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WSM and Lump Charcoal

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    WSM and Lump Charcoal

    Who’s using lump charcoal in the WSM instead of briquettes? I’m considering switching to Fogo Premium on both the Hasty-Bake and the WSM, but wondered what the experience has been.

    #2
    My kettle with the smoke attachment and rotisserie attachment stacked is kind of close to the wsm. See my avatar. I use Fogo lump all the time. Even all night cooks with air controller. I use premium and sometimes super premium. Sometimes I use there other specialty wood brand. Haven't tried the eucalyptus brand yet. They all do well.
    If I'm running about 245° I can go about 10 hours on one load.

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      #3
      I've tried both Royal Oak lump and Kingsford Briquettes on my WSM. The lump burns much hotter and faster where the Briquettes burn lower and slower. The briquettes seem to create a bit more ash, but not enough where it's an issue. For longer cooks, the briquettes seem to be the better bet on the WSM.

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        #4
        I tried limp in the wsm several years ago. I had the same problem as luvthemstillers I was eventually able to control the temps but it burned too fast for long cooks.

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          #5
          I use Rockwood lump in my WSM. It works well. I need to try briquettes one day for a comparison.

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            #6
            I've switched over to jealous devil lump for a few cooks in my 22" WSM this summer. I like it, have had no issue holding 250-275 for 10 or so hours - no fan control just vents. I've had unlit lump leftover after both 10 hour cooks so I bet it could go ever longer. Cleanup is super easy cause there is barely any ash.

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            • klflowers
              klflowers commented
              Editing a comment
              My problem may have been I was using cheap lump. I can't remember the brand - I think it was Cowboy.

            • scottdware
              scottdware commented
              Editing a comment
              I am in the same boat as klflowers. I've been using it more and more (Jealous Devil) lately and have no issues controlling temp. Nice flavor too!

            #7
            Yes there is a big difference between good and cheap lump.

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              #8
              For those using lump, how do you light your charcoal and set your vents? Joetee Pobeque MrMeat

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              • Pobeque
                Pobeque commented
                Editing a comment
                Fill charcoal ring with lump, remove a little from the middle - 1/4-1/3 chimney. I put a starter cube right in the center where I removed the charcoal and put the chimney right on top of that. Dump out charcoal, assemble the smoker and get on my way. As I have a 22" it runs hot so I'm right around 260 with 2/3 bottom vents closed and the 3rd vent at about 1/4. Top vent 1/2-1/4 depending on conditions. I setup open bottom vent directly under the door and top vent directly across

              #9
              Fill your fire bowl. Remove a little less than 1/2 chimney from the center and light it. When hot add it back to the center of the pile. Set your vents about 1/4 top and bottom. After a little while adjust as needed.
              Last edited by Joetee; November 2, 2020, 03:00 PM.

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                #10
                I guess you will have to take your lumps with charcoal.

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                  #11
                  Originally posted by ecowper View Post
                  For those using lump, how do you light your charcoal and set your vents? Joetee Pobeque MrMeat
                  I run a very full water bowl and usually over-stuff the charcoal basket. Having $3 too much charcoal in it bothers me tremendously less than running out. I also put in about 2/3 of a basket of glowing red coals. That seems to get the water heated and up to temp. Seems like others use less than I do. I make sure the temperature is stable for a good 20 to 30 minutes before putting my meat on.

                  I use a Flame Boss to control the temps. When I have had an issue, then I generally run my bottom vents at about 1/2 and my top vent at about 1/4 open. I am usually running in the 225 to 250 range. I try to adjust temps mainly using the top vent as the bottom vents seem to cause a lot more temperature bounce.

                  Comment


                    #12
                    I would be using FOGO in that Hasty Bake for sure!

                    Comment


                    • ecowper
                      ecowper commented
                      Editing a comment
                      I've switched entirely to FOGO in the Hasty-Bake. Trying to see if I can make life easy by moving to all FOGO across the board.

                    • Spinaker
                      Spinaker commented
                      Editing a comment
                      Only good things can come from a change like that. ecowper

                    #13
                    Just ran my first load of lump in the PBC, guessing you would see something similar in the WSM, depending on whether or not you run a water pan in the WSM. It did a great job on the chicken I used for the experiment - nice flavor profile and crispy skin - but as others have mentioned, it ran much hotter than briquettes and a lot less burn time, obviously not a problem for a short, hot chicken cook, but will have to dial it in differently for low and slow.

                    I used Royal Oak, but am going to try a premium brand next (Fogo, etc.) and see if that makes a huge difference. If nothing else I hope to see more consistent charcoal size out of a higher end product. Also, I probably need to adjust my lighting procedure... for that 1st cook I lit it just like I would KBB (~40 lit briqs, or ~1/3 of a standard chimney, dumped on a basket full of unlit coals, let that stabilize before cooking). Will probably try to light less in the chimney next time.

                    Good luck, let us know what you come up with.

                    Comment


                    • Joetee
                      Joetee commented
                      Editing a comment
                      Put your freshly hot coals on top of the unlit coals to slow down the burn

                    • BourBonQ
                      BourBonQ commented
                      Editing a comment
                      Joetee , yep, that's exactly how I do it... about 1/3 of a chimney of lit coals on top of full basket of unlit coals.

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