Another charcoal question

[ron50]

Sorry to bring this up again...

I smoked up a pork butt last weekend. It came out great but I was not pleased dealing with the Royal Oak lump that I used. Tons of small pieces.

I am cooking up 3 butts tomorrow for a Super Bowl party so I picked up some Jealous Devil Lump because of all the great reviews (low ash, long burn time, big pieces).

I was reading some reviews about it and a few people were complaining about the smell of the charcoal and the taste it imparts to the food. One person even said it smelled like pine sap. I realize it's not American hickory or oak so I don't expect it to smell the same.

Obviously I don't want to screw up the food I'm supplying to the party.

Can anyone give me their experiences good and bad regarding the smell and taste when using JD charcoal.

Thanks.

 

[Gonna Smoke]

I have used JD for a couple of years now and I haven't noticed any weird smells, but I usually mix in some wood splits with it, especially when using for long(er) smokes. One thing about it, though, it burns VERY HOT, much, much hotter than any briquettes I've ever used. Not sure how it compares to RO lump temps...

 

[Flatrate]

I've used Jealous Devil many times and have never experienced anything with bad taste or smell.

Dave

 

[Chasdev]

I used to drive a Kamado and went through several brands of lump, mostly because of the "smell" of the fire.
I ended up with FOGO, it seemed to be the least offensive.
Must add though that slow smoking on lump can get tricky as the coal base must be hot enough to burn off the nasty smell, which of course means your fire may get too hot for low and slow.
Just a suggestion but you might try Kingsford Pro Comp, it works well and once the coals turn white they don't smell bad.
Costco has Kingsfored Pro Comp now but branded as Kirkland and sometimes they have Kingsford branded bags.
Outstanding price too at Costco, $18 for two very large bags.

 

[ron50]

I have used JD for a couple of years now and I haven't noticed any weird smells, but I usually mix in some wood splits with it, especially when using for long(er) smokes. One thing about it, though, it burns VERY HOT, much, much hotter than any briquettes I've ever used. Not sure how it compares to RO lump temps...

On the nakedwhiz review site he claims 997 degrees for the JD and 1169 degrees for the RO. I'm using hickory chunks for smoke and I usually add it throughout the smoke as well so I am hoping that would be the predominant taste.

 

[jcam222]

I've not used JD but have heard nothing but good things. I'm a B&B lump fan myself. Never find scrap and and relatively low amount of smalls.

 

[912smoker]

I've only used JD briquettes but no offensive odors.
Mainly use B&B but going thru a bag of Blues Hog lump now and really like it !

Keith

 

[ron50]

Appreciate everyone's input.
I decided the best way was to do a small smoke and test it out.
Stuffed peppers and a fatty filled with shredded cheddar, sautéed green apples and onions. WSM 18 using the minion method.

Impressions so far......initially had a hard time getting it to light in the charcoal chimney. Possibly because it was a smaller load of charcoal?
The smell before I added the wood chunks was mild, definitely a wood smell but scented somehow. Very little of that "bacon" smell that oak or hickory lump gives off but not unpleasant. Once I added hickory chunks that smell dominated.
Top of the bag had huge chunks. Middle f the bag was smaller pieces but still what I would call large.

 

[ron50]

End result. While both the peppers and fatty had smoke flavoring it was "different" then what I get from using Royal Oak charcoal. It was less intense, less of that bacon flavor that hickory and oak impart.
That said, the chunks of Jealous Devil were very large and they kept a constant temperature.
I think tomorrow I will use a combination of the Jealous Devil and the Royal Oak.

 

[seenred]

I've not used JD but have heard nothing but good things. I'm a B&B lump fan myself. Never find scrap and and relatively low amount of smalls.

I second this! Never heard a bad word about JD. Haven't tried it myself because I haven't found it very affordable in my area. Always have good luck with B&B though.

Red

 

[ron50]

I second this! Never heard a bad word about JD. Haven't tried it myself because I haven't found it very affordable in my area. Always have good luck with B&B though.

Red

There are many good reasons to like JD. The size is # 1 reason. Some of the pieces were grapefruit sized or larger. Temperature regulation is easy. No foreign objects in the bag so far.
The only thing I am on the fence about is the taste profile. I'm smoking two butts today for Sunday and we will see how smoky they taste. I like a lot of hickory flavor. The test smoke I did yesterday had a lot milder taste.