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**CeramicChef** · June 6, 2016, 05:07 PM

Meathead Maniacs - OYU know that lump pile I showed you up above. This one ...

Well, here it is about 12 minutes after I lit a single spot in the lump pile.

Only 12 minutes and this lump pile will support a steak sear! All I have to do is put on the searing grate, button up TheBeast, and in a few minutes you've got dinner! The point here is that a good lump pile is imperative to any cook. WHat's going on in this lump pile is that it has great airflow, the fire is able to easily spread because each piece is essentially touching the pieces closest to it, and I can do a true two zone on TheBeast because of his size.

I'd also like to say that in 12 minutes from start up to ready to cook I got my NY Strips prepped and ready to go. Now who says that kamado take a long time to get ready to cook? You really can't get better performance from a gasser. And this kind of performance is easily attained if you know how to build a lump pile that your kamado can work with. In the Breadhead case, he altered his lump and the density of his layering fits his charcoal and his BGEs airflow. In my case, it is the shaking the charcoal basket that gives the lump good density and contact with lump close by that does the trick. My point ... get to know your individual kamado. You'll be thankful you did. You do your part and your kamado will do its part. I don't care of you're using an inexpensive kamado like the Akorn, or a more expensive kamado like the BGE, or you're burning lump in a Komodo Kamado, get to know your kamado.

Enjoy!

**CeramicChef** · June 7, 2016, 01:37 PM

Fellow Maniacs - here is a picture of the belly of TheBeast this morning after the cook last night. I ran TheBeast at 550F for a couple of hours (got carried away watching a rerun of Game of Thrones) and forgot to shut down the vents.

Notice here that the fire really didn't spread far from its point of origin in the picture above. The fire was localized entirely to the left hand size. Even though it the fire wasn't set up to do two-zone, that is effectively what happened. Now, Most certainly in the 3 hours or so that there was that fire in the belly of TheBeast, the fire didn't spread too much if any at all. That is because of the way I managed the fire with the bottom vents.

Here is a picture of that same lump as shown just immediately above only I've shaken the basket to get rid of the ash that clung to the lump. This basket of lump is ready for the next cook. There is really no need whatsoever to add more lump to the existing pile. Maybe in a couple of more cooks, but not right now.

Kamados are really efficient at their use of charcoal during the cook.

**thefist** · June 12, 2016, 05:15 AM

Last week I did my first overnight cook in a KJ Joe Junior. Didn't see this thread, but followed the advice from other posts to load large first, then small. I loaded up the whole way up to the top of the fire ring, just to make sure I had enough fuel in little Jr. After 13-14hrs, probably over half of the charcoal remained. This method works.

**Thunder77** · June 12, 2016, 07:01 AM

Another great post CeramicChef ! Very well thought out, and well written, so even I can understand it.

**JimmieOhio** · June 13, 2016, 05:37 AM

As a new owner of a large BGE, I have caught on to the temp control fairly quickly. These tutorials help a lot. My maiden voyage was two slabs of baby back ribs which came out decent. Not my best, but the ribs were meatier than usual, so that threw off my usual procedure. They were actually better leftover.

Another thing missing was a decent amount of smoke - barely a ring at all and I'm accustomed to deep smoke rings on my other smoker. Based on the tutorial described in this thread, how does the wood chunk set up play into a low-and-slow cook? I like to stay around 225, but never higher than 250.

**LA Pork Butt** · June 13, 2016, 05:49 AM

JimmieOhio I cook on a BGE and usually just put a fist size lump of hickory right on top of the small center fire I start - of course after it is off to a good start. Sometime I will also pace a chunck or two on the sides. I cook my ribs at 225. Baby backs take about 5 hours and St. Louis Spare ribs take about 6. I watch for the shrink of the meat off the bone, inserting a tooth pick in between the ribs, and the bend test for being done. CeramicChef has a post in the subheading of Kamado under charcoal which tells of how he uses a smoker pot. You will need to mak adaptions to the BGE. I am experimenting with that approach. Does this match your approach?

**Breadhead** · June 13, 2016, 07:30 AM

Spinaker ... My response to your post #7.3

I'm sorry you're having a problem keeping your fire going for long low & slow cooks.

However I'm thankful you posted your challenge in this thread. It proves my point this is a COMMON problem with new Kamado owners. It happened to me early on. Just read Elder Ward's article (see link) above and I guarantee you your air flow problems are 100% solved immediately.👌

Yes... I use the DigiQ Dx2 to control my cooking temperature on ALL of my long & slow cooks. That makes my Kamado a true set it and forget cooker. You could set it to cook and go to work for 8 or 9 hours and not worry about it. Or go to sleep over night and forget about it. It will cook at 225/240 all night long, once you solve your air flow problems and can trust your fire will keep going..👍

**LA Pork Butt** · June 13, 2016, 07:43 AM

Spinaker I am not sure what kind of Kamado you a re cooking on, but do you load the firebox up to the fire ring putting large pieces at the bottom, followed by a layer of medium and topped off with small? I have gone 22 hours on my Large BGE, but I can't remember if it was with or without a PartyQ. Without the controller you should get 20 hours. I have never run out of fuel on long 16 hour cooks of Boston Butt.

**CeramicChef** · June 13, 2016, 08:37 AM

- Just a few comments that I hope you find helpful.

1) For long low-n-slow cooks I ALWAYS clean out my kamado top to bottom. There is no ash anywhere in the system.

2) ALWAYS start with a FULL fire bowl. Don't ever try to guess how much lump a particular cook will take. You'll be wrong 100% of the time. Lump is reusable and at the end go the cook, just extinguish the fire by closing your top and bottom vents.

3) Always have a good quality charcoal that you have used before and you trust. When I do a Low-n-Slow cook, I ALWAYS shake the basket after I have loaded it. That brings everything in the lump pile into intimate contact. That means there are no bog gaps that can threaten the fire's existence. Then I top off the lump pile and get after it.

4) I will only light a single spot in the middle of the lump pile when I do a Low-n-Slow. That's it, smack in the middle. Now I have friends who light 2 spots in the lump pile for a Low-n-Slow cook. They light these spots equidistance apart.

5) Always give your fire about 10 minutes to get well-established after you light it. I open my bottom vent and leave the lid ajar. After 10 minutes, set your vents for the temp you want and heat soak your kamado for about an hour.

There are not too many ways a fire finds to die. No air flow, no fuel, and that's about it. Eliminate those 2 reasons and you're golden.

If you continue to have problems, take pictures of the how you build the lump pile, the temp gauge, vent settings and the extinguished lump pile, send them to me, and we'll figure this deal out, okay? It may be very instructive to everyone at large if you feel comfortable sharing something like that.

**billysofis** · June 30, 2016, 08:51 PM

As everyone else is commenting, these posts are incredibly helpful. I about fell over reading the one about temp regulating. Then I thought, if there was only a post about the pile itself.... and here it is! So thank you both CeramicChef and Breadhead !

The first thing I bought (literally) when we moved from our apt in the city to a house in the burbs was a Big Joe (after considerable research of course). Then I struggled all last summer with my first low and slow cooks. One of the selling points of the Big Joe seemed to be that its price included all the accoutrements, including a vertical ceramic partition that fits into the fire bowl on top of the fire grate and a heat deflector to fit over top of that. One of the principles of low and slow that Meathead touts on the main pages is indirect heat, and I saw a post where he said he'd never personally experimented with the Big Joe, but that the partition system seemed like a pretty legit solution to kamados' propensity to heat to a singular uniform temperature. So I've been going that route, using the partitions. From the pics above though, it looks like you kamado masters are just filling the entire bowl with lump and not worrying about indirect heat, since the pile generally never gets above 225 or 250 anyway. Is this right? Is the partitioning system more of a gimmick in a low and slow scenario if you're just unable to regulate the charcoal pile properly and it heats above 225-250?

As I type this, I'm thinking that the indirect and direct halves of the grill that Meathead discusses are more for regular cooks, where you want to be able to sear a burger or steak and then push it off to the side to finish cooking through (or vice versa for reverse sear). Any help or advice is much appreciated! and happy 4th!

**Breadhead** · June 30, 2016, 10:35 PM

billysofis ...

I have a large BGE. I'm personally of the opinion that 2-zone cooking in a Kamado is NOT a left & right, direct & indirect situation. 2-zone cooking in a Kamado is an up & down situation, controlling the cooking temperature at each level. If you have a 32" Kamado like CeramicChef does... Maybe. But in a round 18" cooker it's definitely up & down.

Let's do a reverse sear on a large BGE. I assume your cooker is similar.

Step 1... is to bake the steaks at 225° until they reach 115/120°. I start a small fire in my lump. I don't use a heat deflector. I don't use my regular grate at all. I put my Grill Dome grate on top of the fire ring so it's above the felt line. High above the small fire burning below. I put the steakson as soon as I have everything arranged. I let the small fire work its way up to 225° and hold that temp until I reach my 120°. I don't bother flipping the steaks. I don't open the dome to check on the cook. When my Maverick temperature thermometer tells me the IT of the meat is 120° I open the dome, remove the steaks and put them on a plate. That completes step 1.

Step 2... Searing. I invert my Grill Dome grate to the legs up position so the grate is 1 to 2" from the lump, depending on how full I filled my firebox. I open the bottom vent wide open. I blast the lump with my BBQ Dragon, an industrial grade hair dryer, and in about 1 minute my lump is at Warp 10 heat. I blot the steaks with a paper towel to remove all the moisture, I apply some beef love and place the steaks on the grate to sear.

Some of the guys like fuzzydaddy use different gear to achieve the same effect but it's the same method. Up high in the dome to bake the meat at a low temperature and then move it close to Warp 10 lump to sear it.

I also have a 26" Weber kettle with the SnS. That's an easier cooker to do the reverse sear on but not leaps and bounds easier. Both produce excellent reverse seared steaks.

Attached Files

**fuzzydaddy** · July 1, 2016, 05:48 AM

Here's a photo of my close to the lump setup, using a Woo from CeramicGrillStore sitting in the 3 fire ring notches.

My high above the lump setup would have the Woo on top of the fire ring (not in the notches), my stock cooking grate on top of the Woo and an elevated cooking grate sitting on it. I'm limited in the photos I have on hand for this setup and no beautiful steaks getting their sear!

**billysofis** · July 1, 2016, 06:43 AM

Does anyone on here use briquettes? I thought that was Meathead's preference for low and slow since they were more standarized in terms of size and could produce a more measured result?

**CeramicChef** · July 1, 2016, 09:36 AM

billysofis - most of us who use kamados burn lump for a very good reason ... less ash than is generated by briquettes. i've done briquettes just out of curiosity. They are simply not worth the effort. During a long low-m-slow cook ash can clog your fire grate at the bottom of the kamado and cause the fire to extinguish. Nobody wants that!

If you know how to properly build a lump pile for your kamado, your temps will be every bit as even as using briquettes.

Further, I generally heat soak my kamado for about 45 minutes to 1 hour before I put my cook on the grate. This gets everything up to temp, eliminate temperature transients, and cooks whatever I place on the grate from every direction with that nice radiative heat.

Simply put, in my estimation, briquettes may be fine for drafty kettles, etc. but for kamados, briquettes are a less than an ideal solution.

**David Parrish** · July 2, 2016, 06:10 AM

I use lump for long cooks for the reasons mentioned above. Less ash to clogs things up. I use Kingsford Professional or Kingsford Lump Briquettes for shorter cooks, reverse sear cooks, and hotter cooks.

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