Lump charcoal or briquettes?

[richtee]

And I mean wrap the smoke box, not the fire one ;{)

 

[3montes]

Thanks for the encouragement Ritchee. But being a raw beginner at this I don't think I need to throw another wrinkle like battling below zero outside air temperature while trying to keep the smoker at a steady temp. Sounds like it is tricky enough as it is.
Once we start to break above 50 around here I will give it some thought.

 

[richtee]

Yeesh. Have you SEEN some of the Q-View coming from the Northern climes? Buck up soldier, grab a shovel and do what ya gotta. I have FAITH...don't fail me! grin!

 

[iadubber]

I plan on smoking when my WSM arrives next week no matter what the temp! I need me some butt!!

 

[packplantpath]

I keep the King around for lighting. I put a small layer in the bottom of my chimney b/c some of the lump wants to fall through. Then I put the lump on top and go from there. No other bricks go in the cook.

Yes, cowboy brand still sucks, bought a bag 6 months ago knowing no better. Royal oak is pretty good as others have said.

 

[teeotee]

I always used to use briqettes but now after joining this site have been converted and will be using lump for a couple of reasons.

1 - I'd only used cowboy brand in the past cos i'm always in Lowes and it was there. I'm learning from other posts that cowboy brand isn't well liked Luckily our local wally world always has royal oak lump in stock.

2 - Have modified my Char Griller with sfb after reading through the mods posted on the site. That has made a huge difference in how much easier and more efficient the smoker is.

Last weekend i added a home made charcoal basket to the firebox, and got a 3 hour 220 - 240 cook out of 5 lbs of lump.