Brand new Large egg owner. Cooking troubles

pretty much

open a fresh bag of lump and stick your nose down close and take a deep whiff.  that smell is the VOCs.

dump it out, and smell it an hour later, and it'll be lessened.  without burning.

i think the confusion comes from thinking the "volatile" part means that they have to burn.

here, volatile means that they freely sublimate and become airborne.  like perfume.  the compunds which give perfume its smell are 'volatile'.

sure, there're likely VOCs IN the lump, beyond the surface.  but the surface area of lump is much much greater than it's volume ( i know, can't really compare area to volume.... hahah).  what little is INSIDE the lump is inconsequential

There we go. That's what I was looking for. Great insight- Thanks

This has been working for me for 6 years with very consistent results..
Royal Oak or BGE lump, one starter square.  I rake around any existing ash to drop it through the grate, add sufficient new lump, then use 3 large pieces of new lump to make a small cofferdam in the center and stand up the starter square in the cofferdam. 
Open both vents all the way, light the square,  cover it with some more large pieces of lump.  Your fire should be ready to go and at about 600F in 15 minutes.  The paraffin in the starter will be gone.  If it's dark outside, the chimney will look like a jet exhaust. 
Once it's going, put in your plate-setter and grid and burn off any booglies and throttle back to achieve your target temp.
For consistent results, I rake out the ash every 4 or 5 cooks or every long cook.

I remove the remaining piece of wax starters once my lump is lit and throw them in the ash bucket. They'll smoke for a while in there and smell bad. Tried the oil napkin method and will probably do that from now on. Food will have a different taste when cooked on charcoal and has a bit smokier flavor than when cooked with propane. Heck I love food cooked over a campfire.

@yzzi- have you tried the zip fuel lighters? They burn way hotter and cleaner than the paraffin. They are alcohol based so no paraffin smell and the burn up with no remaining residue. I switched to them a year ago really like them. If you see them out there, give them a try. You won't have to dig anything out of your fires anymore. 

@yzzi- have you tried the zip fuel lighters? They burn way hotter and cleaner than the paraffin. They are alcohol based so no paraffin smell and the burn up with no remaining residue. I switched to them a year ago really like them. If you see them out there, give them a try. You won't have to dig anything out of your fires anymore. 

I think if you look on the package it states they contain kerosene, probably not the best flavour enhancer.

Gerhard

I can't smell or taste anything. They burn really clean to me. Cleanest I've found anyway

stike,