I don't like all the ash. It seems to have gotten worse in the last couple of years. If I let the charcoal in the chimney starter FULLY ash over, there is already more ash there than I'll have in my kettle when when I finish a short cook with lump.
And... clay and the other filler in Kingsford doesn't burn or add good flavor. Good lump is just wood (not scrap lumber) and does add more flavor.
I'd glady switch to lump if it was affordable - it's pretty much twice the price of kingsford around here, and that was cowboy lump, which wasn't really lumpy at all (about 75% of it was tiny pieces and dust). There used to be a giant charcoal kiln in my area a few years ago, until some a-hole kids decided to rip the door open in the middle of the night while it was running....
Sounds like its time to expand my charcol horizans. I just bought three twin packs from home depot last weekend, so when they're gone, Ill have to try something differant !