Another BB charcoal post

[Richard Chrz]

I set up my 26 last night with a 2x1 snake with three pecan chunks on my 26 kettle. I just finally stopped letting it go at 225. 23 hours later, I still have a few hours left in that fire for sure,

[Oakgrovebacon]

Impressive! What did you cook?

[Richard Chrz]

Pork shoulder

[HawkerXP]

B&B, B&B, B&B!

[Richard Chrz]

Haha!

[J-Melt]

Love it! You are the one who converted me and I now have several bags of the stuff waiting to be used!

[Jerod Broussard]

B & B "originally" (approx. 10 years ago) was not stamped with the B, had less ash, but was more brittle. Thinking they added a bit of binders. Definitely ups the game on a kettle.

[Richard Chrz]

B&B claims there is none. It certainly i]does not feel like any other briquette when using it,

[mnavarre]

Nice. I'm loving it for the kettles, still not sure about the PBJr. I don't know whether the B&B just burns hot or I have a lid issue. Guess I'll have to do a couple of rib cooks and find out.

[LA Pork Butt]

I have done a couple of cooks like that on my son’s 26” Weber. You certainly stack your charcoal neater than I do. I really like the snake method for a low and slow cook on a Weber - No need to replenish. Had I known about that method before I bought my Big Green Egg I might be cooking on a Weber. I hated waking up in the early morning hours to replenish charcoal in my old bullet smoker. The SlowNSear works great, but on a 225 12-14 hour cook you still need to replenish charcoal.

[Richard Chrz]

Yeah, I would not get up at 3 am to work on a fire, when Weber charcoal stopped, I stopped doing over night cooks, because kingsford sucks at it, I was skeptical of how good BB briquettes would be. But I’m a believer.

When I did a wsm cook for the memorial weekend brisket cook, I think my minion method on my 22 wsm went 20 plus hours as well. Although a lot more fuel than a 26.

[Jessterr]

Impressive indeed. Richard Chrz, I’d like to try this on my 26” as well, using a bag of B&B I have on hand. How many lit briquettes do you add to the front of the snake?

[Richard Chrz]

You know I used some lump to start my snake, it on a 26, if I were using briquettes, I’d probably use about 9.

[Bkhuna]

B&B claims to have no chemical additives or fillers. My firsthand experience is that is doesn't put out noxious dirty smoke during the lighting, burns hotter and leave less ash than other popular brands. I don't have to run the barrel fan to clear the enclosed patio when I fire up a chimney full. It also has a nice flavor of the hardwood used to make the briquettes. Sometimes when I grill I don't want added smoke flavor. B&B oak briquettes have a nice woody smell as opposed the Limestone, sawdust, and sodium borate used in "the big guy the block".

[Panhead John]

+1

[Richard Chrz]

Bkhuna, agreed on all, especially the aroma, you can smell the oak.

[JLR]

I’ve always used kingsford, but recently bought some B&B because of the hype on the forum. I’ve done a few cooks with it and am amazed how long it burns. Because of that, it makes it much cheaper to use. I’m sold on it.

[Richard Chrz]

It really is a bargain in a longer cook.

[drobinson]

OK, I give up!! Been using Kingsford for 53 years, but I will give B&B a test and report my findings.

[Richard Chrz]

Looking forward to your review. One warning, it is slow to start in a chimney. There are work around to speed that up. But once it is lit, y0u appreciate how slow it is to burn, and the consistent temp that comes with it.

[Panhead John]

I’ve used B & B charcoal briquettes for about the last 1 1/2 years. I’ve yet to do a slow cook using them and not had plenty of leftover un-burned charcoal. I believe my longest was 9 1/2 hours on the Bronco. And I don’t do the snake method, I just pour them into the charcoal pan….or the SnS if using the kettle. But I still use KBB for all my grilling, don’t like to waste the good stuff for a short cook.

[Panhead John]

Richard, as y’all know, I’m a lazy bastard and don’t have the patience to line up briquettes for the snake method. Excellent job! Just curious, how long did it take you to do that?

[Richard Chrz]

I’m not sure how long, maybe 10 minutes? I much prefer running the minion, or my set up that operates under the principle of the SNS, dump and go. But each one is stacked in this cook with the idea that I will not need to tend to it, so I take the bit extra time, when I set it up. My 22Wsm is too much a fuel hog for one butt, which would allow the minion.

I’m also super lazy, this is supposed to be relaxing as a hobbyist, right?

[mnavarre]

The nice thing about the B&B is that partially burned briquettes are actually still usable, whereas with KBB, not so much.

[Richard Chrz]

And to the stability of the fire. This was at the 16 hour mark…

[Andrrr]

I always used the snake when I had my WSM and it produced similar results. You’re right, taking 10 mins to stack the coals is well worth having a consistent and predictable temp

[Richard Chrz]

What size wsm did you have, and what snake 2x1 or2x2?

Yes a tight fire is super crucial in it’s success, I also bury my wood in other cooks, so this I just try to get a coal on top. I find the charcoal on top absorbs the energy of the wood trying to flare up, and keeps it smoking.

[Andrrr]

It was a 22”. I think I did 3x3 maybe? I forget, it’s been awhile. I tried it because of what I read about the WSM on the free side and it was the only way I could keep the temps down

[ofelles]

I just got 4 bags of B&B. Will be trying it in my cabinet. Have only used KBB in the pass and have been happy with it. But reading everyone's comments about B&B I'll give it a try. I like the idea of slower burning and cleaner taste.
I set up the charcoal with the moveable dividers in a snake. It is a fuel hog because of it's size, I can get about 20 hours out of a 17lb bag of KBB. Looking forward to the results.

[Richard Chrz]

For me, it makes so much sense, being able to open up and wheel up reach in, rather than pulling grates off a wsm to get to the lower grate, and still running my other grills for space. I have no doubt there is a learning curve. And I think would want the largest as well. I would want that side table as well, and I think the bigger wheels. So much money to save up.

[Flip43]

You’ll love it in your LSG. I start a chimney of KBB solely for heat and then fill the rest of my basket with B&B. The KBB doesn’t give off the strong smell and smoke once it’s lit imo and figure this saves me some $ instead of using all B&B. I have the mini so you might have to experiment with how far up the 1st section of t plates to leave open to bridge to the good stuff when dumping in the kit KBB.

[Richard Chrz]

Currently I’m moving through different lumps to replace the KBB coal for start up. So if you have some lump, you can start with that as well, nothing but clean wood smoke.

[mnavarre]

One thing my wife actually noticed is the B&B gives a distinct smoky flavor, at least in a roasting/reverse sear situation. Very different than the kinda "cooked with charcoal" flavor from KBB.