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Lump or Briquettes?

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Snuzem

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I've been cooking only with lump in my BGE and Backwoods Smoker and have never tried using briquettes. However, I read on a BBQ website that briquettes burn more evenly since they are more uniformly shaped than the irregular lump.
What differences have y'all noticed? Also,if you like briquettes, which brand do you use?
Thanks
 
When I'm doing doing long cooks from 275*-325*F in my Akorn, I use briquettes. They burn longer and more evenly, IMO. I prefer the hardwood briquettes and my favorite is Royal Oak Chef's Select. If you have a Do-It-Best Hardware store nearby, you can order them online and have them shipped to the store for free:

http://www.doitbest.com/Charcoal+an...Oak-model-192-104-026-doitbest-sku-838136.dib

I've used Stubb's Briquettes and like them too.
 
I have tried both lump and briquettes, and I prefer lump. My reasoning is that lump gives me less ash, and a more consistent heat. When I have tried briquettes, the ash covered the briquettes and I ended up with less heat. With lump, I had a nice steady burn with a lot less ash. :decision:
 
morgaj1 said:
When I'm doing doing long cooks from 275*-325*F in my Akorn, I use briquettes. They burn longer and more evenly, IMO. I prefer the hardwood briquettes and my favorite is Royal Oak Chef's Select. If you have a Do-It-Best Hardware store nearby, you can order them online and have them shipped to the store for free:

http://www.doitbest.com/Charcoal+an...Oak-model-192-104-026-doitbest-sku-838136.dib

I've used Stubb's Briquettes and like them too.
Click to expand...

You beat me to it!
 
Ye Olde Party Palace said:
I have tried both lump and briquettes, and I prefer lump. My reasoning is that lump gives me less ash, and a more consistent heat. When I have tried briquettes, the ash covered the briquettes and I ended up with less heat. With lump, I had a nice steady burn with a lot less ash. :decision:
Click to expand...

This. I have tried chef's select in my gravity fed smoker and I really wanted to like it, but there was so much ash. You just can't beat good old Ozark oak.
 
gettinbasted said:
This. I have tried chef's select in my gravity fed smoker and I really wanted to like it, but there was so much ash. You just can't beat good old Ozark oak.
Click to expand...

I'm conveniently located in SW Mo so I have a steady source of this. It's at nearly every store and at really good prices. As far as ash - I'm with you there. The less work I have to do the better :)

With briquettes (and perhaps this is unfounded) I get slightly concerned with the chemicals.
 
I use briquettes mostly because I like the uniform shape. It takes less work to just dump them into the charcoal basket vs having to hand pack each piece of lump into it. The brand I have stuck with through thick and thin is Stubb's. No nasty chemicals. Its 95% char wood and 5% vegetable binder. Is it a little more expensive than most briquettes? Yes but its no where near the high dollar price of "premium" lump. If I had to pick a lump to smoke with though, it would be Ozark Oak

Since lump burns hotter though, I do like to grill with it when I can't find a good deal on the double bag bundle of Kingsford. Usually for grilling I just use Royal Oak or Frontier.
 
I am loving the burn I get from lump, but I don't like the smaller pieces towards the bottom of the bag. That last bit always gives me a high maintenance burn because it packs down so much in the charcoal basket of my UDS. The uniformity of the briquets is nice a predictable. I also get more temperature fluctuation in the UDS with lump when I have to open the lid.
 
I prefer lump for grilling, but for smoking and long burns I prefer using briquettes.
 
For long cooks, I prefer briquettes. I find I have to monkey around with the dampers less to get settled in to the temp I want. I usually use Royal Oak because it's readily available nearby. For grilling and shorter cooks,like ribs, I'll use lump.
 
Snuzem said:
I've been cooking only with lump in my BGE and Backwoods Smoker and have never tried using briquettes. However, I read on a BBQ website that briquettes burn more evenly since they are more uniformly shaped than the irregular lump.
What differences have y'all noticed? Also,if you like briquettes, which brand do you use?
Click to expand...

I hate briq's for the reasons stated; are you considering them just for the bws?

You should be getting uniform temp with lump up the ying-yang on your eggs.
 
Ye Olde Party Palace said:
I have tried both lump and briquettes, and I prefer lump. My reasoning is that lump gives me less ash, and a more consistent heat. When I have tried briquettes, the ash covered the briquettes and I ended up with less heat. With lump, I had a nice steady burn with a lot less ash. :decision:
Click to expand...

Whole heartedly +1
I feel unburned briquettes give kind of a off flavor tha I don't care for, really noticeable in kingsford blue. With my vault preheated I can cook 8 hrs @300-325 and still have a little left over. Don't ever put my briskets on before 6 am and they are always done before noon. I have found the 10 lb bags of lump to be better than the 20 lb bags which get slung around and have lots of fines in them.
 
I am in no way an expert and I've never used briquettes so tread lightly. :) I would think that any smoker where the temperature is controlled via the flow of oxygen (e.g. UDS) could use lump or briquettes with equal heat results. The amount of heat generated corresponds directly with the number of O2 molecules converted to CO2 during the burning process. In a high-oxygen environment lump should be slightly hotter because it can burn faster (because it doesn't have filler), which uses more oxygen. However, in a low-oxygen environment like a UDS I would expect pretty much all the oxygen to be used regardless of lump or briquettes.
 
Lump not burning evenly is a myth to me. In my WSM's or kamado's it burns even and steady all day.
 
Freddy,
Your exactly right, I'm fine with the way lump burns in the BGE, but thinking about trying some briquettes in my Backwoods
 
I use whicked good lump in my Egg and get really long burns and good flavor. You can now order through ACE Hardware and they will deliver to your store
 
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