What charcoal/lump do you prefer?

[Smoking Allowed]

I'm not a briquette person, only use lump in my Weber kettle for steaks, burgers, etc. If I want a longer, slower cook, I'll use my offset stick burner.

 

[nipster]

I want to try B&B, but the only places that sell it around here (Ace Hardware and Lowes) only sell the lump. I want to try the Briquettes, but can't get it without ordering it.

I mostly use Royal Oak and have for years, but I want to see what the big deal is with B&B and want to give them a try...

 

[Twomorestrokes]

Saw a bag of B&B at Ace earlier. I grabbed a bag of Blues Hog instead. Huge chunks on top followed by mostly small pieces underneath. I've never had the pleasure of trying Royal Oak. My last bag was Frontier from Sam's Club. Worked okay but there were a few rocks in the grate afterward.

I don't buy Cowboy brand anymore after finding charred particle board chunks in my last bag! Ick.

 

[BBQ Bird]

In my Masterbuilt Gravity 800, I've used B&B briquette, Kingsford briquettes, Royal Oak briquettes (orange bag), and Cowboy lump.

B&B briquettes and the regular Kingsford were ok. Smoke was maybe a little thicker than you'd want during the initial start up, but it would thin out after a short while, and flavor was pretty good on the meat. Kingsford seemed to last a little longer.

Royal Oak briquettes were the worst so far. Very thick heavy smoke that imparted some bitter flavors, didn't last very long, and produced a lot of ash. Won't be using them again.

Last two cooks have been with Cowboy lump. So far, the smoke quality has been great. Thin blue smoke from start to finish. It does burn pretty quickly though, and the chunk sizes can vary significantly.

Picked up a couple of bags of Kingsford Competition. Gonna try them out when the Cowboy lump is used up.

Bird

 

[chopsaw]

I’ve been using GFS briquettes

I use the lump . I like it .

 

[mliebs]

I use Fogo in the black bag or Jeaslous Devil. I prefer the Jeaslous Devil but ordering it's kind of a pain.

 

[SmokingUPnorth]

I use the lump . I like it .

I got the lump once and it was mostly a lot of small pieces that just fell through the grate. I’ll have to give them another try

 

[Twomorestrokes]

I got the lump once and it was mostly a lot of small pieces that just fell through the grate. I’ll have to give them another try

Yes that can be a problem. I still like lump in the smoker because the buildup is a lot less and I can also use the ash in my compost.

 

[chopsaw]

I got the lump once and it was mostly a lot of small pieces that just fell through the grate. I’ll have to give them another try

I would agree . I use it in addition to briquettes . Grab the bigger pieces out . I probably have a half bag of nickle sized pieces out there . .

 

[Hamdrew]

I would agree . I use it in addition to briquettes . Grab the bigger pieces out . I probably have a half bag of nickle sized pieces out there . .

i use greased newspaper to light my chimney, so when using lump always try to put the tiny pieces in first, on the bottom of the chimney.

I like a mix too, but always end up stockpiling either during sales (Schnucks RO ridge the other week at $6/15lb most recently), so often won't have both. Will have to try GFS charcoal next time I'm out that way.

 

[TMR]

I mix Kingsford professional, Masterbuilt lump charcoal and some pretty big wood chunks. I put these briskets on last night at 1 am. It is now 8am and still going strong. Probably a quarter of the hopper left. Im sure I will need to add more because I do not wrap the meat and I will use the Kingsford