in the starter chimney, when good and lit, pour them in the middle of the filled charcoal ring, assemble the WSM, add the meat and start closing down the vents when the temp gets to 200 or so. And adjust vents as the temp gets to desired level.

Regardless, hope it went well and you're enjoying some good Q.
 
Yep, I realised I got it wrong when I followed through on another post. In any case, it came out great - just took a lot of jumping up and down for adjustments.

I wish Polder had a BBQ model where you could set a hi and low temp, and not just a hi temp.

Thanks for all the help.

Mike
 
The Maverick ET-73 has two probes, is a remote unit, and has the hi-lo alarm. I've been using two of them since they first came out.

When I use lump for Minion, I still light plain briquettes to lay on top of the ring full of lump. The lump will still burn hotter than briquettes, so you'll probably wind up keeping your vents closed further with lump than you would with briquettes. With lump, you won't have as much ash as you will with briquettes, either, so you won't have as much of a potential problem with ash blocking your airflow on long cooks.

So how long was your cook, and how did it go?

Keri C
 
I think Polder does. I have one that I'm pretty sure I can do that with. Maybe it has both high and low, but you can only use one or the other, not both at the same time. Unfortunately it got rained on a bit and the LCD is spotty.

Maverick has one that can do the high and low at the same time. I have one of these I use every time I BBQ. It's remote range is not as good as advertised though. See this thread.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top