Welcome!


This is a membership forum. Guests can view 5 pages for free. To participate, please join.

[ Pitmaster Club Information | Join Now | Login | Contact Us ]

Only 4 free page views remaining.

Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Did lump charcoal for the first time....interesting

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Did lump charcoal for the first time....interesting

    I wasn't planning on grilling anything today, but the itch got me. I've been meaning to try something that Steven Raichlen did on one the Project Smoke episodes (https://barbecuebible.com/recipe/emb...led-tortillas/): Ember-Roasted Salsa.

    To get a char on the tomatoes, onion, and peppers, he puts them right on the coals, which essentially requires lump charcoal.

    I've always been curious about lump charcoal so after a quick trip to HEB, I had everything I needed, including a bag of B&B Texas Oak lump charcoal. At the risk of sounding silly, my first reaction was that it really does look like wood. I also wasn't expecting the pieces to be so varied in size. There were huge, mini-logs and pieces only an inch or two across. (The smaller pieces slipped through the bottom grate of my Weber chimney.

    Once I got the charcoal lit, I was struck by two things: one, wow this stuff produces ember dust like crazy! We had a little of a breeze and this stuff goes everywhere. Also -- and this was kinda cool -- the near-constant crackling. It was like a real fire, which I guess makes sense.

    Next time I'll use more coals in the chimney as with all of the irregular sizes of the pieces, I ended up with less "coals" than with briquettes.

    The salsa turned out good. I think the charred skins helped, if only for presentation. I did grill some tortillas (on a grate, not directly on the coals) and they turned out with a lovely subtle earthy wood flavor that is different than what I've been getting cooking with wood chunks and briquettes.

    So, it was a fun experiment. I can't see myself switching to it, if only for the significant price difference between it and briquettes.

    #2
    My cooker requires lump (Primo XL kamado). I get Fogo locally so I use that stuff.

    The cost is higher per bag, but a bag lasts longer. Briquettes are one and done, when I fill the Primo firebox up I get several cooks out of it. Not sure if the costs even out, I guess that depends on temperature. But I have done overnight low and slow only to find the top layer of lump is still black as midnight after I close all the vents to kill the fire.

    Comment


      #3
      That sounds interesting.

      Comment


        #4
        I hate lighting lump in the chimney, just because it ends up being a tower of sparks. I usually just stack it up where I'm gonna want it, jam a few Weber cubes in there and fire it up. Takes longer, but cuts down on the possibility of setting my neighbors garage on fire.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by mnavarre View Post
          I hate lighting lump in the chimney, just because it ends up being a tower of sparks.
          Yes, absolutely! Normally I start my chimney on some paver stones on the ground, but we've got a lot of plants (and a butterfly enclosure) cluttering up the patio that I didn't want the chimney too close to that, so for the first time I started the chinmney on the kettle's charcoal grill itself.

          From the kitchen, I have a direct view out to the grill. Wow, it really was like a tower of sparks!

          Comment


            #6
            I had the same experience. I have always used KBB but decided to try Lump because I heard so many good things about it and a 20lb scratch and dent bag was on sale for $7. I was really excited until I lit it. Whatever didn’t fall through the chimney grate put on a 4th of July show and seemingly every time it got a rush of air when I’d take the cover off mid cook. The whole bag got used eventually but it wasn’t soon enough.

            Comment


              #7
              I use lump in everything I own. BGE-PK 360-Lodge Sportsman-Good One-I just can't put up with the mess briquette make.

              Comment


                #8
                I've been using lump with no issues. The sparks that some seem to hate look cool to me. It also seems to last a good while burning and smothers easily such that there is plenty of lump left to relight at a later date. Mind you that I use a cabinet smoker that is frugal with charcoal.

                Having said all that, I bought a bag of briquettes (KBB) to try. Data suggest that briquettes may produce a better smoke ring. I got that info from the article about the smoke ring formation on the free side of the site.

                Lots of stuff to try and ponder about. For me, that is fun.

                Comment


                  #9
                  I like lump...great flavor, high heat, cool sounds. What I don’t like about lump is...more work to get a consistent temp (though it’s the same as selecting wood splits for my offset stickburner, so it shouldn’t bother me!), those extra sparks make me nervous because we get a lot of wind in our backyard and I always see embers drift toward my neighbors yard...I’d hate for one to start trouble over there!

                  My ~15 year charcoal cooking experience has been about 65/35 briqs/lump. These days I usually just buy whatever’s cheap and/or close to my hand at the store when in need...charcoal price is actually a very small part of the overall cost of making barbecue.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    One thing I did like about it was that, well, it does looks like one is cooking over a "real" fire. I've been doing some research and I see a lot of people using it for relatively fast direct grilling (flank steaks, etc). It also seems a decent way to get some wood smoke flavor in a quick cook when wood chunks might not be all that practical.

                    I'm kinda eager to try it again. I think I'll try to light it directly in the kettle (using two lighter cubes) and not use the chimney. I should be able to get more of it lit and I think the kettle shape will cut down on the sparks/flying embers just a little bit.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      I like lump for "special" cooks. I think it produces superior flavor to briquettes (except Weber) but the difference is subtle. I can work with the over-sized pieces but the tiny pieces are annoying.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        I am 100% lump on my Primo XL. I use the BGE lump charcoal, just because there is a dealer in town so easy to get. I do not see a big issue with the ask from it,

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Well now you guys have me wanting to give it another shot....

                          Comment


                            #14
                            There's a great thread going over at Kamado Guru about the relative performance characteristics of different brands of lump. The thread is ongoing due to the staggering amount of work that’s gone into it but net-net the results to date indicate the "good lump isn’t cheap and cheap lump isn’t good."

                            True to form I went straight to Fogo for my first lump cook and the results were amazing. I lit via cube in the middle for a low & slow cook and the burn was nice and crackly. No sparks that I saw but this lighting method probably mitigated that type of effect. Went 7 hours at 275 and only used about a 3rd of the fuel chamber (filled to the deflector on a Summit charcoal incl 4 wood chunks). The wife couldn’t stop talking about how good the charcoal smell was while the temp stabilized and prior to any wood catching.

                            I’ll stay with Fogo/lump for long cooks and run briquettes for quicker runs…I’ve gotten partial to the Kingsford hardwood over the past few weeks.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Following up on this.....

                              This weekend got busy, so relatively late tonight I decided to do hot dogs and use up most of the remainder of my B&B lump. Even trying to do half a Weber chimney, I ended up with just a few large chucks, but a lot of small pieces....and....LOTS OF DUST/POWDER. Wow. Was not expecting that. No biggie, just messy.

                              I *do* like the way it looks in the pit....especially for an open-lid cook like hot dogs. At the end of the day, it does have that "cooking over real wood" look.

                              For now, at least, I am going to stuck to KBB, but I do want to continue experimenting with lump.

                              Comment


                              • JeffJ
                                JeffJ commented
                                Editing a comment
                                I picked up 2 20 pound bags of it at Walmart for $12 per bag and after a couple of cooks I am not impressed with it. It's not bad by any stretch. It's just not anything special either. Kamado Joe big lump is definitely superior but it also costs twice as much. Get what you pay for, I suppose.

                            Announcement

                            Collapse
                            No announcement yet.
                            Working...
                            X
                            false
                            0
                            Guest
                            Guest
                            500
                            ["pitmaster-my-membership","login","join-pitmaster","lostpw","reset-password","special-offers","help","nojs","meat-ups","gifts","authaau-alpha","ebooklogin-start","alpha","start"]
                            false
                            false
                            {"count":0,"link":"/forum/announcements/","debug":""}
                            Yes
                            ["\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads","\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads\/1157845-paid-members-download-your-6-deep-dive-guide-ebooks-for-free-here","\/forum\/the-pitcast","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2019-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2020-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2021-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/bbq-news-magazine-2022-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/current-2023-issues","\/forum\/national-barbecue-news-magazine\/national-barbecue-news-magazine-aa\/current-2024-issues","\/forum\/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads\/1165909-trial-members-download-your-free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-here"]
                            /forum/free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-downloads/1165909-trial-members-download-your-free-deep-dive-guide-ebook-here