lump coal vs kingsford

[ButtBurner]

Originally Posted by flyingbassman5

Although hotter burn I agree with, length of burn is debatable. I think the short burn of lump is what pushes a lot of folks to briquettes. I used RO lump on my old offset and to maintain a decent fire for a 250* cooking temp, I'd go through two bags of lump in a single 6 hour cook. I never fed it splits but did feed it chunks. The couple times I used briquettes instead, I'd go through a bag for the same temp and cook time. Just my experience though..

I agree with you on lump burning faster but your consumption rate got my interest

What kind of cooker do you have? and how big of bags are you using?

just curious

thanks

[kds9547]

Lately I've been using lump for everything except long cooks on my 22.5 WSM. To ME there is a noticeable difference in a steak seared over lump and one cooked over KB. Salmon is much better also over lump.

[aawa]

Originally Posted by flyingbassman5

Although hotter burn I agree with, length of burn is debatable. I think the short burn of lump is what pushes a lot of folks to briquettes. I used RO lump on my old offset and to maintain a decent fire for a 250* cooking temp, I'd go through two bags of lump in a single 6 hour cook. I never fed it splits but did feed it chunks. The couple times I used briquettes instead, I'd go through a bag for the same temp and cook time. Just my experience though..

Royal Oak burns hot and fast. If you use Wicked Good Weekend Warrior, the coal lasts anywhere between 2-4 times as long as Royal oak. 2 months ago I used 2 20lb bags of royal oak. In the same amount of cooks I used less than 1 bag of wicked good weekend warrior.

[flyingbassman5]

Originally Posted by ButtBurner

I agree with you on lump burning faster but your consumption rate got my interest

What kind of cooker do you have? and how big of bags are you using?

just curious

thanks

The RO was used with my old Char-broil offset that as since been donated to a friend of a Brethren to get him started into the smoking world. It was modified with the typical mods; gasket, tuning plates, sheet metal baffle, grate level exhaust, two temp gauges on both ends at grate level, etc.

For a 5 or 6 hour cook, I would cruise through two bags of RO (8.8lb bag) easy. Maybe it was just the quality of RO or the lower density of lump but with briquettes I would use an entire bag of stubb's (15lb bag) charcoal plus chunks IF I was fighting the temps, which did happen from time to time.

So if you go by weight alone, I was consistently using more (~18lbs) lump from RO than using about a single 15lb bag of briquettes. 3lbs may not seem like much of a difference for one cook but over the span of 4 cooks, that's a difference of about ~12lbs. Over the course of a summer where one cooks almost every weekend, that can add up pretty quick.

The only reason I stuck with the lump instead of going completely to briquettes was the ash factor. Lump was a lot easier to clean up than the briquettes were and the briquettes would tend to choke down the fire as the ash would build up under the fire grate. Nothing a simple sweep underneath wouldn't help, but still annoying none the less.

Now, all I use is Stubb's in my UDS, PBC, and Coleman bullet since ash build up is less of a factor. For grilling in the kettles, I use whatever I can find on sale or is cheaper than the rest.

[ButtBurner]

Originally Posted by flyingbassman5

The RO was used with my old Char-broil offset that as since been donated to a friend of a Brethren to get him started into the smoking world. It was modified with the typical mods; gasket, tuning plates, sheet metal baffle, grate level exhaust, two temp gauges on both ends at grate level, etc.

For a 5 or 6 hour cook, I would cruise through two bags of RO (8.8lb bag) easy. Maybe it was just the quality of RO or the lower density of lump but with briquettes I would use an entire bag of stubb's (15lb bag) charcoal plus chunks IF I was fighting the temps, which did happen from time to time.

So if you go by weight alone, I was consistently using more (~18lbs) lump from RO than using about a single 15lb bag of briquettes. 3lbs may not seem like much of a difference for one cook but over the span of 4 cooks, that's a difference of about ~12lbs. Over the course of a summer where one cooks almost every weekend, that can add up pretty quick.

The only reason I stuck with the lump instead of going completely to briquettes was the ash factor. Lump was a lot easier to clean up than the briquettes were and the briquettes would tend to choke down the fire as the ash would build up under the fire grate. Nothing a simple sweep underneath wouldn't help, but still annoying none the less.

Now, all I use is Stubb's in my UDS, PBC, and Coleman bullet since ash build up is less of a factor. For grilling in the kettles, I use whatever I can find on sale or is cheaper than the rest.

oh ok. when you said "a bag" of lump, I did not know if you meant and 8.8lb or 20lb bag

makes sense now

[willieboy]

I have been using B&B or Cowboy branded lump in usually a mix of oak and hickory. That stuff burns at a very controllable rate for a good long time. I use is mostly in the BSK, but it even last a while when I use to get the offset going. I have never used any of the national branded lump stuff, but based on my experience with RO briquette in the past, I can see where you would say RO lump burns quick.

[Pyle's BBQ]

Just use lump.

[caseydog]

Originally Posted by flyingbassman5

Prepare yourself for a million different answers.....

Depends on what you are using it for and how you are cooking. Some guys swear that KBB is the devil in a bag and won't touch the stuff with a 20ft pole. Some don't care. Some like me, only use it for grilling and don't like to use it for doing long smokes.

Lump is widely accepted as a good "natural" source of fuel. Some don't like it because it can be unpredictable temperature wise and the quality of some bags of lump are sub par at best. That's a reason most guys will use uniform, quality briquettes over lump.

Me, I use Stubb's briquettes for the long smokes and use either KBB, Royal Oak lump, or Steakhouse briquettes depending which one I can catch on sale at wally world or Lowes for grilling.

All depends on what you like, there is no real clear, apples/oranges answer to which is better than the other..

I agree with flyingbassman5, although I do just the opposite. I like to grill steaks over lump, because of the heat lump cranks out. I prefer KB for long cooks. To each, his own.

CD

[SmokinFatties]

Just try and see what works for you. I use a mixture of about 60/30/10 RO lump, KBB, and wood chunks in that order on my uds. Took me a few cooks on the uds to find that's what I liked.