Do Any You Sort Out Your Charcoal By Piece Size?

Cullum · September 2012

I'm thinking about starting to sort out each bag of charcoal by piece size. Just dump it all out and separate into separate containers. How many of you do this?

bertscampers · September 2012

I only sort when I do a long burn but it make sense because by the end of the bag all I have left is small pieces and dust.

Baysidebob · September 2012

Nope.

FxLynch · September 2012

I sort my bag into two containers One for the huge shoe sized pieces and logs, another for the rest. I just do it so I can grab a few of the large pieces when loading a fresh egg for a long cook. Then dump the smaller and medium pieces on top.

bigphil · September 2012

dump and go

BBQBeerman · September 2012

Why take away time for beer drinking just dump and go

fishlessman · September 2012

uummmmm nnoooooooo

The Cen-Tex Smoker · September 2012

If you do, please attach mailing address so we know where to send the meds.....

bettysnephew · September 2012

I have two large plastic containers that fit under my Egg table. I dump the whole bag into one and pull the really good sized pieces and place in the second for really long cooks on giant grain fed Iowa pork shoulders and beef briskets. Don't spend a lot of time on it, just remove the logs for later. The vast majority of my cooks come out of the "dump" box and work just fine. The sorting usually takes all of about 60 seconds.

travisstrick · September 2012

Not no but, heck no. Its all coal and it all burns. Why in gods name would you give yourself the drizzling shits over some lump? Just dump it in the egg and light it up.

ChokeOnSmoke · September 2012

Dump and light every time no matter what kind of cook i'm doing.

IrishDevl · September 2012

Sorting = sissy

cortguitarman · September 2012

Nope. Dump and light.

Fred19Flintstone · September 2012

K.I.S.S. method: Dump, Light.

Hi54putty · September 2012

Nope

Cullum · September 2012

travisstrick said:

Not no but, heck no. Its all coal and it all burns. Why in gods name would you give yourself the drizzling shits over some lump? Just dump it in the egg and light it up.

Have you ever dumped a bag of small pieces or the bottom of the bag that is just basically powder in that clogged up your holes and tried to do a long cook with that? It's kind of hard to get good air flow that way.

cortguitarman · September 2012

I always use fresh lump for long cooks. I save the other lump for everyday cooks.

Skiddymarker · September 2012

Cullum said:

travisstrick said:

Not no but, heck no. Its all coal and it all burns. Why in gods name would you give yourself the drizzling shits over some lump? Just dump it in the egg and light it up.

Have you ever dumped a bag of small pieces or the bottom of the bag that is just basically powder in that clogged up your holes and tried to do a long cook with that? It's kind of hard to get good air flow that way.

Understand where you are going here, but, for a longer cook, open the new bag, dump it in, then top up the fire box with the bottom end of the old bag. You know there will be chips and dust at the bottom of the bag, so always dump it on top, but, do not sort it. Now it also goes without saying that some folks just like to keep things organized while others seem to not care so much. Don't think sorting makes any difference in the end result, but if it makes you feel better, go for it.

travisstrick · September 2012

Cullum said:

travisstrick said:

Not no but, heck no. Its all coal and it all burns. Why in gods name would you give yourself the drizzling shits over some lump? Just dump it in the egg and light it up.

Have you ever dumped a bag of small pieces or the bottom of the bag that is just basically powder in that clogged up your holes and tried to do a long cook with that? It's kind of hard to get good air flow that way.

I have an XL aka the "no regrets" model. I have no problems with clogging.

thailandjohn · September 2012

I sort in four sizes

chrisnjenn · September 2012

n/a

Doc_Eggerton · September 2012

Cullum said:

travisstrick said:

Not no but, heck no. Its all coal and it all burns. Why in gods name would you give yourself the drizzling shits over some lump? Just dump it in the egg and light it up.

Have you ever dumped a bag of small pieces or the bottom of the bag that is just basically powder in that clogged up your holes and tried to do a long cook with that? It's kind of hard to get good air flow that way.

All the time. Stir it good and it will cook just fine. Might take a little longer getting hot, but no big deal.

yumdinger · September 2012

I do the 2 container deal but I do have a good reason. On occasion I have had problems getting up to high temp for short cooks. I have determined that in each instance, I had small lump pieces blocking the air flow.

I clean about once a week or more often if a cook requires it. I pull the largest of pieces just so I can be sure to have them available.

I usually try to clean on Sunday and put a new layer of large lump at the bottom of my lump. It has really helped me get good temps when I am running home from work and don't have much time to deal with cleaning etc....

I do dump most of the week but one good setup on Sunday night really helps me be more efficient during the week.

jeroldharter · September 2012

I do. I have had an egg for about a month. I am trying different brands of lump and want to see how they compare, similar to the Naked Whiz reviews. At this point it is educational for me. Also makes it easy to prepare a fire for low and slow. I think a full load would go >24 hrs in my XL.

ccpoulin1 · September 2012

Dump, light, cook, repeat!

Phoenix824 · September 2012

I do not sort other than if I am doing short cooks when I dump I take out a few big pieces to throw in a spare bag with only the big pieces for a low and slow.

Hillbilly-Hightech · September 2012

No sorting here.

When I use the Egg, it's a relaxing, fun "egg-sperience" (though there have been a few times when cooking for an "event" or holiday where it's become hectic). But for the most part, it's a time to become one w/ the universe (and drink beer) :>

Because of that, if I had to sort lump sizes, or do a full cleanout of the ash in the Egg each time, or remove the old lump & use new lump each time, or clean my cooking grids each time, or any of a number of other things that I've seen/heard folks doing which I consider over-kill, I don't think I'd really get much enjoyment out of using the Egg & would only use it very minimally.

Perhaps I'm lazy, but one of the beautiful things I like about the Egg is it's simplicity - it utilizes a concept that man has conquered for quite some time now: fire & wood ;) As far as cooking w/ it, to me it's pretty much "set & forget" - I don't fight & fuss w/ it much at all, which, to me, makes life a WHOLE lot easier >:D<

JMHO,

HH

Bear02 · September 2012

I separate into tubs pick and choose what I want

MeAndTheDog · September 2012

I dont do this, kinda see what you are getting at though. Let us know what you find out. I like for someone else to do all the DIRTY work and I can benefit from their findings.

Buckdodger · September 2012

I like to use large pieces of lump in the bottom of the fire box when I do a low and slow. IMHO it give me better air flow. So on my regular cooks I just pour and take any really large pieces of lump out of the fire box. I have a can that I store lump in and i save the large pieces.

SteveWPBFL · September 2012

Only problem I have is using up some of the small stuff. The medium and big stuff is no problem but the small stuff chokes off the airflow. It's not a big deal, over the entire summer I probably only have a large baggie full of small stuff 'overage'. If I could somehow press that into larger pieces it'd be a perfect world. But what interest is there in that?

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Do Any You Sort Out Your Charcoal By Piece Size?

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