I'm still playing around with lump charcoal. One thing I noticed is that when you load a full chimney, by the time it's lit it has collapsed to about half its original volume. Is this normal for lump? If I'm wanting to sear something it's kinda aggravating since my planned inch or two from the grates turns into a wide chasm. Is this less of an issue with lump since they supposedly burn hotter? Briqs collapse a bit but not near as much as lump, and with briqs I can pile the coals to within an inch or so from my grates with my slow n sear. I'm using FOGO lump, BTW.
-
-
I've never used lump, but maybe try putting some briquettes under the lump? -
In my experience. Lump is consumed faster in a chimney than with briquettes.
In my opinion, Quality Lump is better than briquettes in some cookers, like Kamados. And they are excellent for searing. But for me, I like to pile the lump into the SNS or my Kamado and use a torch to light the fire. This keeps the fire in one spot. It creates a hot dense fire, quickly and you don't run the risk of pieces falling out of a chimney. This works excellent.
I only use my chimney for to get the KBQ going.
Comment
-
I run lump in my chimney, and don't have any issues. I usually dump it when I have a solid 5" flame peeking out the top. I would say around 60% coals are lit when I dump? Then the rest have no issues catching in the fire box. I would say from the flick of the flame to dump, I am usually about 5 to 7 minutes. Then another 3 or 4 minutes in the fire box, and I then add the hardwood. I have a fire box that is ready to close and start heating the stick burner in around 20 minutes all in. Sooner if I use my BBQ Dragon.Comment
-
Yes tugboat . I have done the same in a Weber kettle and BGE, minus the hard wood obviously. You would just add more lump to the portion that is lit, and give it maybe 15 minutes in the fire box. The reason I do this in the kettle instead of the chimney, is that the lump will sort of lock together. So even though it is getting burned, it will mesh for a decent amount of time, allowing quite a bit of air flow. Once it does fall into a bed of coals, everything is already way lit and super hot. If you let them get 100% lit in the chimney, you break the lock as soon as you dump it. Hard to explain, so I hope I have explained my method decent enough!! I have cooked with lump probably close to 700+ times, and love it. I can get lump up to temp way quicker than bricks, and will never switch back.Comment
-
I'll try that next time I need to sear something like a skirt steak. Thanks for the tip PaynTrain! I wonder how that would work for a reverse sear job though? It's easiest to have a chimney of hot coals ready and then dump. I wonder if I stick to briqs for the sear end of a reverse sear?Comment
-
Just don;t get it as hot. Temper the heat as you normally would. I have done 10 hours @ 225 to 4 minutes at 800. It will cover it all in a kettle or BGE.Comment
-
I ran into basically the same issue the other day with lump charcoal. Started with a full chimney, ended with about a half a chimney by the time I poured it into the kettle. I will try also less time in the chimney and maybe adding some to the kettle to insure I have enough to do the job. This was my first experience with lump charcoal. I always use Kingsford blue for my WSM and have been using the blue for my grill. I decided to use the lump charcoal for my project since the briquettes have a binder in them to keep their shape, and I didn't want any of that on my fajita steaks.
I did a direct sear on some thin steak for fajitas. I used my leaf blower to get the dust off the lump charcoal in the grill, and placed the steaks right onto the charcoal. Cooked for one minute per side and pulled them off the grill. Made some dandy fajitas with it...Comment
-
Tellin' you guys.....the torch is the way to go.Comment
Comment