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Too much unused lump left over...

Is having too much lump leftover a bad thing?

We did a 20 hour butt last weekend on a Medium and afterwards we were shocked to find 2/3 of lump left.

It was an overnight cook with the egg running 225 using a temp controller. Filled to bottom of platesetter with Ozark Oak and Applewood Chunks.

Butt came out good but I am still shocked we had so much unused lump and chunks which were barely burned.
-----------------
Hook'em Horns!!

2013 Medium BGE
2013 Mini BGE

Comments

  • biznork
    biznork Posts: 112
    I usually have about a third of the load of charcoal left over after a low and slow. I don't think it's that big of a deal.
  • bud812
    bud812 Posts: 1,869
    Thats the good thing about the BGE. It is a fuel saving master on low & slow cooks.

    Not to get technical, but according to chemistry alcohol is a solution...

    Large & Small BGE

    Stockton Ca.

  • Cooking with lump is way better than regular charcoal briquettes. It lasts a while, thereby saving you money.
    LBGE Virginia Beach, Virginia
  • TEggSun
    TEggSun Posts: 244
    It shocked me too after my first few long cooks, @AustinEgger.  I would range from 1/3 to 2/3 full after a long (12 or more hour) cook.  At the end of the day, I stopped stressing because the quality of the food and the ease of the cook were far superior to my stick burner.  The fuel efficiency is just one more of the numerous advantages of the BGE.
    Transplanted from Austin, Texas to Medina, Ohio

  • Now I've heard it all.
    Flint, Michigan
  • mokadir
    mokadir Posts: 115
    Maybe you should throw out the leftover coals cuz they may be possessed now.
    :ar!
    Delaware Valley, PA Large BGE, CGS adjustable rig, iQue110, High-Que grate
  • Tjcoley
    Tjcoley Posts: 3,551
    I have a lot less left after a 2 hour pizza cook than I do after a 24 hour 225 degree low and slow. You only need a very small amount of coals burning to keep 225, where as with a full on burn pizza, the whole firebox is burning.
    __________________________________________
    It's not a science, it's an art. And it's flawed.
    - Camp Hill, PA
  • radamo
    radamo Posts: 373
    "filled to the bottom of the platesetter"

    Isn't that kind of high?  I thought we should not be loading above the fire ring?

    Long Island, NY
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,167
    edited September 2013
    @radamo-Most will fill well into the fire ring when anticipating a long-time low&slow; all you end up with is more fuel to feed the small long duration fire/cook..  As long as you have good air-flow and the right sized fire burning (temperature will let you know) then the quantity of lump loaded is not a factor.  Many have run 24-30+ hours on a lump load-changing up cooks as the day progressed. FWIW-YMMV-
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • I'll usually have less than that.  What brand lump are you using?

    Damascus, VA.  Friendliest town on the Appalachian Trail.

    LBGE Aug 2012, SBGE Feb 2014

  • hondabbq
    hondabbq Posts: 1,980
    edited September 2013
    radamo said:
    "filled to the bottom of the platesetter"

    Isn't that kind of high?  I thought we should not be loading above the fire ring?

    I do that for super long cooks when I go low and slow and then change up to do something else in the same day for a party or the like.


     

  • radamo said:
    "filled to the bottom of the platesetter"

    Isn't that kind of high?  I thought we should not be loading above the fire ring?

    If you have the plate setter in legs up, that would amount to the same thing.
    The Naked Whiz
  • radamo
    radamo Posts: 373
    TNW, 
    That would also mean without the platesetter the lump would be at grid level?  Wouldn't it? 

    Long Island, NY
  • SmokeyPitt
    SmokeyPitt Posts: 10,490
    Do we need a picture here?? :P.  The plate setter sits on the fire ring.  The bottom of the plate setter and the top of the fire ring exist on the same plane.  

    image


    Which came first the chicken or the egg?  I egged the chicken and then I ate his leg. 

  • radamo
    radamo Posts: 373
    Thanks SmokeyPitt, great illustration to show this!!!  My statement way up top should be amended to:
    I had thought that lump should be loaded to the top of the firebox (not the fire ring).  
    Long Island, NY
  • radamo said:
    Thanks SmokeyPitt, great illustration to show this!!!  My statement way up top should be amended to:
    I had thought that lump should be loaded to the top of the firebox (not the fire ring).  
    For long low cooks, top of the fire ring is OK if you think you will need the fuel, and it is always better to be safe rather than sorry. Welcome to the medium, a very fuel efficient cooker. 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
  • YEMTrey
    YEMTrey Posts: 6,829
    I had a Stike moment when I saw that diagram.
    Steve 
    XL, Mini Max, and a 22" Blackstone in Cincinnati, Ohio

  • radamo said:
    Thanks SmokeyPitt, great illustration to show this!!!  My statement way up top should be amended to:
    I had thought that lump should be loaded to the top of the firebox (not the fire ring).  
    You can load it as high as you want to, actually.  I'm not sure why one would want to limit it to the top of the firebox.  When I do a low and slow, I fill to almost to the top of the fire ring.
    The Naked Whiz
  • TonyA
    TonyA Posts: 583
    especially with the XL, I've never come close to using more than 50% of the lump I have.  Ozark and at least the old WGWW are particularly slow burning.  I could easily do a 16-18 hour cook at 300 dome and then follow that up with a 5 hour rib cook on one load of charcoal and still have a pile. 

    Pizza is the Only thing I cook that sucks down lump - but man is it fun.

    How did your food come out?  Was the flavor there?  Did you want more smoke?  If so, look for the pattern of where your fire burned.  Did it burn to the back?  Did it burn straight down?  It;s not to say that your next fire will necessarily do the same thing, but I find most of my fires burn in a column straight down. So if i need more smoke .. i stud the coals with chunks going toward teh bottom.  A lot of guys find the fire pulls toward the back... and will therefore light the fire closer to the front...

    Hope this helps.
  • That explains why I had to add lumps for each and every one of my slow cooks...  I thought I wasn't suppose to go above the fire box.  (I kept blaming the lumps)

    I have reached a new level of enlightenment...

    Large BGE, Small BGE, KJ Jr, and a Cracked Vision Kub.

    in Smyrna GA.


  • radamo
    radamo Posts: 373
    That certainly explains a lot.  Gives a much larger chamber for low and slows.

    Thanks, 
    RA
    Long Island, NY
  • TEggSun
    TEggSun Posts: 244
    Now I've heard it all.
    To which post was this directed, @Fred19Flintstone?
    Transplanted from Austin, Texas to Medina, Ohio