Yet another charcoal topic


 
T

Tim M

New member
I've read about many people on the board moving to lump now that Kingsford has changed the formula. I've also read lots of bad things about Cowboy lump. The only lump I can find locally is of course...Cowboy. It is $4.97 for an 8.8lb. bag. I've never used lump before so I don't have any idea what it is like to cook with. If this is the only lump I can find should I bother or just stick with briquettes?

BTW: I'm would be using the lump for overnight cooks in my WSM.
 
I was one that went out and stock piled over 300 lbs of the old Kingsford before my local Home Depot switched over, but to be honest I have tried a few overnight smokes using the new stuff in my WSM and I really did not notice much of a difference. I may have used a bit more over 14 hours or so, but not enough that I am trying to find an alternative. Just my 2 cents though.
 
When I first got my kettle, the only lump that I could find was Cowboy and I used it exclusively because it does burn better than kingsford for direct grilling to me. But when I found some other lump at Wal-Mart (Royal Oak) I never bought anymore Cowboy. It is good for one thing and that is for extremely high heat cooking for a very short period of time. While it leaves almost no ash which is a plus, it burns so hot that it is gone very quickly and thus is no good for long cooks.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Scott T.:
I was one that went out and stock piled over 300 lbs of the old Kingsford before my local Home Depot switched over, but to be honest I have tried a few overnight smokes using the new stuff in my WSM and I really did not notice much of a difference. I may have used a bit more over 14 hours or so, but not enough that I am trying to find an alternative. Just my 2 cents though. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Finally, a voice of reason. Thank you!!
 
There are many places you can buy lump on the internet. Here is the link to the internet lump link @ nakedwhiz

I'm sure if you order it online you can pick almost whichever brand you want. (Although you may have to wait a few days to get it
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I really like using lump on all my cooks/smokes, to me it seems more natural, I try and stay away from as much manufactured stuff as I can.

Anton
 
Thanks Bruce..I had to print off your comment and show it to my wife..in 15 years of marriage I have never heard her say I was the voice of reason, so I needed to prove to her that occasionally it does happen.
 
LOL.

I use lump for overnight cooks frequently as I really like the low ash variable. With air intake restricted it does not burn hotter than lump and disappear. Lump burns hotter only when given unrestricted air.

Poorly made lumps like Cowboy often have unburned scrap wood in the bag and lots of dust and all but unusable tiny pieces--sometimes as much as 20% of the bag--making the cost of the bag that much more. The ash Cowboy leaves is significantly more than than what you find when you burn a quality lump.
 
Kevin, thank you! So many people go on and on about high temp cooks with lump-they are right and dead wrong. High temps for grilling-yes. Same temp as briquettes when cooking in an air restricted wsm. Low ash is a benefit.

I would add, the smell of a lump cook in a wsm is better. Many professionals have had and will continue to have great success with charcoal but I repeat-lump cooks smell better.
 
Cowboy seems to be available at most of the mass marketers. I had to look around to find Royal Oak & Humphrey's (2 good brands) at a couple area coal/fuel dealers. It was worth it.

- Mike
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Thanks Bruce..I had to print off your comment and show it to my wife..in 15 years of marriage I have never heard her say I was the voice of reason, so I needed to prove to her that occasionally it does happen. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>


I dunno, I was thinking that it would be hard to claim voice of reason status with the wife after stockpiling 300lbs. of charcoal.
 
I tried Royal Oak from WalMart and was less than pleased. The bag was Red and it stated on the back that the wood was a mix of Hickory, Maple, etc. The Royal Oak that comes in the Green bag and is much more expensive and is actually Oak.

Tim M, there are some unintuitive places you can score some lump, depending on your area. I find good quality mesquite lump at local restaurant supply stores. This equates to Cash & Carry/Smart and Final for me. I often find Mesquite lump at a local Mexican grocery store. I have also found really small bags of lump at Korean grocery stores. I couldn't tell you what species of lump these are, but they burn really well, I tested them!

HTH,
-glennc
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by jeff davidson:
I dunno, I was thinking that it would be hard to claim voice of reason status with the wife after stockpiling 300lbs. of charcoal. </div></BLOCKQUOTE> Here in the UK it's hard to get lump or briquettes out of season so I usually stock up towards the middle / end when the big shops start to discount. This year I contacted some manufacturers direct (through my business) to enquire about trade prices and availability and got quotes valid for a year based on pallet quantites - my wife agreed we should buy a pallet (!!) isn't that my line?
 
I haven't tried the new Kingsford yet, but since I only have 2 bags of the old left, I probably will be soon.

I also use Royal Oak lump for broiling. It lights fast, but it doesn't seem to burn dramatically hotter to me.

It seems to me that lump doesn't burn any faster per pound than briquettes when the air is limited. The problem is that its only about 1/2 the density of briquettes (a 10 pound bag of lump is about the same size as 20 pounds of briquettes) so you can only get half as much on the charcoal grate, hence half the burn time.
 
if you carefully load the ring so that there are few gaps between pieces, you can get nearly as long on one load of lump. My last cook went around 17-18 hours on the first ring full.

And it doesn't burn faster as long as the vents are restricting the flow of air.
 
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