Lump charcoal: what to do with the finer stuff?

gperks · July 2009

Every bag starts out at the top with some nice big lumps, and progressively the bag serves up smaller and smaller chunks until at the bottom you have a whole lot of flakes and eventually powder; it might as well be a bag of cornflakes.

What do you do with the smaller stuff? If it all comes out at once, it seems to block the airflow and can't seem to get up to temperature as well.

Should I start the bag from the bottom? Eat the flakes for breakfast? Let 'em burn?

Richard Fl · July 2009

I have a 2x3 foot 2x4 frame with 1/2 inch square mesh and new bags get placed on this as it sits over a large trash bucket. Then off with the trash.What survives becomes the making of some great fires.

Bacchus · July 2009

I recently dumped the bottom 15-20% of a 50lb bag (brown bag lump) into my Large. It was filled from grate to fire ring with not one piece larger than a golf ball, most much smaller. I lit it and let it burn out almost 30 hours later without touching a thing.

Egg-N-Tino · July 2009

I tend to use the 'powder' on the top of a full load. Not alot, but enough to get the lump fired up. Seems to really assist when your lighting a low and slow. My starter is an electric, not one of those fancy MAPP :ermm: . Something tells me it would be a spark-fest when trying to light the small stuff.

Use it, don't toss it.

stike · July 2009

I use the smaller stuff to fill out the upper part of a low and slow fire, and it burns fine and for a long time, as you found.

it doesn't block any air flow because there's still much more free area than compared to how little the vents are open

DrZaius · July 2009

I use the small pieces for bath salts. I am a little obsessed. :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

PhilsGrill · July 2009

I take all the smaller stuff and compress it and make diamonds.

BConk · July 2009

I haven't tried it yet but I understand you can mix the dust with water and cornstarch to make briquettes...other than that - and adding it for low and slows - it goes nicely in the compost heap.

gperks · July 2009

> it goes nicely in the compost heap.

Can I throw the ashes into the composter too?

AuntieEgger · July 2009

I put the small pieces of charcoal in the bottom of the pots of my house plants to create a good drainage barrier you can also do this for the outside container plants or you can put them under and around your hosta’s in the garden to keep away the slugs and snails as they don’t like crawling on them because they have sharp edges.

Jersey Doug · July 2009

Richard Fl wrote: "I have a 2x3 foot 2x4 frame with 1/2 inch square mesh and new bags get placed on this as it sits over a large trash bucket. Then off with the trash.What survives becomes the making of some great fires."

Our son built and used a similar screen when he realigned our gravel driveway before he left for college 15 years ago. I pulled it out of the shed this afternoon and screened a 20 lb. bag of BGE lump, dividing the good stuff into two Kingsford Charcoal Caddy's. When I topped off the Small for tonight's cook (flank steak) there was no small junk or dust at all - the first time that's happened since I started Egg'ing. Thank you for the suggestion!

banzaitoyota · August 2009

Bury it in the ground as "BIO-CHAR"

Lump charcoal: what to do with the finer stuff?

Comments

Categories