B&B Charcoal

[Kevin DeShazo]

Since getting my BGE last year Ive tried a couple different brands of charcoal, BGE, Cowboy and now onto a bag of B&B charcoal.

I have a question about the B&B, is it harder to light than the other brands Ive used or is it just the bag I have. Ive used now on a 2-3 cooks and it seems it takes forever to get up to temp. Ill light it say 5:10p, its finally at cook temp (450) say 5:50p.

Ive tried a couple different methods, both a chimney and the lil fiber starters. Ive only tried the chimney once because even with two of the fiber starters, after burning for 25 mins, the Egg was barely 220, needed at 450-500 for a pc of london broil.

The other two brands Ive used seemed to light a lot faster than the B&B without doing any special.

Ive made sure Ive done all the things, clean the ash, open both the top and bottom vents all the way, leaving the lid open.

Is this just a harder charcoal to light or should I try the chimney for better success

 

[chopsaw]

Is this just a harder charcoal to light or should I try the chimney for better success

I've been using the B$B orange bag . My experience is that it's " slow " to light . Especially with using the fiber starters . The peices are larger in size than other brands , so that may be some of it , but it gets screamin' hot when it gets going .

I normally use a chimney , but if I use the starters and some leftover charcoal , I start erlier than normal .
I also use a small amount to start with . In both the chimney or using a starter , maybe 8 or 10 peices . Once that's lit , I dump it and add to that .

 

[Kevin DeShazo]

I dont recall the color of the bag I have but its all oak and I have noticed some really big pieces in there.

Ill try using the chimney instead of the starters with it and using fewer pieces in the chimney and in the bottom of the Egg. I had gotten accustomed to putting a bunch in the bottom of the Egg, putting a starter in there and in no time, I was good to go.

Thanks for the info, thought I was going crazy for a bit over it.

 

[jcam222]

I've never noticed the lump taking longer. In fairness though I rarely use others to baseline it against. Now my go to is the B&B Comp logs and they definitely take longer to light.

 

[forktender]

Since getting my BGE last year Ive tried a couple different brands of charcoal, BGE, Cowboy and now onto a bag of B&B charcoal.

I have a question about the B&B, is it harder to light than the other brands Ive used or is it just the bag I have. Ive used now on a 2-3 cooks and it seems it takes forever to get up to temp. Ill light it say 5:10p, its finally at cook temp (450) say 5:50p.

Ive tried a couple different methods, both a chimney and the lil fiber starters. Ive only tried the chimney once because even with two of the fiber starters, after burning for 25 mins, the Egg was barely 220, needed at 450-500 for a pc of london broil.

The other two brands Ive used seemed to light a lot faster than the B&B without doing any special.

Ive made sure Ive done all the things, clean the ash, open both the top and bottom vents all the way, leaving the lid open.

Is this just a harder charcoal to light or should I try the chimney for better success

Have you tried the B&B char logs in your BGE?
If not you need to, the stuff works amazing in them, it's all my buddy uses, besides a few chunks of the flavor wood of his choice. Back when I was making pizza dough weekly we would get his BGE scream'in hot and cook our pizza on it, it did a great job. The char logs are perfect for low and slow as well, and you only need 8 to 10 pieces for the whole cook if you make a small snake.

 

[chopsaw]

oak and I have noticed some really big pieces in there.

OK . I assumed you were using briquetts .

 

[Kevin DeShazo]

OK . I assumed you were using briquetts .

No, chunks, should of mentioned that in my OG post.

 

[GatorAGR]

I haven't used the char logs either. Do you use the same amount as normal lump for a cook? I use KJ Big Block and love it, but it's expensive so I'm look to make a change. I have a big pulled pork cook next week so maybe I'll give the B&B logs a try.