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What happened to my Charcoal

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Mr. D
Mr. D Posts: 32
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Filled BGE with charcoal, allowed to reach temp,adjusted dampners, put on my pork roast, 4 hours later went to check temp and it was below 150 degrees , checked coals and they were just about completely gone.
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  • Rollocks
    Rollocks Posts: 570
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    How high did you fill the charcoal?

    You should fill it all the way to the top of the firebox. If you did this you should be able to get 20+ hours of cooking time on a large or XL egg and 14+ on a small egg. I have no experience with a medium or mini. I'm assuming you are doing a low and slow in the 225º - 250º range.

    Also you may want to read up the "Elder Ward" fire building method.


    http://www.nakedwhiz.com/elder.htm#fire
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  • Misippi Egger
    Misippi Egger Posts: 5,095
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    Sounds like you either didn't put in enough lump OR the lump you used may have had too many small pieces and not enough large pieces.

    Filled to the top of the firebox and temps of 350 or less should have lasted more than 4 hrs, IMO.

    Others have any ideas?
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  • civil eggineer
    civil eggineer Posts: 1,547
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    Define filled.
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  • PWise
    PWise Posts: 1,173
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    Check out Elder Ward's method for building and lighting the fire... I used it last week for my first overnight, filled my XL up to 1 in below the top of the fire ring... 27 lbs total lump charcoal, it kept burning at 250°F for around 20+ hours then turned it up to 500°F, burnt for around 2 additionial hours and turned it down, next day reused same charcoal for around 10 hours at 250°F-300°F... still have some left to use today for a quick sear...

    here's how I built the fire according to Elder Ward's method.
    first I cleaned it all and put all the big pieces
    fisrtlayerbigcharcoal.jpg
    then a second layer of big pieces
    secondlayerbigcharcoal.jpg
    then the medium pieces
    layermediumcharcoal.jpg
    and then the small pieces and whatever dust was left
    layersmallcharcoal.jpg
    notice how close it is to the top of the fire ring.
    I lighted it using a shop towel soaked in vegetable oil placed on top dead center
    startingfire1.jpg

    now look at the "leftover" charcoal next day 18 hours afterwards after I took out the pork butt
    leftovercharcoal18hrs.jpg

    hope this all helps...
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  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
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    Mr. D,

    What size egg?

    Steve

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
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    define "filled".

    up above the firebox? (good)
    up to the holes in the firebox? (not as good)
    "handful of lump" per the instructions? (no enough)

    keep her topped off, up to the top of the fire box roughly, or a little below.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • Mr. D
    Mr. D Posts: 32
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    I did as per instuctions, 1" above holes. When I did my turkey for ThnxGvng I did it the same and it turned out great however now that I think back there was very little coals left. are we saying forget the book and fill almost all the way ?

    Thanks for the prompt reply.
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  • Mr. D
    Mr. D Posts: 32
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    Large
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  • fieroguy
    fieroguy Posts: 777
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    For short cooks (up to 5-8 hours) ALWAYS fill to at least the top of the firebox. Longer cooks (all-nighters) fill to within 1" of the top of the fire ring.

    Hope this helps

    Mike
    30833
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  • Misippi Egger
    Misippi Egger Posts: 5,095
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    I cooked a 16 lb turkey for Christmas (at 350 deg). I filled the firebox almost to the top, removed the firering (to fit the turkey - upright-into the large BGE). it cooked for 3 hours and had more than 50% of the lump remaining after the cook.
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  • fieroguy
    fieroguy Posts: 777
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    A little more: always light in at least three places...

    M.
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  • Mr. D
    Mr. D Posts: 32
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    I'm going to try the layered process, large ones then medium and lastly small one. Thanks for your help
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  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
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    you can use that amount of lump, but it's for quick cooks, chicken, burgers, stuff like that.

    but you need to fill it up depending on whether or not you are trying to go for a long time.

    pizza (high heat, long cooks if you do multiple pizzas) really needs a good full fire box, over the top and a bit more.

    long overnights work great if you also overfill. you'll have some left in the morning, but better to have some left than run out.

    some guys do their cooks with just a tiny bit of lump (like fishless going direct for ribs or butts), but he guages it just right, and runs out right at the end.

    better to just keep the level consistent (as you are starting out). that way the egg will behave the same way most of the time, since the lump level will be the same from cook to cook (roughly)
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
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  • PWise
    PWise Posts: 1,173
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    no prob, it makes a lot of sense because you allow plenty airflow since the large ane medium do not block the holes in the grate... also you might try lighting it in several places, I didn't do it last time and realized burn was somewhat vertical...
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