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B&B First Impression

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    #16
    I have had nothing but a fight recently with B&B. I know I don’t have the best Kamado, but this last cook just to keep the fire going and at 246 I have to have my intake halfway open. I had always used royal oak prior to these last two bags and probably going to switch back. It may just be my kamado, but I am not sure.

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      #17
      I had trouble too, AverageJoe , keeping the temp up in my PBC with my first long cook with B&B briquettes. Ended up keeping the lid cracked for most of the cook. I thought it was just me, or the briquette vs. lump effect, but since you used lump and had the same experience, I'm questioning whether to use up the rest of the B&B bags for long cooks or go back to Weber or KBB.

      I do like the way that there is little if any white smoke. Nice blue smoke right away.

      The B&B briquettes and lump have worked OK in my WSCGC, kamado mode, though, but not as steady in temp as KBB or Weber. In kamado mode, the B&B tended to run hotter than the other brands.

      Kathryn
      Last edited by fzxdoc; January 20, 2020, 08:51 AM.

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      • AverageJoe
        AverageJoe commented
        Editing a comment
        fzxdoc I am with you on the fact that I was loving the lack of white smoke especially when I needed to boost the fire some by adding just a few pieces more. My cook was in my kamado so was a bit odd to me that it was that hard to get it going. It finally did come back with a vengeance though, but only after the temps rose closer to 30 degrees. I have never had that issue in the past so I am wondering if it just didn't like the cold air

      #18
      I thought it was just me, but I used B&B briquettes for the first time with my Thanksgiving turkey cooks, and it was a struggle to get to the finish line both times, using amounts comparable to what I normally use with KBB. I ended up throwing away half a bag afterwards, just so I didn't have to deal with that again. It may be as simple as the size or design of the briquettes, but I don't want to think about charcoal at all when cooking, I just need it to work as expected.

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        #19
        Wow, I feel better now. I have to special order B&B briquettes through Ace Hardware online to be drop-shipped to my local Ace Hardware, so I've really got to like them to go through that rigamarole again. So far, I'm not liking them much. Ditto with B&B lump in my kamado.

        The B&B briquettes were fine for a short cook--my first one with them, so I thought I had found a winner. But given my less-than-satisfactory long cook experience both in the WSCGC kamado and my PBC, I won't be buying them any more. I have another bag to use up, though. Sigh.

        Kathryn
        Last edited by fzxdoc; January 20, 2020, 05:02 PM.

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        • fzxdoc
          fzxdoc commented
          Editing a comment
          Yeah, I'm disappointed as well, jfmorris , since I love the way B&B comes up to temp with little if any white smoke. I suspect that the fight against falling temps has to do with the reluctance of B&B to light as well as, say, KBB. It always needs a boost from KBB in the chimney to get it going in the beginning. In my experience, a chimney of KBB lights a whole lot faster than one filled with B&B.

          Kathryn

        • jfmorris
          jfmorris commented
          Editing a comment
          Hmmm. I saw none of this with the char logs or the B&B lump. I've just been experimenting with it in a quest to replace the Weber charcoal that I cannot get locally anymore. My last overnight cook though of a brisket on Jan 4th I used some of my Weber briquette stash up...

        • Dadof3Illinois
          Dadof3Illinois commented
          Editing a comment
          I’ve used B&B briquettes on my last 8-10 cooks and have noticed it takes more O2 to combust. I don’t use it for hotter cooks, say above 300F but for low and slow, 250F or below I really like it.

        #20
        jfmorris Now that I have learned how to light Weber briquettes (starting with a chimney of KBB) I love doing long cooks with them. I don't use them for short cooks because they burn for so long. Wasted energy.

        I may learn to love using B&B briquettes once I break the lighting code for them. They don't seem to like the minion method much, either in my PBC or WSCGC. They start out just fine, and then the cooker temp begins to fall and I chase it for the whole rest of the cook.

        I did put a Fireboard Drive + Pit Viper fan on my PBC, so I may try again with the B&B briquettes to see how they do.

        My goal was to use KBB and Kingsford Professional for short cooks and Weber and B&B briquettes for long cooks because of their long burning profiles.

        Kathryn
        Last edited by fzxdoc; January 21, 2020, 09:45 AM.

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        • jfmorris
          jfmorris commented
          Editing a comment
          You are pursuing the same goals as me, and I will probably try the B&B briquettes at some point. Maybe the fan controller will help keep the fire going too - I've got a PartyQ that I use on my overnight cooks.

        #21
        Ref. the briquettes, I am in the crowd that likes them. We use them by lighting a chimney full and getting it roaring. They do seem slower to light but I have attributed that to them not having a lot of sawdust, wax, and other fillers like other brands use for accelerants. Like Weber natural briquettes, they smell good from the get-go and their size and content keeps them burning for a very long time. Here are a couple of photos from a cook my son did the other night on his Pilot Rock Park Grill for fun. (That is a pecan split in there as well.)

        Ref. their lump popping and crackling - I attribute that to their being made of good dense hardwood feedstock. For reference, I use Fogo Quebracho (ironwood) and their former offering of Marubu. Both, particularly the Marubu, can be like fireworks when you light a chimney to get them going. They are a bit hard to get going but burn with intensity when finally lit. These are really dense woods and have a very high heat content. So popping and crackling may well be a very good indicator for the B&B.

        An additional big positive from my perspective is the cost. The cost for B&B products at our local Academy Sports is very attractive. I make the special effort to drop by there and load up from time to time (pellets, charcoal, and charlogs). I can also get charcoal via my neighborhood Ace but the cost is prohibitive even when they have a big online sale or with promotional coupons, but that is not surprising since the Ace business model appears to be premised on being handy versus competitive.

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          #22
          I liked them all right for short cooks, Alphonse . So they work well for you on long cooks? What kinds of smokers do you have? I see that offset in your avatar. Any others?

          Kathryn
          Last edited by fzxdoc; January 21, 2020, 01:10 PM.

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          • Alphonse
            Alphonse commented
            Editing a comment
            I have a herd of pits at hand plus kamados, grills, pellet, konro, . . . Yes, I have an affliction but have pits in multiple locations.

            I use only lump in my kamados. I use briquettes and lump in a PK360. We have used B&B charlogs and briquettes in a charcoal basket on the pit in my avatar. It is used with a PID control/blower setup. The charcoal is stacked 6" or more deep and a chimney full is lit and put on one end so flame front travels across for a long cook and works well.

          • fzxdoc
            fzxdoc commented
            Editing a comment
            Thanks for the info, Alphonse . It's good to hear that you can make B&B briquettes (and lump) work for you in your various smokers and cookers. I intend on making it work for me as well, since I have some left, despite a disappointing start.

            Kathryn

          #23
          When I first bought my kamado, I tried Cowboy and Royal Oak lump and decided neither brand worked for me. For the last year or so I used B&B and have had really good results. Because it's readily available year round I try to stick with it but around Apr-May, Wally-World sells a 30 lb bag of Western Lump for around $10 that has really nice sized chunks and burns really long, and very well.

          Comment


            #24
            Just did a cook on the G2. Laid one level of char logs in the basket (fit them close together by hand) and lit them using B&B briquettes. Used the Fireboard and Pit Viper to control temp. Had no issue getting up to temp or keeping at temp.

            As indicated above, price at Academy and performance is driving me to use them vs KBB. Just bought another bag of char-logs and briquettes. Also, bought a bag of lump to try it. Will be using these in both the G2 and the Kettle/SnS.

            Comment


            • Dadof3Illinois
              Dadof3Illinois commented
              Editing a comment
              How long did you get out of the char logs in the SnS?

            • fzxdoc
              fzxdoc commented
              Editing a comment
              I think I will like using B&B with the Fireboard/Pit Viper combo as well. That way the gizmos can do all the work of keeping the fire up to temp.

              Kathryn

            • jlazar
              jlazar commented
              Editing a comment
              I did not use the logs in the SnS yet. Just the G2 due to it having a flat charcoal tray. But don't imagine there would be any issue once you learned how many logs you need. Like others stated, B&B briquettes do start slowing but not significantly. So no problem with snaking from briquettes to logs.

            #25
            jfmorris Thanks for the post. I was in the same boat as you by having a bad experience with lump and not trying it again after that. But after reading this I kinda got the itch again so I just picked up a bag of B&B Lump Oak for some pork chops tonight. Looking forward to hopefully a better experience

            Comment


            • jfmorris
              jfmorris commented
              Editing a comment
              Looking forward to hearing your experience with them. I've not yet used the lump in my kettle, just in my offset, but plan to try it in the kettle soon.

            #26
            Interesting video on a charcoal briquette comparison. At least the part on burn test and length of burn. Looks like the B&B burns a bit longer.

            I wish he'd weighed the charcoal vs just using a chimney full. That said, still looks like a positive outcome for B&B.
            Last edited by Alphonse; January 22, 2020, 02:15 PM.

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              #27
              jfmorris So after my first bag of lump I wasn’t a fan for two reasons. First the pieces were so tiny that I lost quite a bit just dumping it into the chimney. Even then there were so many other small pieces that as it was lighting I’d lose even more, and even more through the grates once I dumped it onto the grate. Second reason was an outrageous amount of sparks. I can’t even begin to describe how bad it was, I’m just glad I was on my driveway and not on my deck.
              That said the B&B lump I just tried was a world of difference and made me realize the first bag I got was a dud. I don’t even remember the brand. This had nice big chunks and very few small pieces and splinters. In the chimney there was some sparking but very minimal. The only thing I did notice was that it seemed to need a little more air to keep the high heat going compared to my usual KBB. I basically filled the SnS on my kettle, all vents wide open. Granted it’s 30 degrees here right now but the coals almost seemed to be getting snuffed out so to sear I had to keep the lid cracked to really stoke the coals. But once they were going I was happy with the heat output. Looking forward to playing with them on future cooks.

              Comment


                #28
                Well I always run a fan for long cooks, and B&B briqs lasted a bit longer than everything else I’ve tried. (~21 hrs)

                I really like the char logs in the PBC, but they are a bit big to pack densely in the PK360 for a long session.

                char logs in the PBC comparison.

                Calibration tests with no food to characterize settings. All using a level basket of KBB, and subset of that ignited by PBC chimney and lid clamped on immediately. I’m sure things will change with food load, but gives an idea how settings may affect things. Ambient temp was 30-40F. Altitude is sea level. Temperature at cook

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                • Polarbear777
                  Polarbear777 commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Oh and if you didn’t click on the link, that’s 27 hours for char logs in the PBC. I just light with a lit mini chimney of whatever small briquettes I have handy.

                #29
                I experimented with B&B char logs this past weekend for a baby back rib cook, I was mainly drawn to them because reviews (and Moe Cason's Instagram) suggested they smoke a lot less during chimney startup. They were correct, I normally use Kingsford blue bag and really annoyed my neighbors due to the massive smoke screen. Im a big fan now! My ribs turned out great and I learned my offset cooker settings with the new heat source. Ive already ordered 2 more bags through my local Ace Hardware store.

                Comment


                • jfmorris
                  jfmorris commented
                  Editing a comment
                  Sounds great! I used the char logs in my small offset, and liked them a lot for that application as well. Much less and much cleaner smoke than the KBB. Most of the smoke was from the wood chunks I added to the firebox.

                #30
                After using all three types of B&B, here is my new approach going forward.

                Long cooks (large quantity) - G2 using charlogs light by 10-12 B&B briquettes started in chimney.

                Long cooks (small quantity) - Kettle/SnS with B&B briquettes

                Grilling/Short cooks - Kettle/SnS with B&B lump. (Especially for steaks)

                I have found with B&B, the smoke flavor of the wood chunks comes through stronger rather than just having a smoke flavor (If that makes sense).

                Some info from another post:
                I used B&B briquettes with the Fireboard/Pit Viper/Sns yesterday. Came up to temp a little slower than KBB but with no white smoke. Held temp at 350 for 1 hour. By held temp, I mean it stayed within 1 degree of 350 the whole time. Tried a test and lowered the set point to 330. Had no problem with the temp going down and staying rock solid at that temp. I am definitely switching to B&B.


                Last edited by jlazar; February 2, 2020, 01:42 PM.

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