OK, now I start 2 fires too well?

tazcrash

OK, after fighting with wicked good to get the fires started (oil napkins then I would have to follow up with propane torch)  I loaded my firebox with Frontier brand (just dumped it in). Last night I started a fire with 3 rolled paper towels, and canola oil. I could barely keep the temp under 600! It seared hanger steak great (or not, no pics), and the back wall on my egg is white again! 

Today for dinner 1.25" thick bone in pork chops. The bottom was barely open, and i couldn't keep the temp below 400! Maybe I shouldn't have lit in 3 -4 places.  I cooked direct, but raised (2" above the felt) used some bone sucking rub (liking this), but it cooked before I could sauce it! 

Guess each brand has it's own learning curve?

tazcrash

OK, I think I figured this out this weekend. 

It definitely seems like the wicked good was very difficult for me to light, Alcohol, oiled paper, torch, etc..... and it took a while to build the temp. ~X(

So when I lit the frontier, I over-did it. Hence the giant temps. 

This weekend, I lit the frontier in one or 2 spots, and worked just fine. Also, On Sunday I filled the firebox with 365 (whole foods, kinda pricey), just dump and lite. Lit it in 2 spots, and lump caught in under a minutes, and the temp built nice, and predictably. No giant spoke, no sputtering. East cooking. Now I can egg more during the week.

Don't get me wrong, Wicked good worked well (duh, got hot), it was just difficult to start for me. Maybe since it was stored outside at the dealer, it was damp.Once it was lit, it went well.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

OK, I think I figured this out this weekend. 

It definitely seems like the wicked good was very difficult for me to light, Alcohol, oiled paper, torch, etc..... and it took a while to build the temp. ~X(

So when I lit the frontier, I over-did it. Hence the giant temps. 

This weekend, I lit the frontier in one or 2 spots, and worked just fine. Also, On Sunday I filled the firebox with 365 (whole foods, kinda pricey), just dump and lite. Lit it in 2 spots, and lump caught in under a minutes, and the temp built nice, and predictably. No giant spoke, no sputtering. East cooking. Now I can egg more during the week.

Don't get me wrong, Wicked good worked well (duh, got hot), it was just difficult to start for me. Maybe since it was stored outside at the dealer, it was damp.Once it was lit, it went well.

It is harder to light for sure. It's more dense or something like that. It's really stable when it gets going, and when it gets hot....look out. It really gets rolling!

Ragtop99

There are some huge pieces in a big of wicked good.  It can be interesting when lighting for a small cook when I'm not filling up the Egg.  Once they get going, it does get hot. 

pezking7p

I've noticed my bag of wicked good has some giant pieces in it (as opposed to my bag of BGE brand that was probably what they swept up off the floor...last time I buy BGE brand charcoal!) so it has much less surface area to start.  Hence longer/harder starts. 

chad408

All I use is Wicked Good and it starts fast with my 20 dollar heat gun from harbor freight but it does take some time to get up to temp. Do you guys have any luck with royal oak? My walmart has it stocked from floor to ceiling and I was thinking about trying it when i run out of wicked good.

RichardBronosky

All I use is Wicked Good and it starts fast with my 20 dollar heat gun from harbor freight but it does take some time to get up to temp. Do you guys have any luck with royal oak? My walmart has it stocked from floor to ceiling and I was thinking about trying it when i run out of wicked good.

@chad408, that is what I use too. This weekend when I made pizzas with my 5 year old, I let her light the charcoal! It is on sale right now for 13.99. http://www.harborfreight.com/1500-watt-dual-temperature-heat-gun-572-1112-96289.html That deserves it's own thread.

stike

wicked good takes longer to start simply because it is desner.

that's why i find the chest beating over one brand vs another to be time misspent.


if you want to be searing a steak in fifteen to twenty minutes, choose a light lump.

if you want to run a lo-and-slo for hours and hours, try a denser lump.  if you want to fir neapolitan pizzas one after another, go with dense

if you want to do a little of each and need a good all-round lump, try royal oak.

they have different personalities, but whether on is better than anothr depends entirely on how you wanna use it.

i buy whatever's cheapest, and yet there's nothing i am prohibited from cooking because of it.