Using Lump Charcoal in a smoker


 
Mostly, significant small pieces are the nature of the beast. You can buy another charcoal grate (about $10-12) and put them together at 90* to keep most from falling through. Most folks wire one grate to the fire ring to make a basket for easy placement. See the mod under Cooking Topics.

Adding a Hunsaker Vortex Plate ($25) helps 1) better charcoal economy and 2) ease o getting higher (3000*+ ) temps, There are also other grates that I prove fuel economy,
 
Read this:

www.virtualweberbullet.com

Charcoal Grate Modifications - The Virtual Weber Bullet

A few charcoal grate modifications that will improve the performance and ease of use of your Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker.
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There are better lump charcoals out there that don’t have a lot of little pieces. However, small pieces are common and the charcoal grate mod is worth doing. Some charcoal is regional so your best bet is to try some other brands. If you can find Royal Oak in your area, it’s pretty good. Not great, but I consider it a base level of charcoal that I’m willing to cook with if I can’t find anything better.

I’ve been using Rockwood recently and am very happy with it. However, I pick it up when I visit relatives in Missouri. Not sure if it’s available in my state (Michigan) but sometimes stores like Ace Hardware will ship to a local store for free. Shipping is always the deal breaker when trying to buy charcoal online.
 
Yeah, 2nd grate, perpendicular to first.
Or expanded metal steel cut to size (that will be my next change as one of my grates is almost burned through, came from el cheapo baby grill)
 
I use mostly lump in the WSM 18, but I have to say that with overnight cooks, I get a lot less sleep as the fire will go out. I cook ribs for around 5-6 hours during the day so I can keep an eye on the temp and react to any dips - so lump works well. I leave butts or briskets overnight, and too often I wake up and find a large temp dive has taken place even though there is plenty of charcoal remaining.

I recently even tried to cut a bunch of lump up with a band saw into briquette size, but I can't say that the result was worth all that effort. The manual for the WSM says to use only briquettes, for what that is worth.

Anyway, I'm on the fence on the long cooks but for the shorter cooks I am still using lump.
 
KRubinow said:
My only complaint, as others noted, was that there are so many little pieces and only a few mid-sized to larger ones.
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I try to buy bags that are fluffy like a pillow, not squished up flat like at the bottom of a pallet.
 
Joe D - BBQ Joe said:
I use mostly lump in the WSM 18, but I have to say that with overnight cooks, I get a lot less sleep as the fire will go out. I cook ribs for around 5-6 hours during the day so I can keep an eye on the temp and react to any dips - so lump works well. I leave butts or briskets overnight, and too often I wake up and find a large temp dive has taken place even though there is plenty of charcoal remaining.

I recently even tried to cut a bunch of lump up with a band saw into briquette size, but I can't say that the result was worth all that effort. The manual for the WSM says to use only briquettes, for what that is worth.

Anyway, I'm on the fence on the long cooks but for the shorter cooks I am still using lump.
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I've only done a handful of overnights, and I like to add a layer of briquets then a layer of lump, repeat like a lasagna.
Seems to burn consistently well.
 
I'm only used it for hot and fast cooks. There's no reason you can't do low and slow but like Lynn said you need to be more carefully about placing the charcoal so the coals will light off each other and that you don't have too many small pieces crammed together impeding the airflow. I use lump in my offset at the very beginning just to kickstart that first coal bed and then wood only from then on.
 
Dustin Dorsey said:
I'm only used it for hot and fast cooks. There's no reason you can't do low and slow but like Lynn said you need to be more carefully about placing the charcoal so the coals will light off each other and that you don't have too many small pieces crammed together impeding the airflow. I use lump in my offset at the very beginning just to kickstart that first coal bed and then wood only from then on.
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I do that also. I also throw in a big baseball or softball size of lump occasionally to feed the coal bed.

In fact, I just bought this Ok Joe charcoal chimney at Academy just for use in the offset, as my Weber will not fit inside. It was a bit pricey, Weber is about $10 cheaper.

https://www.academy.com/p/oklahoma-joes-half-time-charcoal-starter-xl?sku=
 
I've used the smaller weber and it kind of works but you really need more coals. I do a dangerous maneuver with the larger weber where I twist it so I'm pouring it out with the handle on the bottom. I haven't looked at the OK Joe one but I'll check it out next time I'm at Academy. I think they have them there.
 
I pulled the cover off the Franklin and tried this OK Joe .... and it fits, barely. There's not an inch to spare crossways. It will work perfectly.

Its the Goldilocks chimney, its not too big, its not too small , ........ its just right :D

My Academy had a bunch of them.
 
I’ve used both lump and briquettes in my WSM. The briquettes are more consistent and last longer than lump. This translates into faster and smoother cooks. I save the lump for hot and fast on the kettle.
 
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