which charcoal

[Theron Crowder]

I'm cooking a few butts this weekend, and was wondering about the difference between regular charcoal and lump. Does lump burn at a much higher temp? Will I use as much lump as regular? Just looking for a little info. Thanks.

 

[Paul K]

Lump does burn hotter than briquettes, but remember you're shooting for a certain temp on the WSM. As a result, even though the lump may burn hotter, you'll be making vent adjustments to compensate. There's been a lot of posts regarding the use of lump and one of the main things you need to do if using it, is to pack the lump tightly. The more air around the lump the faster and hotter it will burn. A full bowl packed tightly should last you for the butts. Briquettes are easy to control. If you're doing multiple butts for a party, you might want to consider using briquettes and 'experiment' with the lump at another time when you won't have a crowd waiting for your perfect pulled pork.

 

[Rick Angiel]

I have had good experiences with lump in the WSM. Some people have reported temperature spikes at time, but I have not. For me, the transition was a breeze. As fary as using as much lump as briquettes, it depends on the quality of the lump. Royal Oak, available at Walmart, is not very dense. As such, a full ring of briquettes lasts longer than a full ring of lump. I have started using Picnic, B&B, and another locally available lump that are more dense than RO. I prefer that over the briquettes. Now, a bit more care is needed to pack the charcoal ring with lump, due to the irregular shapes. I usually add some, and spin the ring back-and-forth several times to get the pieces to settle, add more and repeat until full.

Good luck with the cook, and let us know how it went.

Rick

 

[Craig Castille]

Like Rick said, it all depends on the lump.

I've never had any spikes using lump other than if the water pan went dry. I actually find lump to be very responsive to vent changes.

I have never had to refuel using either the Picnic or Wicked Good brands. Some loads have gone 24 hours plus. There are many other quality brands to use.

Pack the ring as full as you can leaving few gaps between pieces.

Avoid Cowboy, most grocery store brands, and Martha Stewart brand. These are low quality and very quick burning lump charcoal.

 

[Matt Jones]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">There's been a lot of posts regarding the use of lump and one of the main things you need to do if using it, is to pack the lump tightly. The more air around the lump the faster and hotter it will burn. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

You need to pack it good so that you get good contact between the pieces so the fire can go from piece to piece when you use the minion method to start, if you are controlling the amount of air getting into the WSM with the vents, it's not gonna burn faster cause it's not packed as tight.