First time using lump

[Rod]

I've read plenty on the differences between lump and briquettes. So after 5 years of using only briquettes I decided to try lump and see for myself. I got a 10lb bag of B&B oak lump to cook some sausages on my Weber E6 in kamado mode using my Fireboard and fan. I used about 3 or 4lbs of charcoal for this cook. Now, being this was my first go at it, I think I didn't let enough of the coals ash over before putting on the deflector plate and closing the lid.

I was shooting for a grate temp of 325. It over shot that by about 25 degrees, but no big deal. What was interesting was how long it took to recover after opening the lid to add the food and anytime I lifted the lid to check temps etc. I even had to use the rapid fire setting to help speed up the recovery and still barely got to 325 briefly. And that's with the fan going full bore (I have the max on my FBs set to 75%). So a cook that normally takes about 30 minutes ended up taking about 45 minutes. Again, no big deal.

Once the cook was done I wanted to see how long it would run at 325 +/-5 degrees in my E6 without disturbing it. I got an additional 4hrs out of it. What I found interesting was how the lump responded to the fan in comparison to briquettes. Every 15-20 minutes the temp would drop and the fan would kick on full bore and then the temp would over shoot. This was a pretty consistent cycle as the graph shows. My experiences with briquettes has always been a much more constant and leveled balance of temp control.

Lump in the E6:



Briquettes in my Performer with SnS:



Just interesting is all.

[WillTravelForFood]

OOOhhhh ---- would this make a difference if using Lump to make a 2-zone snake instead of using charcoal? (Can you even use lump to make a snake?)

[Rod]

Since this is my first time using lump, I'm the wrong one to ask. So I'll answer anyway. I would imagine it would be difficult due to the inconsistent sizes. Maybe it would work if you're highly selective in the pieces you use?

[jfmorris]

Nice research!

I rarely use my fan controller on my SNS Kamado, as I find it to be more stable, but have tested about 7-8 brands and types of charcoal in my Performer using the SNS. My findings on the Performer with a fan controller were similar to what you've shown and I attribute it to the fact that the lump pieces vary in size so much - when a larger piece ignites, the temp will overshoot. So the graph is more jagged than running the same cook with briquettes, that ignite and burn more evenly. The average cook temp will be about the same though, but I feel the fan runs less often with lump on my Performer.

The big deal about lump in a kamado is really about two things:

1. Ash.

Lump most definitely produces less ash, and if you don't have ash sweeps like on a Weber to knock the ash down, your fire can get clogged with ash in the course of a long cook.

2. Max Temperature

I can get lump charcoal fires much hotter than I can briquettes, in both the Performer and the SNS Kamado. With binders, its just almost 100% pure fuel, and it can get to those 700 to 900 degree pizza oven temperatures more easily than briquettes.

I tend to use B&B lump almost exclusively in the SNS Kamado, only using briquettes if I run out of lump. And I tend to use B&B briquettes exclusively in my Performer these days. If I use the SNS insert in the kamado for low and slow, I might be more likely to use briquettes I think.

[Rod]

jfmorris Thanks. I did notice during start up there seemed to be a lot more heat as compared to briquettes. I wonder how lump would do in the Vortex?

[Finster]

@Rod
I use lump almost exclusively in my kettle.
My very unscientific opinion is that lump works very well with a vortex...

[jfmorris]

Rod I concur with Finster that lump should work just fine in the Vortex. Likely will be even hotter than you see with briquettes.

[Bogy]

Interesting research Rod. I also appreciate your comments jfmorris. With just getting the PBC, and with a Bronco Pro on order, I'm suddenly interested in charcoal. I'm well stocked on Lumberjack and Bear Mountain pellets, because my son sells those. Fortunately, he also sells B&B charcoal. Time to stock up on that as well. So many new things to experiment with this summer.

[Bogy]

Alan Brice For the first few years after I bought my OG I didn't touch the gasser. Wife asked why I was even letting it take up space. Then I started using it again for quick cooks. Bought the Blaz'n, for the first year hardly ever touched the gasser (the OG was two hours away). Bought a griddle last summer and that was primarily what I used, but then it went to the lake house and I bought grill grates for the gasser as a make shift griddle. Like any new toy, that's what you use the most.

[jfmorris]

Alan Brice its common to always want to use the newest toy at first! I'm with you on preferring charcoal, but there are times I'll pull out the gas grill, and its a great tool to have in your arsenal.

[DTro]

Bogy If you plan on doing some long cooks in those new smokers grab some B&B char-logs too.

[jfmorris]

Bogy, you will want to get and try out bags of the B&B briquettes, the B&B lump (they have oak and hickory), and also the B&B Char Logs. Those Char-logs burn forever, and I can see them making a good base in the charcoal basket on the Bronco Pro, then fill in around them with briquettes or lump.

I used to be a Kingsford guy, just because that is what I knew. I've tried Royal Oak, Cowboy, Weber and a few other brands as well, but have found B&B to be my favorite by far.

[Rod]

jfmorris I guess I should have more clear. It's not the just the cost as my local Ace sells it for 13.99 for that 17.6lb bag of briquettes. It's the fact they don't keep it in stock. So I have to order it and pick it up in store. If I want it delivered I have to spend $50 min. They stock just about everything else. That's where I got the lump.

[Finster]

Those are great prices Jim.
Add $5 to each of those for the cheapest I can find B&B in my area

[Alan Brice]

I lucked into two 30’s of BnB charlogs at a local Ace hdwr. $16or17 ea. The salesman said he had never seen it before. That was five min fr work. Closest I could find it was Louisville 1 1/2hrs away. Haven’t used any yet, but looking forward to it.

[Oak Smoke]

It’s been a long time since I’ve used briquettes, but I go through about 20 lbs of lump a month. My Kamado Joe with a smobot will hold temps with in + or - 5 degrees on most days. The difference is my controller doesn’t use a fan. I”m happy with either B&B or Kamado Joe big block charcoal. I don’t know how much the Kickash basket holds on my 18 inch cooker, bit will hold 250 F degrees for 24 hours easily.

[jfmorris]

I have been enjoying my kamado as well, and the fact I can fill the bowl with lump, and cook 3-4 times before I have to refill it. Even after long low and slow cooks I usually have leftover lump, and its super easy to stir it up so the ashes drop, and top off for the next cook.

[Oak Smoke]

jfmorris That’s true, I smoked a brisket after the recent rain, there’s at least half the lump left. I’m fairly sure I could smoke a couple of racks of pork ribs with what’s left.

[Smoked Transistors]

Did you notice while using lump a lot less smoke and a less ash build up? It burns inconsistent due to sizes of the lump compared to the steady burn of all the same sized charcoal briquettes but i really prefer the taste of lump with wood chunks compared to Kingsford charcoal briquettes.

I'm stoked my local Home Depot recently starting selling Jealous Devil All Natural Hardwood Lump 24.98 for 20 pound bags

[Rod]

I did notice. That's some of the reasons I wanted to try it. I just need to figure out how much burn I need to get before closing up to get to my desired cooking temp.

[Smoked Transistors]

Over the weekend I smoked 4 racks of spare ribs on a 22in kettle using lump and wanted to play around with using less amounts of fuel for a cleaner burn. It's nice cause you can add a few more pieces when needed and remember lump burns hotter than briquettes so you don't have to load up the Slow And Sear.

[Bad Hat BBQ]

Have not used Kingsford in a very long time. Started using Cowboy Charcoal about 15 or years back. BnB or Rockwoood is my standard but the last 3 years or so I have been using Oak in the firebox.

[glitchy]

I wonder if some of it was the temp difference, it doesn’t seem fair to compare one at 325 to another at 250-275. Curious, why do you limit the fan to 75%, especially on hotter cooks? What fan do you have? If it’s the Pit Viper, I thought it was designed for smaller cookers like the WSCG. In the end, The swings look about +/-10°, which is pretty dang solid, I’ll take that any day.

When I use the FB and Pit Viper on the WSCG on temps over 300, I often open the bottom vent a bit, somewhere between half and smoke.

[Rod]

I was simply showing how the lump reacts to the fan in comparison to how briquettes react. Using briquettes at any temp is always steady in my experiences like the second graph shows. Like the title says, this my first time using lump and I just thought it was interesting.

It is a Pit Viper. I just think 75% is adequate and less likely to over shoot after opening the lid. Even with the "LID" setting turned on. I've had it over shoot before when set at 100%.

Just interesting is all.

[glitchy]

Rod the questions are purely out of curiosity on my end. I probably only smoke stuff on the WSCG 6 times a year as the pellet grills are just too convenient. I also have only used lump a few times since I have (or at least had) a large stockpile of Weber Briquettes. So, just asking and sharing for knowledge both ways. I looked back through old FB graphs and have only a couple that look like yours, I don’t know, but could be when I used lump too.

[Rod]

glitchy No worries!

[Rod]

glitchy Here is one of my first E6 cooks using briquettes. After the cook was done I just let it ride to see it's performance. 4hrs at 400 degrees! Temp fluctuated +/-1 degrees the whole run off. Plus it took about 2hrs to drop from 400 to 300. Crazy amazing!