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what is the appeal of BIG chunks of lump?

RRP
RRP Posts: 25,880
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Seems every time someone raves about a brand of lump they always equate large chunks to being desirable and a measure of how good it is. When I find large chunks I take that to be a nuisance as I set them aside until I have several and then whack them with a hammer to break them up. Just stands to reason the more surfaces of lump burning then the better the fire. Do you agree or am I missing something?
Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.

Comments

  • Joel
    Joel Posts: 74
    Big chunks don't clog the lower air vents whereas smaller chunks do.

    -Joel
  • thailandjohn
    thailandjohn Posts: 952
    I use the large pieces for the bottom only....I build up from there with smaller pieces and adding chunks and chips as I stack.

    I use about 1/4 inch wire screen to sift out the dust and super small pieces.

    When I clean out the Egg for a new burn, I sift the unused charcoal through the screen

    I use everything but the dust in the bag. My waste of charcoal is nil
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,880
    I'm not talking about pea gravel size I mean the large chunks that produce the sound of CLUNK when poured vs clink clink - you know the size of two doubled fists and larger.
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
  • thebtls
    thebtls Posts: 2,300
    I'm with you RRP...first I've NEVER had the holes clogged with lump; I always stir it up good with my hands before lighting up and I too bust a lot of large pieces into more manageable pieces. "Medium" size pieces I get, "Large" not so much. I don't want a bag of quarter sized pieces either but the more I cook the less I can truly tell between one lump and the next, net net that is...once it's lit and I'm done eating I rarely go back and say, wow, that was some great lump!
    Visit my blog, dedicated to my Big Green Egg Recipies at http://www.bigtsbge.blogspot.com You can also follow my posts on FaceBook under the name Keep On Eggin' or the link http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Keep-On-Eggin/198049930216241
  • Fidel
    Fidel Posts: 10,172
    I'm with you. I whack 'em with my billy bar to bust them up.
  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
     
    I like larger chunks to put over the fire grate but other than that small pieces down to the size of a thumbnail are fine with me.

    Large being palm size pieces. 5 to 6 inches or bigger I end up breaking up.

    Larger pieces 5" and bigger seem to leave more air space in the lump bed but the burn will be shorter. Cowboy brand lump is a good example of larger pieces, thin & rectangular. People say it burns hotter but that is probably due more to the air paths left when put in the egg.

    my 2¢

    GG
  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    Would 4"D and 12"L be considered large?
    001.jpg

    Set these two pieces aside to be broken down later. Could carve a tiki mask out of it?

    Would a hammer or billy bar even work on this lump log? I've burned through some bags of lump, and have never came across a piece of this size. With Wicked and the Ono I tried over the weekend, I used a couple of larger pieces towards the bottom and sorted through the bag, getting smaller as I work my way up the firebox. With RO, I just dump it in.
    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
     
    :) Yup, those are pretty big. I have one piece 4 or 5 inch diameter and 18 inches long, it won't fit in the large - it's a tree limb.

    GG
  • Bacchus
    Bacchus Posts: 6,019
    I don't see the big deal either. I dump and light no matter what size lump. I have even cooked with lump consisting of nothing but leftover I sifted from ash, not a piece bigger than a golfball, and most marble sized. Never had an isue with clogged holes, even once.
  • Bacchus
    Bacchus Posts: 6,019
    I don't see the big deal either. I dump and light no matter what size lump. I have even cooked with lump consisting of nothing but leftover I sifted from ash, not a piece bigger than a golfball, and most marble sized. Never had an isue with clogged holes, even once.
  • BobS
    BobS Posts: 2,485
    I am not a big fan of Wicked Good, for just that reason.
  • i think what people mean when they say the bag had "nice big chunks" is really that they were happy it wasn't filled with the chips and dist and tiny bit.

    i haven't heard anyone myself that said they preferred the monster chunks. but a bag of chunks the size of a fist or half fist is always a pleasant surprise, if only it means i won't have a bag bottom filled with dust and chips
  • Marc  from IL
    Marc from IL Posts: 499
    Nothing worse then a bag half full of dime size pieces.
    I love to see big chuncks. I think they let me better control of my fire...
  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
    For what it's worth, when I review a brand of lump, I want to see some large pieces. Not tree trunks, but some relatively large pieces. Perhaps 10-20% of the bag. This gives you the option of placing them at the bottom of a low and slow fire to give ash a place to drop and keep the air flowing.
    The Naked Whiz
  • Lab Rat
    Lab Rat Posts: 147
    Ron, I'm totally with you on this! I recently bought a bag of Frontier lump from Sam's. Man it is packed with very large pieces.

    I always save larger pieces to use on the very bottom of the firebox during long, low and slow, cooks. With this bag of Frontier, I didn't have many (what I deem as) "usable" sized pieces of lump.
  • Lab Rat
    Lab Rat Posts: 147
    Ron, I'm totally with you on this! I recently bought a bag of Frontier lump from Sam's. Man it is packed with very large pieces.

    I always save larger pieces to use on the very bottom of the firebox during long, low and slow, cooks. With this bag of Frontier, I didn't have many (what I deem as) "usable" sized pieces of lump.
  • deepsouth
    deepsouth Posts: 1,796
    if i want to cook within an hour and i have some really large dense charcoal, i get a bit aggravated at how long it takes the really good stuff for low and slow to get going raging hot..... i try to keep a mix of dense large stuff and regular stuff i can fire up quicker and will burn faster.