Having doubts about lump

[Cliff H.]

I have cooked a few times with lump and now I am begining to form an opinion that lump is not great for long burns.

I had to take some chickens off the pit that had been on for 6 hrs and finish in the oven :badgrin:

I don't get it, The coals are glowing hot and there is plenty room around the charcoal basket. (No wind) The temp peaked at 264 deg and that was the last I saw of temps over 250 deg with the dampers wide
open.

 

[Captain Morgan]

Good tip BFD, I'll try that next time.

 

[wittdog]

When I cook on Bufod I go thru a ton on lump......It does tend to burn quicker than the bricks...How big is you pile of charcoal? IMO a more spread out pile burns hotter and faster than a condensed pile which will burn "cooler" and longer. When I was cooking on my old SFB which is similar to yours, now keep in mind that I didn't make any mods, I installed a therm in the firebox and on a good day there was almost a 100* difference in the firebox temp and the chamber temp.....On a cold day I lost about 1/2 the heat from the firebox into the chamber....I needed the firebox red hot inorder to get the temp up to acceptable levels in the smoke chamber.........The other option is if you are just using lump and no Wood is to close the top damper most of the way....That way the heat stays in the chamber and does go up the flue.........Most people probably wouldn't recomend it...but I have tried it and it works but you need to be using only charcoal.....

 

[Cliff H.]

You don't say what you're cooking on so this may not help.

I am cooking on the chargriller with all the mods including the bricks.

Am I trying to cook the chicken with to low a temp? I usually am shooting for 250-270 deg.

 

[Cliff H.]

Witt, I can get about 3/4 of a 10lb bag of lump on my basket. Then add wood chunks

 

[wittdog]

Witt, I can get about 3/4 of a 10lb bag of lump on my basket. Then add wood chunks

Butt if its in a pile it wont' burn as hot as is it is more spread out.....Did you give anythought to indirect grilling the chickens.......made a fire on each side of the chargriller and have the chickens in the middle..Or is that not the way you want to cook it?

 

[Cliff H.]

I really like using the firebox. It easier to shut the temps down when needed. Next cook I am going to us kingsford and see if it is any different.

The only other thing I can think of is to remove the basket I made and use the grate that comes with it. I will have less room for air from underneath but more room to spread out the coals and have more air moving across the top.

 

[wittdog]

I really like using the firebox. It easier to shut the temps down when needed. Next cook I am going to us kingsford and see if it is any different.

The only other thing I can think of is to remove the basket I made and use the grate that comes with it. I will have less room for air from underneath but more room to spread out the coals and have more air moving across the top.

Beware the Kingsford Ash....
My.02 don't switch both the basket and the charcoal, try the kingsford in the basket or the grate with the lump. That way u will know if it's the lump or the basket.

 

[Cliff H.]

10-4 good buddy

 

[Cliff H.]

All wood is what I am going to wind up doing. I cooked a brisket a few weeks ago with hickory and had trouble keeping the temps down.

Now with the lump I can't get it high enough. Seems like bricks burn hotter stacked up in basket.

There is nothing quite like pure wood burned down to a nice coal bed and primed once in awhile with a log. :!:

 

[Puff1]

I have 4 chargrillers with sfb and always use just wood , iv'e found i can control the temp alot better, i used to start with charcoal then wood chunks , it took alot longer to heat the chamber up ..... i really like the chargriller..........
im thinking about having them attached to a trailer ,with two on eachside, not sure yet still tinkering with it.. if anyone has anyideas on how to attach 4 chargrillers to a trailer , i curious to see what everyone thinks......Thanks BIG"E"

Now that sounds like a great idea! Wouldn't that be a sight!

Cliff if I read right you have the fire bricks in the firebox or the cooking chamber?

 

[Cliff H.]

They are only in the chamber. I don't think I have room for any in the box. Do I ?

 

[Puff1]

They are only in the chamber. I don't think I have room for any in the box. Do I ?

No I only have them in the chamber :-k
The only thing I can think of is open the firebox damper all the way and leave the chimney damper opened half way.
I cook like that all the time and it heats up fine.
I can hold a pretty consistent temp through the whole cook, give or take a few degrees. I used charcoal when I first started cooking but it made to much ash and snuffed out the fire, so I switched to lump and haven't had a problem since. Try getting rid of the basket and go with the grate it came with. IMHO...i'm stumped

 

[Cliff H.]

You could be right bige1. The one I made seems low compared to some other larger ones I have seen. Maybe I need to put a small fireplace grate in the firebox instead of a basket.

 

[john pen]

I like lump for grilling and like to mix with briquetes for smoking...