lump charcoal

[Mark V]

I have a Big Green Egg that I have always used lump with, almost 20 years. At the beginning, Royal Oak. Then it seemed they made Big Green Egg Charcoal at a bigger size. I could dump that stuff into the Egg with great results every time, good size chunks, didn't even have to sort. Then I had 3 bags in a row that were not good, too small of pieces, hard to get lit and hard to stay lit at temp, Tried Cowboy lump. No better. My last two bags were smaller chunks than briquettes. On the Egg, that is hard. I gave up and bought a PBC, I can get briquettes and they are all the same, easy to use. What is up with lump, or did I just get a really bad run for 5 or ten years? I got one bag of lump from South America, it had lumps as big as my head. That stuff burned erratically, slow, fast, etc, you couldn't count on it to stay put. Probably wasn't completely charcoal.

[grampa]

Your story pretty much matches mine - except on a WSM. The "How to Smoke" book swore lump was the only way to go, so that's what I did. I could not get any two cooks to run the same: fast - slow, hot - barely smoldering. Very frustrating! Even with a temp controller, it wouldn't run the same way twice. I finally gave up, and tossed the WSM.

A while later, "Meathead" came out, and I read his take on lump vs. briquettes. Suddenly the heavens opened, angel choirs were singing, and it all made sense. The absolute non-regularity of lump size and shape made consistent burns a near impossibility, without tossing half or more of each bag of lump! I went to briquettes, even in the Egg, and found consistent burns the norm rather than the exception! Now I stick with briquettes, and add chunks of wood for flavor - which can vary depending on specie! Nice and easy!

p.s. On the egg, I found a bottom grate made of heavy wire, such as is used on normal grills/smokers, instead of the eggs "plate with holes." The briquettes work great on that "grate" - much better than their regular bottom plate.

[Spinaker]

This is one of the few spots where I disagree with MH.

[Spinaker]

I never use Royal oak or Cowboy anymore. Mostly small pieces, dust and scrap pieces.

Try FOGO, B&B or Rockwood. In that order.. All three are excellent.

[Steve B]

👍👍👍. I will add as per Spinaker recommended to me is if possible, depending on where and how, you get those lump bags from. Try to take them off of the pallets yourself. Thus minimizing the amount of handling the bags have. In turn increasing your chances of having more consistent peices of charcoal.
Woah. I think I just said too much.
But than again maybe not.

[jfmorris]

Why not use hardwood briquettes in the Big Green Egg? I see a difference in my kettle with hardwood briquettes like Weber versus the coal dust, sawdust and binder ones like KBB. I had one bad experience with Cowboy lump in my offset, and never bought lump again...

[Spinaker]

Briquettes use binders which can mess up the airflow in kamaods. They run on far less air than a kettle.

Not surprised with your experience with Cowboy. That stuff is trash. In my experience.

[Bill P]

I have generally had good results with Royal Oak in my BGE. I have had some bags with small chunks and others with wood that sparked a lot, but in the main have had good results. Tried Big Green Egg lump once ant it was very good. The best lump came with my Hasty Bake.
I throw out lump that isn’t completely pyrolized, break up the huge chunks, stack the lump to allow airflow, and use a thermostatically controlled blower so the brand is less important to me than availability and cost.

[Spinaker]

BGE lump is Royal Oak in a green bag.

[LA Pork Butt]

I would agree with your Royal Oak experience the keyvword in generally. Occasionally I have had a bag with few large lumps, but that has been the exception not the rule. I like the fact that it produces a low volume of ash. As Steve B suggested minimize the handling of the bag and there will be fewer pieces broken. If they are still on the pallet you should have better luck than if they have been moved and restacked.

[JeffJ]

I would never use lump for low/slow in anything other than a kamado where much of the heat is not so much from the fuel but from the insulation of the cooker itself. If you are looking to tightly control your temps and are looking for consistent results lump should not be the go-to. For everyday 2-zone grilling lump works perfectly well and it tends to burn cleaner than briquettes. The piece-to-piece size disparity is the biggest drawback for me.

[Steve B]

I think that what Mark V is getting at is the fact that most lump manufacturers are now trying to keep up with the masses. So their quality control is going down hill.
They must produce more at a faster rate to feed the public and they don’t have the capacity to do that right now.
I could be totally wrong here but it’s just what popped into my mind.
Please correct me if I’m in another Stratosphere. 👊👊

[Spinaker]

Dude, you gotta try FOGO. It is amazing to cook with.

[Steve B]

Thanks Spinaker I shall get some soon. Once I depleat my current stock of BnB.

[Ahumadora]

I done some checking recently about exporting charcoal from here. All charcoal exports from Argentina are currently banned. So check the bag and ask them where it is from.

[Old Glory]

FOGO is the best lump I have used. Big chunks very little dust or small bits. Tried Rockwood and was disappointed. It has very small pieces and is sparky. Doesn't seem to get as hot or burn as long. I loaded up on Weber during the sale so I will be using that for a while but will always use lump in my BGE.

[JeffJ]

Best lump I've used is Kamado Joe. But it's $25 for a 20 pound bag. I've heard nothing but good things about FOGO but I just don't use lump all that much - I don't have a kamado.

[Santini]

I’ve been using B&B Competition Char-Logs from academy in my gravity fed and kettle. Burns consistently and clean. My team mate uses it in his BGE with great results.

Cheers