Using all of the charcoal in 12 hours with Flame Boss 200

OhioEgger · January 2017

stevez said:

I always thought that was the top of the fire ring.

That's the top of the firebox. The fire ring is what sits on top of that.

SmokeyPitt · January 2017

Something still seems off. I never fill more than 1/2 up the fire ring and I have gone 20 hours with that amount.

As you mentioned, if you had all really big pieces in there with gaps and no smaller pieces filling those gaps then you could have had less fuel to burn.

I am on the fence as to whether or not a controller can burn more lump. I did have one occasion where I thought it seemed I consumed too much and I was using the blower. I like to adjust the vents where the blower isn't on all the time. Basically I get the egg more or less stable at my target, then I attach the controller/blower, then I dial back the top vent slightly.

stlcharcoal · January 2017

SmokeyPitt said:

Something still seems off. I never fill more than 1/2 up the fire ring and I have gone 20 hours with that amount.

As you mentioned, if you had all really big pieces in there with gaps and no smaller pieces filling those gaps then you could have had less fuel to burn.

I am on the fence as to whether or not a controller can burn more lump. I did have one occasion where I thought it seemed I consumed too much and I was using the blower. I like to adjust the vents where the blower isn't on all the time. Basically I get the egg more or less stable at my target, then I attach the controller/blower, then I dial back the top vent slightly.

Are you using a large or XL? The firebox in the large is a totally different dynamic because it's 9" deep. Filling only half way up the fire ring in a Large, may only cost you an hour or two because of the diameter. XL have a big shallow bowl though.....1" low is going to cost you a lot more. Depends on the BTU/#, lump density, outside air temp, etc. You're also going to use less BTU's cooking a brisket than pork butt (because of the amount of evaporation.) And that's why one cook will never be the same as the next. But a temp controller / fan will have zero effect on the consumption rate. The only way to get rid of charcoal faster is to burn it faster--which means higher temp. If the temp is the same, where is that heat energy going????

bigalsworth · January 2017

stlcharcoal said:

Slabotnick said:

I think the fans can definitely make it burn faster. My CyberQ has gone out in 12 hours before, but it was with smaller pieces at the end of a bag of royal oak. I'm using my first bag of Rockwood now and the pieces are bigger and seem to last longer from what I'm seeing. Might be something to think off.

A temp controller or fan is not going to change anything on consumption. 225F with 10# of charcoal with a temp controller is going to burn for the same amount of time as one without a temp controller. If the charcoal burned any faster, it would be accompanied by a higher temp (in which case the fan would shut off.)

With a temp controller, you close off the daisy wheel (exhaust) and use the fan to push air into the firebox. Without one, you leave the daisy wheel open more and use a flue action to pull the air into the firebox. Either way, it's the same amount of air if the temp is remaining a constant 225F.

Doesn't matter on the chunk size when it comes to rate of consumption on a low & slow. Our charcoal is 11,000 - 11,500 BTU/# whether it's one huge chunk or a bunch of fines. Where it does matter is on a hot & fast, because of surface area. If O2 can't get to it, then it can't burn. All the fines nest together, and one big chunk doesn't have enough surface (and is difficult to get heated through). That's where all the medium pieces with lots of air gaps between them will make a roaring fire. So, yes, small to medium chunks with an unregulated amount of O2 will in fact burn faster, but they are accompanied by a massive & hot fire.

I'm not saying you didn't see what you did, but it had nothing to do with your CyberQ or chunk size. It was carbon content of the charcoal (i.e. higher BTU/# with certain brands). Outside air temp and/or the amount of evaporation inside the Egg (amount of water in meat or pan) can also play a factor.

I will add that while the outside air temp probably does affect charcoal consumption, in my experience it is negligible. I have not done any specific measurements (how full or how much left) but I have cook a brisket in +30 deg C weather and -40 degree C weather. They have all cooked about 18 hours and all have had plenty of lump left over and roughly about the same amount of lump left.

I don't think that if you normally got 20 hours out of your lump at 30 deg C you would consume an equivalent to hours more of lump in much colder temps. Ceramic has fairly good insulating qualities and that's why we use it.

Carolina Q · January 2017

This is an old pic, haven't used wicked good in some years now. Other lump might not burn as long. But I've never come close to running out, except on a couple of 900° cooks. For those, I was pretty much out before I got to temp!

Anyway, this is my large...

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5017260/uploads/editor/a2/tfshzdgwa9b4.jpg

pgprescott · January 2017

Carolina Q said:

This is an old pic, haven't used wicked good in some years now. Other lump might not burn as long. But I've never come close to running out, except on a couple of 900° cooks. For those, I was pretty much out before I got to temp!

Anyway, this is my large...

This has been my experience as well. I feel sometimes people make too big a fire during startup and choke it down.

Canugghead · January 2017

Lots of good advice already. FWIW, here's my 2 cents...
Before my Stoker broke, I usually let the egg stabilise close to target temp manually before turning on the controller. My crude analogy is flooring the gas pedal at 0 mph and trying to get to 60 mph instantly burns a lot of gas.

MichaelCollins · January 2017

stlcharcoal said:
A temp controller or fan is not going to change anything on consumption. 225F with 10# of charcoal with a temp controller is going to burn for the same amount of time as one without a temp controller. If the charcoal burned any faster, it would be accompanied by a higher temp (in which case the fan would shut off.)

With a temp controller, you close off the daisy wheel (exhaust) and use the fan to push air into the firebox. Without one, you leave the daisy wheel open more and use a flue action to pull the air into the firebox. Either way, it's the same amount of air if the temp is remaining a constant 225F.

I agree with Jonathan, but I will add to his excellent explanation. There is a time in a cook when a controller will increase the burn rate of your charcoal. As a naturally aspirated Egg begins to run out of fuel, it will slowly drop in temperature and slow its burn rate. In the same situation, a controller will pump more air to maintain the set temperature and will burn the last of the fuel more quickly. This is true of any brand controller because they all operate on the same fundamental principal.

Some people may observe this high consumption rate late in a cook and presume that it is true for the entire cook, but not so.

If you are watching your controller closely or observing a graph of your cook that shows increasing temperature oscillations after hours of steady temperature control and this is accompanied by greater and greater blower speed, you are probably starting to run low on fuel. If you have more than an hour or so left to cook, you should consider adding fuel.

Hungry Joe · January 2017

Also, wood source for charcoal does make a difference. All wood carries the same amount of BTU's per pound. No matter if it is pine or mesquite.That is right, 1lb of maple is the same amount of BTU"S as 1lb of mesquite. The difference is the pound of maple is more cubic feet then the pound of mesquite. So, say the main source of brand "A" of charcoal was maple and brand "B" was mesquite which weighs more per cubic foot, filling up the egg to the top of the fire ring with brand "B" you will get a much longer cook time holding the same temp with a full egg then you would using brand "A". The difference being that there is more weight in the same cubic foot area with "B" then "A" therefore more BTU"s loaded into your egg.

4brews in I hope this makes sense.

bigalsworth · January 2017

Hungry Joe said:

Also, wood source for charcoal does make a difference. All wood carries the same amount of BTU's per pound. No matter if it is pine or mesquite.That is right, 1lb of maple is the same amount of BTU"S as 1lb of mesquite. The difference is the pound of maple is more cubic feet then the pound of mesquite. So, say the main source of brand "A" of charcoal was maple and brand "B" was mesquite which weighs more per cubic foot, filling up the egg to the top of the fire ring with brand "B" you will get a much longer cook time holding the same temp with a full egg then you would using brand "A". The difference being that there is more weight in the same cubic foot area with "B" then "A" therefore more BTU"s loaded into your egg.

4brews in I hope this makes sense.

Ummmm..... What? Are you trying to say that there is a difference in density between woods?

YukonRon · January 2017

What threw me was the "couple of inches below the platesetter". I was thinking 2 inches, have done this and cooked for 18 hours on the XL at 225F, no problem. I would agree, not enough fuel.
I have done a 100 things worse and still do upon occasion, on the egg, no big deal.

EggMcMic · January 2017

I ran my FB 200 for the first time this weekend. Filled with Cowboy lump to the top of the ring and ran at 225 for 19 hours, then ramped it up to 350 to cook some chicken. Still have a little lump left.

fishlessman · January 2017

its the pit probe getting a fake reading too low forcing the fan to chase that false reading. probes too close to the cold meat, water pan screws with it etc. happens without a fan device as well, i once had a 1000 degree fire in there with 34 pounds cold meat and could not get a descent reading anywhere in the pit(was under 200 pit temp with an inferno burng orange down below). ive heard some that do regular big cooks do not even turn the device on until 4 hours into the cook just to get temps to start equalizing in the pit

etherdome · January 2017

I just finished a 16 hour cook on my large egg with the flameboss . Used rockwood lump. Temp at 240 the whole time. This is what I have left. Amazing. Not sure of your problem here but it's not the flameboss. Like they said, probably fuel.

Jeepster47 · January 2017

@BobWrightATL ... just to help you out visually, here is a thread addressing fill levels and resulting volumes/weights for a large egg. Although the lump was Rockwood, BGE lump should be similar:

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1191617/lump-trivia-the-beginning/p1

Here is a thread that discusses burn rates in a large egg:

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1191839/lump-trivia-crusin-at-250/p1

If you don't want to read the threads, just remember this: 1/3 lb to warm up the egg, 1/3 lb per hour at 250 degrees, and 1-1/3 lb left when the fire goes out. If your fire lasted for 12 hours then you filled your egg with approximately: 1/3 lb warm-up + 12/3 lb for 12 hr cook + 1-1/3 lbs at end of cook = 5-2/3 lbs. Based on measurements in "Lump Trivia the Beginning", that's enough to cover the fire bowl, but not a complete fill.

With a complete fill, you should be able to go ~25 hours in a large egg ...

Jeepster47 · January 2017

Opps, don't forget that used lump has much less density than un-burned lump. If you had a large mix of used lump, then that could also of affected your burn time.

Using all of the charcoal in 12 hours with Flame Boss 200

Comments

Categories