Kingsford Original Briquettes-problem

[boilerman]

I bought double 20# bags of Kingsford original. I store them off the floor in my garage. I decided to smoke 2 11# pork shoulders a week ago in my 22" Weber Mountain. I used Meatheads minion method as always.I had two problems. No my temperature never cleared 300 ever. 4 hours in I had to fill and lite another chimney full to keep the fire going. I went into the stall after 8 hours. No problem . But had to lite up another chimney to keep my fire going. The stall ended after 11 hours but my fire was dying again. I aso added charcoal during the time I put the new chimneys in. It was 12 hours my pork temp was at 170 to 180. I pulled them out and finished in the oven to 203 degrees. It was 3 am as I pulled my shoulders apart. When I took my smoker apart in the AM the unit was full of unburned charcoal. Never saw it before. Any guesses?

[mrteddyprincess]

My guess: The charcoal was exposed to moisture on the floor of the garage?

EDIT: Sorry. Didn't read closely enough when I answered the first time. So if it's not damp charcoal it's a combustion issue. Thank you copy editor jfmorris :-)

[jfmorris]

He says he stored them OFF the floor of the garage.

[mrteddyprincess]

Well now that you go bringing facts into it...

[jfmorris]

Sure sounds like an airflow issue or something like that to me, like air was not getting through parts of the charcoal bed, leading to unburned coals. I worry about that sometimes in my kamado when reusing leftover lump, when its small peices - they seem like they will clog up the air flow. That should not be the case with briquettes unless they were broken up a good bit.

Also the possibility of just a bad bag of charcoal?

[boilerman]

thanks jfmorris. boilerman

[Oak Smoke]

I had air flow problems in my kamado until I switched to a kick ash basket. Now reusing charcoal is no problem.

[Rod]

I would guess moist briquettes as well. I know pretty much all the Walmarts around here store their charcoal outside. The bags are stained so I never buy them from Walmart for fear of them not being dry. Was there a lot of excessive billowy smoke throughout the cook?

[boilerman]

thanks Rod. boilerman

[smokin fool]

Another guess would be not enough air going thru the unit choking the fire.
Not really familiar with the Weber Mountain, is it the Smokey Mountain, anyway, you may have to open your dampers more for more air circulation to fan the fire and get your cook temps up.

[boilerman]

thanks smokinfool. boilerman

[Porkies]

I agree with smokin fool jfmorris Rod

I have always experienced the opposite with my wsm 22. It usually wants to north of 300 and I have to all but close the dampers. So, my guess is a bag of charcoal which got wet prior to your purchase, or was a casualty of crappy quality control.

[boilerman]

thanks porkies. boilerman

[radiodome21]

I too suspect a bad batch of charcoal though I’m assuming the ash was cleaned out before hand and the charcoal ring was full when you started. And as someone who’s had their fair share of screw ups on the WSM, I now always start with a full charcoal ring and add 25 (at the most) briquettes and still struggle to get any temps lower than 250, which I’m fine with. Only have ever done minion method too. Though I’ve never done 2 butts at once but that’s a box I will check within the month.

[boilerman]

thanks radiodome21. boilerman

[Jfrosty27]

Something similar happened to my son with his Weber kettle this last weekend. He was cooking Vortex wings and the temps were running far lower than usual. Yet he said that just that same day, in the morning, he ran the kettle with no issues. Very odd. I have noticed this on occasion with my own kettle. I have guessed, and I stress guessed, that it is caused by the ash collection bin getting close to full. I didn’t think to ask him about the status of his though. So I guess this is a long winded way to say I think it’s an air flow issue. 🤷‍♂️🤦

[boilerman]

thanks jfrosty. boilerman

[boilerman]

I thank you all for your good information. I have never had this particular problem before with charcoal.I clean out my smoker completely after each use. Just fussy. I also wrote Kingsford. They apologized for my problem and am sending me 2-$12.00 in-store gift certificates as this was a twin-pak 2-20# bags. . Decent.I've used their product for55 years.

[FireMan]

I’m guessin ya might need more FIRE! Yessir.

[bbqLuv]

My guess, they can absorb moisture from humidity.

[boilerman]

These were sealed bags of charcoal. I'm not sure how sealed they are. Kingsford sent me 2 $12.00 gift certificates for charcoal (theirs). Said 'sorry for my troubles'. I have been using their charcoal for57 years and my Dad before me. I'll stick withem.

[BBQandLove]

Is there any possibility that you splashed water onto the charcoal when you were feeling or putting in the water pan?

[boilerman]

no splashing. I use a flower watering can to refill. Thank for your thoughts. See the comments above.

[boilerman]

Thank you guys for your thoughts. When I'm up smoking something at 2 am and there's trouble I sometimes look in Meatheads book. Nobody knows it all but we're working on it.

[Washblue]

Is it possible the initial coil worked as expected, but the added charcoal didn’t ignite as expected because they touched more ash than hot coals?

[CHNeal]

I believe Washblue is on the right path here. Im a guy thats been using KBB by the pallet for decades. Snake and minion methods in Weber kettles for 16 hour cooks. Ive seen similar failures as you describe and they have all be the result of of heavy ash preventing good contact between lit and unlit coals.
Ive had bags get wet/damp with no ill effects and have actually dumped less then perfectly dry into a grill and had it run fine as it drys out.

[Washblue]

That’s what I’m thinking…. I keep my KBB in the barn and what I’m using in the hopper of my Performers…

I live in the Appalachian temperate rainforest… damp is a way of life… as is my KBB & Webers…

[JHB]

When I was having problems maintaining temperatures with KBB this spring, PBC tech support told me that they thought KBB has changed their formula recently and was producing more ash, so that may be a factor.