I purchased a 36” Assassin Charcoal Grill. Which lump charcoal do ya’ll recommend?

[Viper2]

I recently purchased a 36” Assassin Charcoal Grill. I’m still waiting to receive it.

The only other charcoal grill I have ever owned was a Weber Kettle. I used to use standard Kingsford charcoal briquettes in the Weber grill, but I heard that lump charcoal is better.

So which lump charcoal do ya’ll recommend?

Also, if I remove the water tray, which level should I put the charcoal tray on for standard BBQ babyback pork ribs?

Thanks!

 

[crpngdth2001]

I've used both B&B Lump and Jealous Devil Lump with good results. Cowboy brand was junk for me. Only 3 I've really tried. One consideration may be what is readily available near you at a reasonable price. Out here in BFE where I am, there is not much selection except at our local ace hardware.

 

[sudsandswine]

Jealous Devil is all I burn anymore. Great performance and quality, and even though it does cost more than other options, I consistently get nearly the entire bag usable. Sometimes other brands leave me 1/4-1/3 bag by weight of unusable tiny pieces and dust, so the price difference isn’t that big a deal when taking that into consideration.

 

[Jmgunn]

Fogo black for me. Academy has the best price if you have one nearby.

 

[slackdogbbq]

Royal Oak rocks and all.

 

[gtsum]

Fogo black or b&b for me. Royal oak has way too much trash in it..so does cowboy. Jealous devil is really good also


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[noles2g]

Fogo black for me. Academy has the best price if you have one nearby.

KJ Big Block, Fogo Black and JD are my go tos

 

[Biloxidman]

KJ Big Block, Fogo Black and JD are my go tos

Royal Oak cuz it’s plentiful and cheap ($9-12 per bag) but has small stuff and the occasional rock, but KJ Big Block is great. Watch for sales. I got a 4 bags and 2 for free. Ended up being about $20 per bag, but very little small stuff and burns great.

 

[HogGrog]

I prefer Fogo lump but any will work in the Assassin. I regularly use lump with good results in mine. But when setting up a snake or maze in the Assassin I always use briquettes, I think it burns more evenly and the fire does not runaway.

I don’t use the water pan, I like the v-pan much better. I would not move the charcoal pan up into the water pan slot when cooking spares, or for any other cook except maybe for a hard sear on a steak. Use the v-pan in the uppermost slot, the charcoal grate beneath that and the ash pan on the bottom.

Congrats, it’s a great grill and smoker!

 

[onemanlan]

Whatever I can snag on sale or on the cheap. Only thing I wont do these days is Royal Oak red bag. Ran into too many issues. I'm happy as long as the chunks are decent sized & it doesn't spark too much.


To be clear I buy other RO products, just not the red bag.

 

[Fooball]

There's nothing wrong with using the Kingsford briqs you used before.

I'm not as sold as some are that lump is better than briqs.

As far as your ribs, I would do a two zone smoke if your going to remove the water pan diffuser. Ribs on the left, coals on the right with wood chunks.

You don't want the ribs directly over the coals with no diffuser in between. Same with pork butts.

Removing the water pan cuts down on your smoking capacity since you can't use the whole cooking grate. At least that's what it looks like to me from the pictures of the grill.

I was looking at the grill on the Assassin web site. I would have bought the 48" since it's only $175 more. You never know when you may want the extra real estate.

 

[Big George's BBQ]

I like Jealous Devil Will be getting another bag when done with the BGE bag that I have