robbq
is one Smokin' Farker
Yes, wicked good is the best I have found. It has huge chunks and burns really clean.
Had the same on my WSM with kings ford blue. I switched to lump and loved it. Let us know your thoughts.Less ash sounds so AMAZING! :clap2: Tired of cleaning out a pound of ash per smoke. lol
Wicked good or Kamado Joe are good ones also to use. I got 8 hrs @ 275 the other day and the basket was about 3/4 full on my 18.5 WSM. I think you'll like it.
What's this I keep hearing about sparks? I don't see why this is a problem, its the dead of winter lol.
I'm using Royal Oak if that matters and I'm definitely a little worried now that you said more of a variation of temps. I'm slightly OCD about my temps lol
Wicked good or Kamado Joe are good ones also to use. I got 8 hrs @ 275 the other day and the basket was about 3/4 full on my 18.5 WSM. I think you'll like it.
I use lump exclusively in my BGE's and my Pitmaker Vault. Here are some things that I have noticed. You can achieve a higher temp with lump. This is irrelevant except when grilling direct. As others have already mentioned, ash production is minimal. Different brands impart a different flavor profile. For a near neutral taste I prefer Rockwood. Especially for cooking things where you want only a minimal amount of smoke. Example- bread, cornbread etc. Ozark Oak is outstanding on meat in general. It has a excellent light oak taste. As far as popping, it certainly can happen. However I find that Ozark Oak and Rockwood do not pop as bad as others. However this is not a real concern to me because once the lump is burning clean the popping stops no matter what the brand. The biggest thing to watch out for is VOC burn off. Let your lump burn until the exhaust smells clean and there is no visible white smoke. At this point you have burned off the VOC's and are good to go. I do not own a WSM so I can not speak directly for how it will perform in a WSM. But in my BGE I can hold any temp that I want for over 24 hours with minimal vent adjustments. The same holds true in my Vault. This is just my opinion but I have burned a few tons of lump in my life, Royal Oak is average at best when compared to Rockwood, Ozark Oak, Dragons Breath and Wicked Good. Im sure that there are other great lumps out there. But I can vouch for the fore mentioned.
SGH, any other tips for using lump in the BBQ Vault?
The only thing when using it in a vertical cabinet is to be sure that you bunch it up or sort of lightly pack it so there is no skips in it. Because of lumps irregular shape and size differences in the pieces, there can be skips or voids in the pile. This can cause your fire to go out due to lack of contact. But even this is not much of a issue. And it can be avoided all together by simply piling the lump up well. I put on a leather glove and simply lightly push and mash the lump around. I have ran my Vault for 16 hours on lump with outstanding results.
Read some stuff online about not getting a good smoke ring with a vault. It's not a big issue with me because taste is king, but I'd still like to be able to achieve a good ring. What is your experience?
Sir I have had great luck with the Vault producing a smoke ring. I run a 50/50 mix of oak and pecan wood mixed in the lump and have had great luck thus far. I would like to point out that my more impressive smoke rings have always came when I ran water in the pan. I do a lot of dry cooking and get good rings, but again when I run water in the pan the smoke ring is a given. When time is not a issue, I now run water.
Had the same on my WSM with kings ford blue. I switched to lump and loved it. Let us know your thoughts.
Thanks for the input. Glad to hear from someone who has first hand knowledge. Man, I am fiending to fire up that vault when I receive it. It will be like Christmas in February.