Burning time on a bag of charcoal

On my UDS? At *least* 24 hours. No problem.

If your char-griller is anything like my SNP, your bag of charcoal should get you through about 6h of cooking maybe 8 if you are lucky.

I can go 12 +/- hours in my Chargriller 5050 with that much and few splits for smoke. Ash has to be cleaned out at some point though.

Hmmmm, 16 pounds of lump. I can't get 16 pounds in my large Egg.... maybe 7 pounds, but I can get over 20 hours of burn time at 250° with 7 pounds. So expanding that to answer the question, I would have to re load the Egg, and since it's hot and would stay hot during the reload.... so my guess would be 45 to 50 hours.

Now I can get maybe 11 pounds in my BDS which will burn for at least 16 hours, so with a reload on it with the other 5 pounds of lump, I'll say 25 hours of burn time.

Hi!

I'm still trying to get this right, too. I've done 3 smokes in my COS Char Broil and all three times I finished off in the oven. The first two smokes had no mods and the heat and smoke just cooked the top 75% of the pork loin. My third smoke was last night after my mods. I even took pictures to post later. I burned about 4 pounds natural briquettes (very dense and heavy) and then put in shovel fulls of embers from the campfire but couldn't get the temps anywhere near what I did before mods. Finally figured it out I think -- the baffle needs vent holes! I cut off the top 80% of the hole and blocked the heat I think. So, off to the baffle with drill in hand. I'll put holes no higher than the height of the top of meat cooking in there and see what happens.

16 pounds on my WSM 16 hours. On my chargriller 8 at most.

-- Sent from my HP TouchPad using Communities

bover said:

On my UDS? At *least* 24 hours. No problem.

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I agree, Easily 24 hours.

Sorry, forgot to say I get about 8 hours from a 16# bag of natural very dense charcoal briquettes. I thought I wasn't getting enough heat/time but it looks like I am getting the same as some. Just not getting the heat to the meat. I'll work on tightening it up, drilling holes in the baffle. I spend all my time getting coal ready in the chimney and dumping it in then still don't get fully cooked. I'm getting a charcoal basket made soon.

dae06 said:

I am wondering how long I can expect to keep a burn at ~250 degrees using a bag of charcoal. Please specify if you are using Lump or briquets.

I am referring to a 16 lbs. bag of briquets or comparable sized bag of lump. Let's keep all other factors (wind, temp, etc.) at an average 80 degree day, no wind.

I know all smokers are different, but I use an offset Char-Griller with most of the mods that I have seen. Not the most efficient for holding heat. :redface:

Thanks

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I have the same cooker. It is a fuel burner. Nothing seems to seal the right way. I best mod I made was inserting another grate for charcoal to get it up off the bottom for better air flow and a way to remove the ash. Whom ever did the enginering on this cooker should recieve a slap to the face daily.

I would advise a charcoal basket for sure.

I would say if I did a cook for a pork butt (12 hours) I would use almost 1 bag of briquetts and about half of lump while picking out the biggest pieces. Pluss more than I can count wood chunks or sticks. Hard to really gage I guess. Sometimes more sometims less. Leaving in the midwest where I am its almost always windy and that killed me.

With that said Im glad I bought one because it made me learn how to deal with building and retaining fires. I used this cooker for about 3 to 4 years before buying a WSM. I feel as if I am cheating using this cooker but is more economical. Seems also as with keeping a consistant temperature the food is more juicy and tender.

38-40hrs in my UDS

dae06 said:

Thanks, my last burn was a learning experience. I definately needed to remove the ash (which I didn't). I had a hard time bringing it back up to temp once the air flow began to get blocked. I'm working on a raised coal basket for better air flow and easier clean out.

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I usually throw in about a 1/2 a chimney full of Kingsford Blue Bag to start then have to feed a double handfull (10-15 briquettes?) every 1.5-2 hours. At about 5 hours, I will spread the ash out with a stick through the vents...allows it to breath a little better. I usually have to dump the ashes around 7-9 hours. Prior to dumping, I'll start up another 1/2 chimney and when that gets ready I dump the ash and then put the hot coals in. I have to babysit mine and add more fuel about every 1 1/2 - 2 hours.

Hope this helps.

God bless,
Disciple

dae06 said:

I'm guessing the baffle acted like more of a damper than heat distributor. Drilling holes would definately be a good start.

Hold on..........This is almost a hijacking of my own thread??????? :becky::doh:

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Started by me, I think, my apologies. But the hijack does bring up a good point -- until I saw the answers on this thread I was thinking there was something different about my charcoal or I was burning it wrong. It seems there are smoker pigs that burn charcoal too fast -- do enough smoking and you're better off spending money getting a good smoker than wasting half (or more of) the charcoal. I think I should have been able to smoke a 7 lb pork loin with 1 16# bag of briquettes, so the problem is not getting enough hours from the charcoal I'm discovering, it's my smoker and my own sub par mods. It's a good lesson. Thank you for asking the question and thank you to everyone that chimed in. A really good lesson for me. :doh:

JBOMB- You are correct, whoever designed this should be slapped in the face. :crazy:

I agree wholeheartedly. If a smoker needs a basket to burn charcoal efficiently, especially if it can be one of the most important aspects of burning that charcoal as was posted on this thread, why do so many smoker manufacturers leave them out? Surely some manufacturers include coal baskets, they can't all be about "make anything, who cares if it works right, just take the money", can they? Are they designed and manufactured by people who don't smoke meat?

I was surprised to read on one posting that someone who spent close to a grand on a new smoker still had to make mods to get it going right. I'd be ashamed to manufacture such poor design year after year after decade after......

I'm going to get a basket made for my COS at the welding shop down the street so I can get more hours from a bag of coal. I'd love to not have to light chimneys of charcoal one right after another for 6 or 8 hours and still have to finish my meat off in the oven. I got better results knowing absolutely nothing about smoking meat with the very old no-name red kettle I found in the barn when we bought this place -- the metal is thick and it cooks better even if it is ugly and rusty.

Kathy's Smokin' said:

I'm going to get a basket made for my COS at the welding shop down the street so I can get more hours from a bag of coal. I'd love to not have to light chimneys of charcoal one right after another for 6 or 8 hours and still have to finish my meat off in the oven. I got better results knowing absolutely nothing about smoking meat with the very old no-name red kettle I found in the barn when we bought this place -- the metal is thick and it cooks better even if it is ugly and rusty.

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Sadly I don't know if there is a way to make a bag last much longer than already achieved with the mods you have done. In fact, I don't know if a basket will even work very well in the COS style smokers because they are so thin and flimsy, the heat won't build up enough when confined to a basket. (JMO I am no expert) If you can seal the cooking chamber and maintain the temps you want, that is the ultimate goal with these cheapy smokers. I know for me, I am now about the maintenance of the temp for the perfect cook. Once I am good enough at that, and I can afford to buy a better cooker, I will be that much better and the efficiency will come along with the dollars spent on the cooker.

Good luck and if you do make a basket, please keep us posted on how well it works out. Again I am not an expert and this is just my inexperience opinion, others with much more experience may totally contradict everything I believe I know.

Kathy's Smokin' said:

JBOMB- You are correct, whoever designed this should be slapped in the face. :crazy:

I agree wholeheartedly. If a smoker needs a basket to burn charcoal efficiently, especially if it can be one of the most important aspects of burning that charcoal as was posted on this thread, why do so many smoker manufacturers leave them out? Surely some manufacturers include coal baskets, they can't all be about "make anything, who cares if it works right, just take the money", can they? Are they designed and manufactured by people who don't smoke meat?

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The quick answer is we... as bbq cooks... are tinkerers... trying to find a better way, a more efficient method.

Regardless of the price we paid or the size of our smokers... always on the lookout to make it burn better and longer. It would be like giving a car to a hot rodder... always other options to "build up"... upgrading a car's intake system and better exhaust changes many things.

Its the same reason we insulate our attics and caulk around the windows in our homes... to prevent thermal energy loss.

Same application for an offset... using a woolen blanket over the chamber... to reduce thermal energy loss.
Same thing for sealing air gaps. By doing so... extends and regulates better the burn rate/time.

And then on the other side of the equation... manufacturer's focus on a unit's popularity, cost, and profit margin vs. quality... to make things better is a cost vs. labor vs. profit issue.

That's why I tweak my smoker... went from feeding sticks every 45 minutes thru the night to 3-4 hours between loads.

How could I do that 45 minute route if I was cooking non-stop for four days straight cooking for the flood victims recently? I needed my beauty sleep. :becky::becky::becky:

I would estimate a good 16 hours in my 22.5" WSM