Well I used the napoleon briquettes over the weekend to cook a shoulder of pork and a brisket as well as baked potatoes all in the brick smoker. The smoker itself is reasonably new and i am still experimenting with the burn rate and temperatures.
Once i heated up the smoker with seasoned hardwood and cheap briquettes from Aldi, i then placed two or three of the Napoleon briquettes which are long hexagonal hollow blocks, the seem to burn slow with a solid red glow throughout. I regularly re-loaded the smoker from 4.30 am through to 3pm with a solid constant temperature of around 110-120c.
Over this time i used half the box of briquettes which cost me £20, so this session cost £10. My smoker has a lot of calcium silicate insulation and fire bricks throughout and therefore I wish i has something else to cook low and slow as it kept a 90-100c temp for ages (I went to bed at 10pm and it was still hot)
In summary I think i need to experiment more with my smoker, but I am a convert to the coconut style briquettes, albeit once I have heated the smoker up first.
I am keep to heat of anyone else who have used these and also any tips on heating up a brick smoker in a timely and cost effective way.
Cheers all
ps, the brisket and shoulder was sensational
Gavlar