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What's wrong with briquettes?
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Comments
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Anytime someone starts a thread that features charcoal, I know I'm goning to be amused. If nothing else, you have to admire ones passion for his/her favorite lump!
Any road will take you there if you don't know where you're going.
Terry
Rockwall, TX -
Rockwood is decent. But pound for pound, it does not compete with Royal Oak. Twice the price and burns much faster. Many here swear by it, but my wallet says RO. $24 for a bag of lump is crazy when RO is just a tick above $12. I bought 1 bag of Rockwood and leaned over when swiping my credit card so the cashier could easily apply the Vaseline to my rectum.
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I use both. Depends on what I cook. The reason is the wife doesn't always like the smokey taste on everything. I use the briquettes when I am cooking certain things for her. They work just fine, temps are different and there is a lot more ash. I stock both.
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Reminds me of the girl I worked with years ago that asked if she should be worried about cancer from the liquid freon we used to wash our products with (pre-freon ban). She asked this during break time while she was chain smoking 2 cigarettes in a row.odie91 said:Funny how some of you eat pounds of red meat and drink gallons of beer a day, then say you're concerned with the chemicals found in briquettes lol.
Large BGE in a Sole' Gourmet Table
Using the Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter,
and a BBQ Guru temp controller.
Medium BGE in custom modified off-road nest.
Black Cast Iron grill, Plate Setter, and a Party-Q temp controller.
Location: somewhere West of the Mason-Dixon Line -
Me too! The Weber uses the briquettes and the kamados get the lump as briquettes make too much ash. I have used some lump mixed with briquettes in the kettle for some extra flavour - specifically mesquite. Lazzari is often available for $15 for 40#, even cheaper than briquettes.Focker said:You can tell Kingsford vs lump.
There are cooks like traditional BBQ and burgers, that I prefer the flavor, and longer, steadier, heat from briquettes.
Stacks of both are in the charcoal warehouse. (shed)
The health risk argument is ugh, so weak.
It baffles me, with the amount of people here, who look at learning in a one way, linear, fashion. And then, bash something that they never quite grasped, or even had experience with. When those peeps would flounder, without their Thermapen, Guru, Rockwood, commercial rubs, BGE, etc etc.Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad! -
In a Big Green Egg, the coal would be burning in the same small space where the food is, so just the way my BGE lump charcoal gives the food a fragrance of wood smoke, burning coal would give the food the fragrance of burning petroleum. I've never used briquettes in my Egg, but I've always supposed that the biggest reason my food tastes so much better than it did when I used a Weber kettle has a lot to do with the fact that I used briquettes in the Weber, and lump charcoal in the Egg.Darby_Crenshaw said:pizza ovens in NYC have been coal fired for a hundred years, and coal has been a source of fuel for cooking in america for probably longer than it hasn't.
non issue.
I don't think NYC pizza ovens have coal burning inside the pizza ovens where the pizza is. Coal is the source of the heat, but they're not shoveling coal in the same door that they slide the pizza in. The coal smoke is separated from the pizza.
Seems like a completely different situation to me. -
Whatever gets the food cooked to the taste you like."Knowledge is Good" - Emil Faber
XL and MM
Louisville, Kentucky -
Sure they could. Meat would be dryer on gasHeavyG said:
I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority of people in blind taste testing could not reliably determine what the source of fuel was - lump, Kingsford, propane/NG - or even the type of grill/cooker used for something cooked by an otherwise competent chef. -
Not all gassers. At least not my gasser.odie91 said:
Sure they could. Meat would be dryer on gasHeavyG said:
I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority of people in blind taste testing could not reliably determine what the source of fuel was - lump, Kingsford, propane/NG - or even the type of grill/cooker used for something cooked by an otherwise competent chef.
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Gas is easier. Why use an Egg at all, then?DoubleEgger said:
Not all gassers. At least not my gasser.odie91 said:
Sure they could. Meat would be dryer on gasHeavyG said:
I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority of people in blind taste testing could not reliably determine what the source of fuel was - lump, Kingsford, propane/NG - or even the type of grill/cooker used for something cooked by an otherwise competent chef.
That's the one thing I liked about my Weber gas grill -- no charcoal, no ashes, just turn it on, wait a bit, and you're "cooking with gas." That part of it was great. I just didn't like the fact that the food didn't taste very "grilled" to me. With BGE lump in my Egg, no matter what I cook there is a mild fragrance and flavor of wood smoke, and I love it. With hot-grilled things like steaks, I'm honestly not sure whether I could taste the difference between a fast sear over gas and a fast sear over charcoal. I have to say, though, that I grilled a marinated flank steak on a Weber gas grill at the house we rented at the beach this summer, and it tasted like it'd been broiled to me, not cooked over charcoal. I guess the bottom line for me is that I never loved the food I cooked when I had a Weber gas grill, and I LOVE the food I cook in my Big Green Eggs.
I'm serious -- if you can't tell the difference between food cooked in your Egg and food cooked over gas, why have an Egg? Gas is easier. -
You ignored the part where I said "competent chef".odie91 said:
Sure they could. Meat would be dryer on gasHeavyG said:
I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority of people in blind taste testing could not reliably determine what the source of fuel was - lump, Kingsford, propane/NG - or even the type of grill/cooker used for something cooked by an otherwise competent chef.
If your steaks are coming out dry on your gas grill you're not doing it right.
“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ― Philip K. Diçk -
Same question: So why use a BGE, then? Messing with charcoal and ashes isn't really very hard or time consuming, but there's just no getting around the fact that it's easier to cook with a gas grill. You just turn it on, wait a bit till it's hot, and there you are. If food as prepared by you on a gas grill tastes every bit as good as food prepared by you on a BGE, why waste the money on a BGE, and why deal with charcoal and ashes? Why not just stick with the gas grill?HeavyG said:I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority of people in blind taste testing could not reliably determine what the source of fuel was - lump, Kingsford, propane/NG - or even the type of grill/cooker used for something cooked by an otherwise competent chef. -
HeavyG said:
You ignored the part where I said "competent chef".odie91 said:
Sure they could. Meat would be dryer on gasHeavyG said:
I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority of people in blind taste testing could not reliably determine what the source of fuel was - lump, Kingsford, propane/NG - or even the type of grill/cooker used for something cooked by an otherwise competent chef.
If your steaks are coming out dry on your gas grill you're not doing it right.
Oh so now you conveniently specify "steak" as opposed to doing a brisket or roasted chicken on a gasser versus BGE now huh? Certainly the latter would have a big difference.
ANyhow just messin with ya
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I certainly won't dispute that. I don't even do my steaks right on my green egg haha. But I'm having fun and thats waht matters
If your steaks are coming out dry on your gas grill you're not doing it right.
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Google Kingsford and read about briquetts and you will see what put them together with. Esp Matchlight. Natural lump is for me.
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Maybe you should look what briquettes are made of. Pretty nasty stuff.
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I just received a BGE as a gift. The paper work that came with it says briquettes are verboten. I, too, wondered why. I ran accross a post on a forum somewhere (I read so many it's hard to keep track) that the poster bought a used BGE and it was "unusable" as the original owner's use of briquettes had infused the clay with an off order that transferred to the cooked food. Unlikely? Perhaps, but I prefer to err on the side of caution. I'm not anti Kingsford; I have a Weber Performa and a 22" kettle that are fired with whatever is handy which means mostly Kingsford as it's available more widely than lump...but I do go out of my way to get the fuel the BGE folks recommend. After all, the egg cost more than a high-end kitchen range. Why take the risk of ruining it to save a few bucks on fuel?
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.Plus, I always add a branch or 2 of fruit wood which adds flavor and creates more lump coal for the next cook.
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Every cooker has its plusses and minuses. I'm not one to preach that there is only one best cooker. Nor do I dismiss the cookers other people choose to use as necessarily inferior.Theophan said:
Same question: So why use a BGE, then? Messing with charcoal and ashes isn't really very hard or time consuming, but there's just no getting around the fact that it's easier to cook with a gas grill. You just turn it on, wait a bit till it's hot, and there you are. If food as prepared by you on a gas grill tastes every bit as good as food prepared by you on a BGE, why waste the money on a BGE, and why deal with charcoal and ashes? Why not just stick with the gas grill?HeavyG said:I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority of people in blind taste testing could not reliably determine what the source of fuel was - lump, Kingsford, propane/NG - or even the type of grill/cooker used for something cooked by an otherwise competent chef.
I cook outside year round and it is just a helluva lot easier/consistent to use an egg in the wind and cold/snow than my good ole Weber gas grill.
“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.” ― Philip K. Diçk -
Simple:
Briquettes are a pain in the ASH. -
I never said you couldn't taste the difference. All I said is my gasser doesn't dry out my food.Theophan said:
Gas is easier. Why use an Egg at all, then?DoubleEgger said:
Not all gassers. At least not my gasser.odie91 said:
Sure they could. Meat would be dryer on gasHeavyG said:
I'd be willing to bet that the vast majority of people in blind taste testing could not reliably determine what the source of fuel was - lump, Kingsford, propane/NG - or even the type of grill/cooker used for something cooked by an otherwise competent chef.
That's the one thing I liked about my Weber gas grill -- no charcoal, no ashes, just turn it on, wait a bit, and you're "cooking with gas." That part of it was great. I just didn't like the fact that the food didn't taste very "grilled" to me. With BGE lump in my Egg, no matter what I cook there is a mild fragrance and flavor of wood smoke, and I love it. With hot-grilled things like steaks, I'm honestly not sure whether I could taste the difference between a fast sear over gas and a fast sear over charcoal. I have to say, though, that I grilled a marinated flank steak on a Weber gas grill at the house we rented at the beach this summer, and it tasted like it'd been broiled to me, not cooked over charcoal. I guess the bottom line for me is that I never loved the food I cooked when I had a Weber gas grill, and I LOVE the food I cook in my Big Green Eggs.
I'm serious -- if you can't tell the difference between food cooked in your Egg and food cooked over gas, why have an Egg? Gas is easier. -
Sissy.nolaegghead said:How is ash that bad if you can maintain your temps? "Holy sheet! I threw out my back toting 16 oz of ash....if I would've just used lump...it would have been 4 oz. OH THE HUMANITY!!"
Answer. It's not that big a deal. Unless you pull the southern crypt method and never clean it all out.
Truthfully though, biggest issue I have is the briquette ashes over. In my WSM I just kick it and the ash falls off and temps rise again.
My egg hurts when I kick it. Plus the ash kicks up and gets on my protein.They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that. That doesn’t help them. That's against their interests. - George Carlin -
I thought that was a fun bonus. Why are you racist?Mikee said:.... I leaned over ..... so the cashier could easily apply the Vaseline to my rectum.They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that. That doesn’t help them. That's against their interests. - George Carlin -
I agree that every cooker has its plusses and minuses. Gas is faster and easier, for example, and my guess is that an offset stick burner can lay down a lot heavier smoke than a BGE can, for another. But having cooked on a Weber kettle and a Weber gas grill, for me, anyway, the food I cook on the Big Green Egg is SO much better, it's a whole different category. With both the kettle and the gasser I liked it, but I was always a little disappointed, it just wasn't completely satisfying. But I LOVE cooking on the BGE, and I LOVE the food I cook.HeavyG said:Every cooker has its plusses and minuses. I'm not one to preach that there is only one best cooker. Nor do I dismiss the cookers other people choose to use as necessarily inferior.
I cook outside year round and it is just a helluva lot easier/consistent to use an egg in the wind and cold/snow than my good ole Weber gas grill.
Maybe for you it's different. If I had a gasser sitting around and ready to go, I might from time to time use it for burgers or steaks if I was tired and just didn't want to mess around with charcoal and regulating the temp. Crank the gas to max, wait a bit, grill. And honestly, I'm not 100% positive I'd know the difference with gas on burgers and steaks. People like Adam Perry Lang and it seems like most of the people who put their careers on the line grilling and smoking don't seem to use gas, much, but are usually cooking over charcoal or wood, so maybe I would be able to tell the difference, I don't know. And as I think I said, I was pretty disappointed in a marinated flank steak I cooked on a Weber gas grill this summer. But I know for sure that I never had chicken from a kettle or a gas grill that was as wonderful as even a plain spatchcock chicken from my BGE. Ribs, pork butt, anything smoked. I never got smoke to work very well in my gas grill. And I tried smoking things in a Weber kettle, but I found it a pain, and I kept having to open it up and add more charcoal because it was burning down after a while. It was just frustrating.
Anyway, thanks for answering my question, and I don't know whether to be impressed that you can cook food on a gas grill that's as good as a BGE, or to feel sorry for you that your food on a BGE doesn't taste any better than food cooked on a gas grill, but I'll hope it's the former, and I'm glad you're happy with what you have, anyway! -
Sissy.Ozzie_Isaac said:
Sissy.nolaegghead said:How is ash that bad if you can maintain your temps? "Holy sheet! I threw out my back toting 16 oz of ash....if I would've just used lump...it would have been 4 oz. OH THE HUMANITY!!"
Answer. It's not that big a deal. Unless you pull the southern crypt method and never clean it all out.
Truthfully though, biggest issue I have is the briquette ashes over. In my WSM I just kick it and the ash falls off and temps rise again.
My egg hurts when I kick it. Plus the ash kicks up and gets on my protein. -
^^^ x2. Lol. Don't kick your eggs!! No Buenotheyolksonyou said:
Sissy.Ozzie_Isaac said:
Sissy.nolaegghead said:How is ash that bad if you can maintain your temps? "Holy sheet! I threw out my back toting 16 oz of ash....if I would've just used lump...it would have been 4 oz. OH THE HUMANITY!!"
Answer. It's not that big a deal. Unless you pull the southern crypt method and never clean it all out.
Truthfully though, biggest issue I have is the briquette ashes over. In my WSM I just kick it and the ash falls off and temps rise again.
My egg hurts when I kick it. Plus the ash kicks up and gets on my protein.-----------------------------------------analyze adapt overcome2008 -Large BGE. 2013- Small BGE and 2015 - Mini. Henderson, Ky. -
@Theophan
coal fired pizza ovens are both fueled separately as well as within the cooking chamber
does anyone actually verify what they're trying to say before they say it?
look. People freak out generally when they don't understand something. The main reason a person freaks out when they read a list of ingredients is because they don't understand what they are.
Briquettes (other than those with fuel impregnated into them) do not contain 'chemicals!!!' That are any more dangerous than in lump
logically, cooking over lump is just as 'dangerous' as cooking over briquettes
It's a fascinating study of human nature to hear people debating the virtues of cooking salted fatty charred meat over one form of carbon than another.
[social media disclaimer: irony and sarcasm may be used in some or all of user's posts; emoticon usage is intended to indicate moderately jocular social interaction; the comments toward users, their usernames, and the real people (living or dead) that they refer to are not intended to be adversarial in nature; those replying to this user are entering into a tacit agreement that they are real-life or social-media acquaintances and/or have agreed to or tacitly agreed to perpetrate occasional good-natured ribbing between and among themselves and others] -
Low and slow, light the top. Enough air will find it's way. Ash is porous, not much air is needed to maintain a low temp. Don't F with it. Hot n fast, ash is not an issue. Seriously, with searing it doesn't matter what your heat source it.Ozzie_Isaac said:
Sissy.nolaegghead said:How is ash that bad if you can maintain your temps? "Holy sheet! I threw out my back toting 16 oz of ash....if I would've just used lump...it would have been 4 oz. OH THE HUMANITY!!"
Answer. It's not that big a deal. Unless you pull the southern crypt method and never clean it all out.
Truthfully though, biggest issue I have is the briquette ashes over. In my WSM I just kick it and the ash falls off and temps rise again.
My egg hurts when I kick it. Plus the ash kicks up and gets on my protein.
All the stuff added to make lump and all the "purists" dogging it as unhealthy....I am laughing my ass off. It's F-ing fire. The combustion products, compared to natural gas, of any wood/charcoal fire are well studied and in reality your technique is more important than the fuel. I suppose I would avoid the lead and cadmium binder lump, but sh*t be burnin'.
______________________________________________I love lamp.. -
glad your back! cadmium is bad. i agree. i try to limit batteries in my lump.nolaegghead said:
Low and slow, light the top. Enough air will find it's way. Ash is porous, not much air is needed to maintain a low temp. Don't F with it. Hot n fast, ash is not an issue. Seriously, with searing it doesn't matter what your heat source it.Ozzie_Isaac said:
Sissy.nolaegghead said:How is ash that bad if you can maintain your temps? "Holy sheet! I threw out my back toting 16 oz of ash....if I would've just used lump...it would have been 4 oz. OH THE HUMANITY!!"
Answer. It's not that big a deal. Unless you pull the southern crypt method and never clean it all out.
Truthfully though, biggest issue I have is the briquette ashes over. In my WSM I just kick it and the ash falls off and temps rise again.
My egg hurts when I kick it. Plus the ash kicks up and gets on my protein.
All the stuff added to make lump and all the "purists" dogging it as unhealthy....I am laughing my ass off. It's F-ing fire. The combustion products, compared to natural gas, of any wood/charcoal fire are well studied and in reality your technique is more important than the fuel. I suppose I would avoid the lead and cadmium binder lump, but sh*t be burnin'.They don’t want a population of citizens capable of critical thinking. They don’t want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking. They’re not interested in that. That doesn’t help them. That's against their interests. - George Carlin
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