First time using lump

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lantzy75

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Nov 21, 2016
105
35
Ontario, Canada
Picked up some dragon breath lump from Costco last week. I've never used lump before so it's a bit of trial and error today. Doing up some St. Louis spares and the temps are all over the place. Had some 30 degree swings in just a minute or so...temp drops out of the blue. I think I've got it under control right now...running about 225 on my Apollo.

Is this normal for lump? I know it usually runs hotter, but are the swings common?

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Lump will have more temp swings because the chunks are so uneven.

Briqs are all the same size.
 
I think you are missing something else.  Sudden temp drops and spikes in a stable burn environment are pretty much non existent unless there are some other factors present.   How are you reading your temps?  Are you in constant view of your cooker?  What kind of cooker are you using?
 
Lump will have more temp swings because the chunks are so uneven.

Briqs are all the same size.
but in a minute or so?  even with random sized pieces it would seem odd to see a rise/fall of that much without the door/lid getting opened even if a pit controller fan kicked in I dont know if you could see a 30 degree spike in a minute could you?
 
Lump will have more temp swings because the chunks are so uneven.

Briqs are all the same size.

but in a minute or so?  even with random sized pieces it would seem odd to see a rise/fall of that much without the door/lid getting opened even if a pit controller fan kicked in I dont know if you could see a 30 degree spike in a minute could you?

I'm not in constant view of my cooker and it is quite windy today. Temps have stabilized quite a bit since the beginning. Right in around 230 - 240 right now so I'm cool with how it's performing.

I have to admit, I've got a lot of huge pieces in the bag and not much in the way of tiny stuff. So far so good with this lump.

And my cooker is a Napoleon Apollo 300. Very similar to the WSM.

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I wonder if the wind is pushing/pulling on your vents and causing your temps to drop with the cold air getting pulled in faster than it can be heated and then with the blast of fresh air the coals flare a bit?    If the smoker is setting out in the wind I could see it having a big affect,  but i dont think that would be unique to lump charcoal,  brickets would likely do the same.
 
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