I used to be in the lump camp. Then I read Meathead's article on charcoal and tried briquettes. He's right, it's better, or at least easier. It's so much easier to count out briquettes and note the number for each cook than to try to gestimate lump. I find I'm able to be much more consistent in my cooks after switching.
My toys:
Weber Summit Charcoal Grilling Center (WSCGC) aka Mr. Fancypants
Pit Barrel Cooker (which rocks), named Pretty Baby
Weber Summit S650 Gas Grill, named Hot 'n Fast (used mostly for searing and griddling)
Weber Kettle Premium 22" named Kettle Kid, eager to horn in with more cooks in the future
Camp Chef Somerset IV 4-burner outdoor gas range named AfterBurner due to its 30kBTU burners
Adrenaline BBQ Company Gear:
SnS Low Profile, DnG, and Large Charcoal Basket, for WSCGC
SnS Deluxe for 22" Kettle
Elevated SS Rack for WSCGC
SS Rack for DnG
Cast Iron Griddle
Grill Grate for SnS
Grill Grates: five 17.375 sections (retired to storage)
Grill Grates: six 19.25 panels for exact fit for Summit S650
gasser
Grill Grates for 22" Kettle
2 Grill Grate Griddles
Steelmade Griddle for Summit gas grill
Fireboard Gear:
Extreme BBQ Thermometer Package
Additional control unit
Additional probes: Competition Probes 1" (3) and 4" (1), 3 additional Ambient Probes. 1 additional Food Probe
2 Driver Cables
Pit Viper Fan (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Pit Viper Fan new design (to pair with Fireboard Fan Driver Cable)
Thermoworks Gear:
Thermapen MK4 (pink)
Thermapen Classic (pink too)
Thermoworks MK4 orange
Temp Test 2 Smart Thermometer
Extra Big and Loud Timer
Timestick Trio
Maverick ET 73 a little workhorse with limited range
Maverick ET 733
Maverick (Ivation) ET 732
Grill Pinz
Vortex (two of them)
18" drip pan for WSCGC
Ceramic Spacers for WSCGC in Kamado Mode: 2 sets each 1/2", 1", 2". The 2" spacers work best with the 18" drip pan. The 1+1/2 inch spacers work best with the 14 inch cake pan.
Two Joule Sous Vide devices
3 Lipavi Sous Vide Tubs with Lids: 12, 18 and 26 quarts
Avid Armor Ultra Pro V32 Chamber Sealer
Instant Pot 6 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Instant Pot 10 Quart Electric Pressure Cooker
Charcoal Companion TurboQue
A-Maze-N tube 12 inch tube smoker accessory for use with pellets
BBQ Dragon and Dragon Chimney
Shun Classic Series:
8" Chef Knife
6" Chef's Knife
Gokujo Boning and Fillet Knife
3 1/2 inch Paring Knife
I start my lump-in-the-basket with KBB (Kingsford Original) in the chimney. That way I'm sure to get a more even light. 15-10-10 works well for that.
That said, I'm not a huge fan of lump in the PBC because of a lack of consistency with temps for longer cooks. Fine for short cooks, though. I use it in the PBC because I have a couple of bags of lump to use up.
Ditto with my WSCGC. It's much better-behaved with briquettes than with lump, although I do use lump with it in kamado mode.
I wouldn't light lump personally on the PBC for a couple reasons:
The PBC is rigid with the amount of charcoal you have to use and it's difficult to snuff out the fire to reuse, making it inefficient for most cooks. The cost per cook would be too high for me. (You can completely remove the charcoal basket and place it in a galvanized trashcan, but it's a fire hazard if you're on a wood deck like me).
Secondly, the PBC doesn't offer a great deal of control. Which has it's pros and cons of course, but the biggest way you control the cook is for the reason you're asking. The variability of lump is going to cause inconsistency in the cook (OR cook to cook) that you don't have the ability to correct for as you go along. Depending on piece size/how it falls in the cooker etc (air flow, thermal potential of the amount added, other things I'm not thinking of right now). This is going to give you a lot of trouble with repeatability over time.
If it was me and I was getting rid of some lump in the PBC, I would ease it way back on the lighting procedures and crack the lid as needed till I got things stabilized. Perhaps 8-5-5 and go from there.
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