Charcoal for a wsm 22.5

[Nuke em]

okay starting up some catering. Just picked up a catering trailer. Just purchased a wsm 22.5(1 of 3 that I’ll be getting for my adventure). It will be delivered tomorrow. My question is after watching and reviewing a bunch of videos I didn’t see anyone using lump charcoal just briquettes for long cooks.
Mill be cooking a bunch of meat at my home on the mega meat monster and taking 3 wsm on site to cook more (1 for chickens,1 for pork 1 for beef
i like the taste that lump charcoal gives off over briquettes. I can taste the difference. What I would like to know is can lump be used in a wsm for long cooks without refueling it. (Say 8 hours or so). I know lump burns hotter and faster than briquettes but was wondering if I could dial the vents down and get the same or close to cooking time at kbb.
Ill be dialing it in this weekend then order the other 2 once I have it modded and tweaked.
My local Walmart has lump 40 lb bags on sale for 8 bucks so I’m stocking up on it. If anything I can use the lump at my house for personal cooks.

[customtrim]

This is just my opinion but I think the conception that it burns hotter and faster is due to what should be larger irregular shaped pieces allowing more space between each one which creates more air flow between them causing the faster and hotter burn. I have used smaller pieces in the vortex and had bad results from it as well as using smaller half used briquetts with no grooves left on them. Now you wood have less ash when your done. I would give the stuff you purchased a try maybe on the burn in run and see how it performs you may love it or hate it, maybe a mix of kbb and lump may do the trick. Good luck in your adventures

[Nuke em]

I wonder how long lump would last if anyone has tried just chime in

[Troutman]

The WSM was designed specifically for briquettes. Lump has a tendency not so much to burn hot in it but inconsistently. As was mentioned it’s probably due to irregular shapes. Works much better in a ceramic cooker where heat is absorbed and diffused more evenly. I tried several times in my WSM and never had good luck. But others may have had better results. Wouldn’t hurt to do a test cook and satisfy yourself.

[JGo37]

The only way to know for sure when catering is experience. I don't have good luck with lump. Maybe I need a top shelf supplier.

[jfmorris]

Nuke em as others have already said, lump will likely burn inconsistently due to variations in shape and size, and not produce repeatable results in the WSM - and you need to be able to dial things in if cooking for money on a schedule.

I also suggest you review Meathead ‘s article on charcoal:

https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/grill-and-smoker-setup-and-firing/science-charcoal-how-charcoal-made-and

If you use good quality briquettes and wood chunks for smoke, I doubt your customers are going to taste much of a difference. I think you are seeing the type variation I see even across brands of briquettes. Royal Oak, Weber and KBB or Kingsford Pro are all a little different. That said once burning the charcoal is a heat more than a smoke source, and brand makes less difference then.

[Henrik]

Well, Harry Soo uses lump only, and he's doing fine:

[Troutman]

I've seen his videos where he swore by using KBB (or whatever was cheapest or he got for free). I think using lump is kind of new to him. But again it's YMMV, I just have never had as good a luck with lump versus briquettes in my WSMs.

[Nuke em]

Interesting. Thanks everyone

[JeffJ]

Wal Mart had Western lump on clearance for $6 for a 30 pound bag. I picked up 5 bags and used lump in my PBC last week. At the 7 hour mark, when I was done, it was still going strong. I think the points raised about consistency are valid. If you are using one WSM for chicken, I think lump would be a good option - all vents wide open and you'll have a nice hot fire to crisp the skin and with all of that airflow inconsistency shouldn't be a problem. I have found Weber briquettes to be really nice for low/slow. They burn for a long time and have a very mild woody aroma to them.

Best of luck to you on your new endeavor.

[customtrim]

Now you also state that you like the taste from the lump over the kbb, I would try one bag of the Walmart stuff before buying alot of it, you never know what kind of wood they are using to make it

[JeffJ]

I've done three cooks with the Wal Mart stuff and so far I think it's superior to Royal Oak. I have yet to encounter any really small pieces or foreign objects.

[EdF]

Nuke em Can't advise on lump in those devices, but best of luck in your new venture!

[Troutman]

The Virtual Weber forum guys seem to be in the same camp, it really depends on personal preference and experience.....

https://tvwbb.com/showthread.php?276...vs-Lump-in-WSM

Thinking back on the Harry Soo video, he was using a fan control unit. When I tried lump in my WSM I didn't have the Fireboard/Pit Viper fan setup I have now. I'm cooking a brisket in about 2 weeks (wet aging now) so I may try lump just as an experiment. If I do I'll report the results. In other words I'll take one for the team

[Henrik]

Much appreciated, Troutman, I'm eagerly awaiting your report!

[lostclusters]

I too can taste the difference between lump and briquettes. Briquettes imparts more of a chemical taste to the finished product. This happens as the charcoal lights itself, from the already lit ones, as it burns through the fuse or minion layout of the coals we use for long cooks. It is the smoke from this ignition that causes this I believe. I do not think that lump is going to work out too well. The only caveat to that is if you use some kind of stoker. The issue is that with all of the irregular shapes of the lump they will not light each other good enough to keep the coals going. I have this issue all the time on my converted Char-Griller. I have a WSM 22, but it is in another location, half way across the country. My burn in for it before I start cooking on it again will be with lump to test this.

[JeffJ]

Interesting point regarding the lit chunks not lighting the unlit ones well. I think I kind of got lucky using lump in my PBC - 40 lit briquettes pretty much covers most of the top layer of unlit lump which makes for a pretty consistent burn. That method doesn't really work in a WSM.

[Nuke em]

Good points all around. Thanks Everyone
boy I’ll tell ya what I like about my new adventure is my cure for mcs. Got the trailer in the yard. License is being processed, trailer to be inspected 8-21 so that’ll give me time to mod it to my preference ( will be getting my 6 ft tall proofer,warmer tomorrow)
so many things.
Got 2 places to set up to sell now but told them no...I want to do it right by holding off selling to public till state says I can. But it’s lined up
got 1 of 3 wsm s today plus mod kits. Rotisserie ring, steel door and fire ring. Got menu payed out with prices.
Meet moe Cason a few weeks back at the nj state bbq championship (really nice man. Got to talk about an hour with him). Him and I sat and even shared an adult beverage.
So this is a productive month so far.
And best off....I get to play with the wsm now and over the weekend (burning it in with some fat from the meat market and doing a small cook with it). I’ll keep y’all informed of how it progresses

[Troutman]

Great smoker, show us some of the results of your cooks !!! Nuke 'Em baby !!!!

[Nuke em]

Just a follow up on the putting together of this beast. Did a few mods on it. Steel door (no leaking whatsoever, extra grate and wheels and extra coal grate. All I can say is wow. Just wow.
Decided to try lump first. Minion method with water pan. Figured I wanted to get it hot to clean and season it. Put a small amount lump and then lit the center with a half basket in the chimney starter. Dumped the chimney in the center. Went to fill the water pan and overfilled it. Dang it. Didn’t see the holes at top. Water poured into the coals. Didn’t put it out just got the lump wet. So I added a handful on top to keep it going and steam it off. Lesson learned
opened it up and boy did it take off. After about an hour I took the water pan out and let it go to warp speed. Boy it really took off. Fireboard took a reading on lower grate to 612 and upper to 512. I was worried that I would kill the probes Closed the vents and brought it back down to 350. Slapped a lb of bacon on for the fire food gods. The dogs really loved the bacon.
I Love how I can control it. The bacon crisped right up.
So after awhile i figured I’d cook a little more. Found some chicken legs and chicken wings and off and running.
Whiped up some wing sauce and made some bbq sauce, wrapped some more bacon on the legs and off to the races. Boy it settled right down.
The only problem is the lid sticks and then won’t come off. I had to pry it off a few times. Any ideas?
got finished cooking about 7 so the lump held up for 6 hours. Even wet. (Maybe why). Closed all the vents and snuffed the fire.
So today since I bought a rotisserie for it might as well make some Baltimore pit beef and some more chicken legs. I’ll get some more pics of it
this more I looked it over and wow. Still a bunch of lump left. Shook off the ash and its ready to go again.

Added the wheels this morning

Yesterday one of my dogs was waiting for the bacon to get done

only two pieces left after giving the wings and chicken legs to the neighbor
nobody was around cause the kid,the better half and grand parents left to drive the kid to florida for college.


Wheels attached.
After shaking out the ashes this is how much is left.
Im thinking I can get at least 10 hours on a half load of lump. Which is perfect for what it’s gonna do. Gonna order 1 or two more in about a week. Well worth the investment

[Mr. Bones]

Great post n pics!
Course ya know me, I gotta pick pic #2, with th sweet doggie!

[Nuke em]

One other note. It was a bad day yesterday testing it. It rained most of the time after about 3 hours. But it held up. Also the temp gauge was pretty darn close to what the fireboard was reading. I was surprised. Plus or minus about 3 degrees on the top grate