New to lump

[barrycuda]

I bought a bag of Royal Oak lump to try in my WSM. I have never used lump before. Can someone give me some pointers for using lump? I hear it burns hotter. Can u mix it with briquetts? Thanks.

Barry

 

[jirodriguez]

I do exactly that - I like to mix lump and briquets in my WSM. I put down one solid layer of briquets, then a layer of lump, then top it of with another layer of briquets. All topped with about 1/2 a chimney of lit lump.

Lump by itself does tend to burn hotter than briquets in the WSM, my theory is that the lump allows for greater air flow inside of the charcoal pile itself due to it's irregular shapes (even with all the vents closed). If you do use straight lump fill the ring about half full, then spin the ring back and forth to settle the lump and get it to fill in better, fill the rest of the ring and spin it again.

A lot of folks also buy a 2nd charcoal rack and lay it 90° to the other one, this is to reduce the space between the charcoal rack wires so that a lot of the lump doesn't just fall out the bottom of the rack.

 

[nwdave]

Barrycuda, could you post what state or province you live in?  If you're in the PacificNorthwest, we have an excellent source for lump and a whole bunch cheaper than Royal Oak (not that there's anything wrong with R.O.).  If you're up in this neck of the woods, Cash n' Carry, a food service outlet that sells to the general public as well, sells a lump product in 40 lb bags for $13. and change which I really like and it's hard to beat the price.

I do the same thing as JR does, mix lump and briqs on occassion.  Depends on what I'm smoking or grilling.  That second coal grate sure makes it easier to keep the smaller coals in place.

 

[jirodriguez]

Yup... I will 2nd Cash n' Carry, they sell Lazzari Lump which is fantastic stuff once you knock it into manageable chunks with a hammer.... lol.

This stuff is basically charcoalized mesquite "tree", they don't do more than cut it into rounds before the charcoalize it, so you open the bag and there are rounds as big as your upper arm sometimes! But it burns really well, so it's worth the extra work!

 

[tdwester]

I will 3rd it but some of the pieces are more like logs and really need to be broken up.

 

[jirodriguez]

I will 3rd it but some of the pieces are more like logs and really need to be broken up.

LOL... yup. I have been debating on building a 3 ft. high table with 8" high sides big enough for me to dump an entire 40 lb. bag onto. Then I could seperate out all the good sized pieces before breaking up the bigger ones with my 3 lb. dead blow hammer.

 

[nwdave]

True in what you say.  Barrycuda, we make joke about the large size of the Lazzari Lump "Logs" but it's a good thing.   So many other brands have dinky pieces mixed with rocks and plywood, for example.  Also, don't let the potential for a specific odor put you off.  It seems to have been burn't off because I personally couldn't smell or taste any mesquite or other "tree" odor.