All summer long I've been using lump charcoal.
My buddy goes to Restaurant Depot and brings back big bags of Royal Oak for $10 a bag. It's been great and all but there seems to be a lot of small pieces that fall right through the grates. I had it in my head that I was getting better flavor from the lump and the price was right . But for my last couple of smokes using the kettle instead of the smoker and setting up for the snake method I really can't tell the difference in flavor from using lump vs briquettes and it seems a whole lot more consistent burning with the briquettes. There aren't big chunks of lump that take a while to light up and there aren't small pieces that fall right through the grates.
I think the strategy I'm going to employ going forward is to simply load up on both when great deals present themselves and use the lump predominantly in the smoker and the briquettes in the kettle.
What are your thoughts?
It really comes down to a matter of personal choice as well as what the smoker likes to burn. I use lump charcoal because it burns hotter, my Humphrey's will not go above 225 with briquettes, where as it will sing along at 275 and over 300 if I desire that temperature.
As far as the little pieces, that comes from the bags of charcoal being mishandled and thrown around. Lump charcoal is almost pure carbon with most of the impurities removed so it is very light and fragile. When the bags are tossed they will break the contents into smaller pieces. My suggestion is to take the extra time and hand select your bags before purchasing. My local Lowe's manager will bring a new pallet out for me to select my bags to purchase.
Yes briquettes will burn at a more consistent controlled rate because they have additives in them, thus the reason they are much heavier when compared to lump.
Lump Charcoal - is hardwood that has been heated to a high temperature in the absence of oxygen. The process drives off many chemical impurities that cause natural wood to burn with a visible flame and smoke, leaving behind almost pure carbon that burns cleanly without producing much smoke, flame, and ash.
Charcoal briquettes are a manufactured product that involves pressing charcoal and other materials into the characteristic pillow shape that most backyard grillers know so well. Yes lump charcoal will burn cleaner, hotter, and produce less ash than briquettes will.
From an earlier post.....
CHARCOAL BRIQUETTES or LUMP CHARCOAL - an Age Old Debate
First we need to realize that not all charcoal is created using the same methods and manners of production. There are various levels of the quality in the production of both lump charcoal and charcoal briquettes. Simply put there is no equality in the use of different types or brands of charcoal.
Generally speaking Lump charcoal is made from pieces of wood whereas briquettes have binders and other additives which hold them together and control the rate of burn.
Lump Charcoal - Just as it states, these are random sized pieces of hardwood charcoal. It is just wood that has been turned into charcoal using heat without combustion. Lump charcoal contains more carbon and less impurities. Lump charcoal will burn at a higher temperature and will leave less ash than briquettes.
Briquette Charcoal - Are uniform pillow shaped pieces of charcoal. Most briquettes are simply the left over by-products of wood manufacturing products and scrap from the Lump Charcoal Producers. They take the by-products and left over pieces and grind them to a consistent size and then use potato, wheat or corn starch as a binding agent. Some Producers also add mineral char, coal, limestone, starch, borax, and sodium nitrate.
The advantage of briquettes is that they burn at a lower temperature for a longer period of time because of the specific chosen additives in the manufacturing process.
Some say briquettes are ideally suited if you are doing ribs or using the low and slow cooking method for long hours. Briquettes now also come in flavors by impregnating bits of hickory or mesquite chips into the briquettes have for an added ease of usage.
Many users say the binders and additives used in briquette production give the meat an off taste during the cooking process.
Bottom line it is what you like to use or what works best for you...
But keep in mind there are several levels of quality of both lump and briquettes, some brands of briquettes claim to have no unwanted additives.
