Charcoal survey

[Slamdunkpro]

For those of us with box cookers:

Lump or briquettes?

Brand?

Bonus question: Has anyone tried the Wicked Good Weekend Warrior briquettes?

 

[clubjoe]

yes I have and LOVE them. I use them in my BWS Gator. I've sold some of the briquettes to a couple of local guys here and they switched from Kingsford to WG. Call Larry and order yourself some...you won't be disappointed.

 

[Pipin' Pig]

Always lump mixed with wood chunks for me. Never liked the taste from briquets.

 

[Nitrofly]

Lump Lump and some more Lump

 

[Norcoredneck]

Spicewine, $2.99, enough said. Might change upon depletion of private reserve.:biggrin:

 

[Papa Hogg]

I think right now most brothers are using Rancher Hardwood briquettes...I used to use Royal Oak Lump & Wicked Good Competition Lump, but until my 1000 lbs. of Rancher has dwindeled to nothing I will be using it :biggrin:

 

[Sawdustguy]

For those of us with box cookers:

Lump or briquettes?

Brand?

Bonus question: Has anyone tried the Wicked Good Weekend Warrior briquettes?

I am not being a PIA but we all know that getting a long burn at a constant temperature is what we are looking for. Why would you want to use lump charcoal that burns faster. I see no advantage in using lump. I would want a charcoal that gives good heat and lasts as long as possible. That negates lump right there. I can add smoke flavor with wood chips. I control my burn with a BBQ Guru so I also don't need the worlds best charcoal either. Plain old Royal Oak or Kingsford does the trick for me.

 

[sksmoker]

I don't have a box smoker, but I have used WG briq's and they are very, very good. We built a bds/uds when I flew down on vacation and he is just now having to replace the briq's I ordered for him to "christen" his smoker with. He has done 2 butts, 2 chickens, and 3 chickens/2 racks of ribs all with the same 11lbs of WGC briqs on a uds.

 

[jdub]

Bonus question: Has anyone tried the Wicked Good Weekend Warrior briquettes?

Yep, I am a big fan. Here's what I noticed versus Kingsford:
Much less dirty white smoke lighting up. Whats that mean? Don't know, but it smells more like burning wood.
Definitely burns more evenly. After a long cook with Kingsford take a look at the coals. Through the pile there are some that did not ignite, not so with the WGC.
Much finer ash. Not as fine as lump, but almost. As with lump, the finer ash falls off the coals and allows them to burn evenly instead of clumping up and extinguishing some of the coals.

This is by no means scientific, but try it for yourself and take a look.

All that said, Kingsford does quite fine by me, lump does too.
My bet is ten pounds of WGC will deliver better cooking times and temps that the other two.
Then there another very real consideration, a BIG one-its about a dollar a pound!

There's 40 pounds of it sitting in my garage.

 

[NCGrimbo]

I use lump. I found that I get better temperature control over the length of the cook with lump than I did with charcoal. I think the above post about the ash piling up on the charcoal and putting some of them out is true. Very rarely did 100% of the charcoal burn completely. I always had some half burnt peices left over. Nothing but ash is left over when I use lump and there's a lot less of the ash when I'm done. I use the Kingsford Lump that is sold at Wally World.

 

[keale]

Spicewine, $2.99, enough said. Might change upon depletion of private reserve.:biggrin:

When will that be in about 3 years?:mrgreen: Thats not counting your "other" stash? right? LOL!

 

[timzcardz]

All that said, Kingsford does quite fine by me, lump does too.
My bet is ten pounds of WGC will deliver better cooking times and temps that the other two.
Then there another very real consideration, a BIG one-its about a dollar a pound!

There's 40 pounds of it sitting in my garage.

When you have an $85 piece of meat in the smoker, or even two of them ($170 of meat) the cost of what you are burning is really not a consideration at all. What is a consideration is what will give you the best flavor and results in your meat. The cost of the fuel is only a tiny fraction of the overall cost of the cook.

 

[jsimonson0]

Generic lump from Berger Brothers, with a log tossed in for flavor. At $15 for 40#, it doesn't even pay to buy briquettes anymore.

 

[AlabamaGrillBillies]

B and B lump $25 40lb bag. Its that and wood for me.

 

[HB-BBQ]

Briquettes and wood chunks for me. I was a Kingsford/Royal Oak user before I tried the Rancher and at 2.99/20lb it is real good. I will go back to Royal Oak once my 600lbs of Rancher is depleted although the RO has been tough to find around these parts. My cook times have been about the same between each brand of briquettes. I do not use lump due to its short burn times and inconsistent heat ranges.

 

[PimpSmoke]

I am not being a PIA but we all know that getting a long burn at a constant temperature is what we are looking for. Why would you want to use lump charcoal that burns faster. I see no advantage in using lump. I would want a charcoal that gives good heat and lasts as long as possible. That negates lump right there. I can add smoke flavor with wood chips. I control my burn with a BBQ Guru so I also don't need the worlds best charcoal either. Plain old Royal Oak or Kingsford does the trick for me.

+10000

 

[ericoask]

Royal Oak here. Never have used lump in the Spicewine

 

[LMAJ]

Humpreys Lump and oak for me.
I have some apple that is just about ready so will give that a whirl.

 

[CrimsonSmoke]

I use rancher briquettes & Royal oak mixed then drop a stick of hickory

 

[Thawley]

Lump Charcoal Database