Killing off a bag of lump question.

I've found that the dust and tiny pieces are not worth dumping in because they put off a lot of bad smoke and just add more ash to clean out.

I have dumped it before and I have scoped it in. I haven't done pizza yet, so I haven't experienced a heavy smoke or bad smoke taste yet. Was the egg over 500 and burning clear when you put it on? Just a thought. Pizza looks good.

I don't pay much attention to it. If I happen to think of it, I'll try to stop dumping before the dust lands in the egg. But if some (or all) goes in, oh well. Don't think it affects the taste. Might clog up the air flow a bit.

Love deep dish! Nice pie!

@rrp that is a great idea. I actually have a screen in my storage shed that would be perfect. Thanks for the idea!

RRP said:

 

I like to keep it simple.  Stir lump, dump more & light. If the bag has a lot of dust, move on and open another.

The shake is not good. It can often reduce proper air flow and definitely causes a "smokey" burn. I discard it after extracting as much usable pieces as I can. 2 cents worth.

With any lump charcoal, the fines (or "dust" / "shake"), is just lump that has been broken down or pulverized--it does not have any different chemical property that would cause it create a different smoke than a full size chunk of lump.

During the winter I save it in a 5 gallon Home Depot bucket with a lid and use it in my wood stove as a starting aid.  During the summer I just dump them off to the side of the fire box or put them down in the ash pan.  They'll burn when ash gets hot enough--no reason to waste the BTU's.  You can also use them in a garden or compost.

Just don't dump them on a glowing/burning fire or it will shoot sparks everywhere.

Dust in the bag is like foam on a beer. Foam is "air+beer" and coal dust is still coal. I don't want to waste either. Best I can tell, it makes more sparks, but not more smoke. The reason you can see smoke is because of the % of airborne particles in the volume of air is higher in a cool fire. As the fire heats up, it draws more air, and the chimney "clears". Not because there's no more particles, but there's more volume of air per particle load so it "looks" clear. We get more visible smoke when we tighten up the vents, right? 

Legume said:

I have a big rubbermaid tub with a tight-fitting lid that I keep the lump in.  I dump bags in there, then scoop out what I need.  The duff settles to the bottom and every once in a while I just dump what has accumulated in the garden somewhere.

I do the same. 32 gallon Rubbernaid trash can, metal grain scoop to scoop the charcoal out. It holds about 30 lbs of lump charcoal. The dust and fines at the bottom just get dumped. I suppose I could save the dust and crumbs, but I figure it would save me at most a dollar of two per bag, and I'd gladly pay that to not have to mess around with saving/storing/filtering charcoal dust. Just pitching it works best for me.

I would save it all up and put a whole load in your egg and see. Good luck. I don't want pieces the size of a Volkswagen and I don't want the shake in my egg either. Using in the fire pit seems like a good place for the shake. I would let your experience guide you.

I use the Rubbermaid bucket as well.... One for my Rockwood. One for my Sugar Maple Basques. One for the WGWW. Let the dust settle into the bottom of the bucket. When I get to the end of the bucket, I'll use the crumbs in the fire pit or toss in the garden.

Glad I'm not the only one that uses that system.

I do like the coal bucket @RRP‌.... I remember using that at my grandparents house when I had to clean their fireplace every day. And it's grandad's WWII GI-issue Zippo that I use to light my egg!

I use Rockwood....I've never noticed any additional smoke from dumping the bottom of the bag in the firebox. I have not had any air flow issues either.