f308gt4
Knows what a fatty is.
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2010
- Location
- Tustin, CA
I finally got a chance to try it out for a few cooks. My observations:
Ash: Yes, there is more, but its not too bad, especially if you clean out your egg after each use. My guess is somewhere between 2X-3X the ash compared to lump.
Lighting: Normally, I light my lump with a blowtorch in a few spots. This technique did not really work well with the briquettes. The charcoal chimney works, but am not a big fan of using it. What I finally settled on was using a firestarter underneath the grate. This works really well, and gets me to temp within 30 min.
Temp: I used the Trader Joe's Natural Briquettes, and temp seemed to get almost as high as lump. I've gotten it to 650-700 with no issues at all. I have noticed that I need to use different vent settings to get the temps that I want, but not a big deal.
Cost: The Trader Joe's stuff is about $7 for 18 lbs. Current price of Lump at Walmart is $6.XX for 8.8 lbs. So you are getting more for your money with the briquettes. You can definitely buy cheaper briquettes, but I wanted the all natural stuff.
Re-use: I was able to reuse by gently stirring, and adding more briquettes. Notice I say gently stirring- the briquettes are fragile and will break apart if you are too rough. This is where having the High-Que really helps. Doesn't take much for the ash to just fall through.
Taste: I didn't notice any difference between the briquettes and lump, but that is likely due to using the "all-natural" charcoal. Don't know how it would be different if I used regular kingsford or similar.
I haven't used this for long cooks, and am not sure that it would work. The longest I did was about 1 hour and 20 minutes. I cooked some sweet potatoes at about 400 degrees for about an hour, then opened up the vents (temp went to 650 within a couple minutes) and grilled some steaks.
In conclusion, for regular grilling, this stuff is pretty good, and definitely beats the price of lump. I don't think I would try it for long cooks, since the ash production would likely be too much. But it should make a good alternative to lump for those quick backyard cooks.
Ash: Yes, there is more, but its not too bad, especially if you clean out your egg after each use. My guess is somewhere between 2X-3X the ash compared to lump.
Lighting: Normally, I light my lump with a blowtorch in a few spots. This technique did not really work well with the briquettes. The charcoal chimney works, but am not a big fan of using it. What I finally settled on was using a firestarter underneath the grate. This works really well, and gets me to temp within 30 min.
Temp: I used the Trader Joe's Natural Briquettes, and temp seemed to get almost as high as lump. I've gotten it to 650-700 with no issues at all. I have noticed that I need to use different vent settings to get the temps that I want, but not a big deal.
Cost: The Trader Joe's stuff is about $7 for 18 lbs. Current price of Lump at Walmart is $6.XX for 8.8 lbs. So you are getting more for your money with the briquettes. You can definitely buy cheaper briquettes, but I wanted the all natural stuff.
Re-use: I was able to reuse by gently stirring, and adding more briquettes. Notice I say gently stirring- the briquettes are fragile and will break apart if you are too rough. This is where having the High-Que really helps. Doesn't take much for the ash to just fall through.
Taste: I didn't notice any difference between the briquettes and lump, but that is likely due to using the "all-natural" charcoal. Don't know how it would be different if I used regular kingsford or similar.
I haven't used this for long cooks, and am not sure that it would work. The longest I did was about 1 hour and 20 minutes. I cooked some sweet potatoes at about 400 degrees for about an hour, then opened up the vents (temp went to 650 within a couple minutes) and grilled some steaks.
In conclusion, for regular grilling, this stuff is pretty good, and definitely beats the price of lump. I don't think I would try it for long cooks, since the ash production would likely be too much. But it should make a good alternative to lump for those quick backyard cooks.
