Ran out of lump, used briquettes. Am I going to hell?

bud812

Say 3 hale Green Egg's & drink a beer or 6.

nolaegghead

Say 3 hale Green Egg's & drink a beer or 6.

OK, Done.  (*BURRRRP*)  Absolved.  Now forgot what I did wrong....

bud812

You are forgiven my son, now finish that 12 pack.

BYS1981

Probably pergatory, not hell.

ribnrun

Dear Stike,

By crap, I do mean chemicals. Not one of them is called 'bugaboo' as you put it. 2 chemicals in particular, Sodium Nitrate and Boron. These chemicals are present in small quantities in charcoal briquettes. Neither is a health risk in small quantities. Boron may or may not be cumulative, depending on who you believe. Sodium Nitrate is used to cure meat, so it must be safe, right? Well it is also used (less and less these days) as a fertilizer. It is also an ingredient for solid rocket propellant.

I agree that neither of these chemicals poses an immediate threat to my health. In fact Cowboy lump has tried to get me to cook over plywood, and RO has sold me rubber 'flavor enhancers' in my bags. Plywood and unidentified rubber I believe would be more harmful, and probably taste awful. So I screen my lump now before I place it in the egg. Given the choice, I choose charcoal minus the chemicals.

nolaegghead

Seems like less is more....best vodkas are the purest, binchotan charcoal is almost pure carbon and costs more than the meat I buy per pound.

stike

Oxygen is used for rocket propellant too.
What a stupid reason to assume something is bad

There's nitrate in your lump too. Plus a lot of horrible stuff when you burn it

You do realize you are basically running a death machine when you fire then grill right? I have no idea how you all manage to avoid the copious amounts of carbon monoxide and byproducts, while only breathing and eating the good stuff

ribnrun

Now stike, don't get testy cuz you were wrong. Maybe you should stick to posting doctored pictures if you can't accept when you make a mistake.

Sodium nitrate is different than nitrate, look at a chemistry book. Carbon monoxide is non toxic, it just displaces oxygen and can cause suffocation. Sodium nitrate and boron are toxic. In all the research you claimed you did, I'm surprised you didn't read the ingredients on a bag of Kingsford. So you are mentioning the vauge 'byproducts' please elaborate what they are, and you better come up with something worse than carbon monoxide. Oxygen is an ingredient in soild rocket fuel? Oxygen is a component of some of the ingredients, but oxygen by itself is not. You meant oxidizer I'm sure, but the oxidizer is the sodium nitrate, so your comment made no sense.

I hate your comments stike, I seriously wish I could filter you.

nolaegghead

Oxygen is used for rocket propellant too. What a stupid reason to assume something is bad There's nitrate in your lump too. Plus a lot of horrible stuff when you burn it You do realize you are basically running a death machine when you fire then grill right? I have no idea how you all manage to avoid the copious amounts of carbon monoxide and byproducts, while only breathing and eating the good stuff

I love to dine on a rocket fuel cocktail while wearing my smoking vest in the library, when the sun sets softly in the egg-hazy West.

Seriously Stike, creosote is a yummy smoke flavoring, preserves food, and combustion gives me a prudy smoke ring from the nitrogen dioxides it contains. 

Salt is poisonous if you eat too much of it.  So is dihydrogen oxide. 

I'm a chemist by degree, and I'm under no illusion "purity" or "natural" or "artificial" are anything other than adjectives, or worse, pejoratives used by narrow minded activists or politicians.

I like you.  And to answer your question, I don't avoid the CO and other toxic combustion products, I just avoid LD50 concentration situations and try not to win a Darwin award by doing something stupid like erecting a termite treatment tent under the egg when it's fired up.

stike

Ribnrun hates my comments. What to do? How about you stop reading them? And a kudos to you for figuring out those pics were photoshopped. Damn, can't get nuthin by you As for for the smoke ring and nitrate/nitrite and its role in curing... I am familiar enough with it that i'm thankful for your efforts in trying to enlighten me, but you don't need to bother Many thanks

Little Steven

Is there a stike filter available?

nolaegghead

I'm just trying to figure out in my head what's real and what's not.  People thought the stall was from some kinda endothermic chemical reaction with collagen converting to gelatin.  Turns out it was evaporation.  I drank the Koolaid on many of these old theories.  I don't feel stupid when I'm wrong as much as I feel elated when I learn something new.  Keep on keepin' on.

Ozzie_Isaac

Yes, but not because you used brunettes.

nolaegghead

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Yes, but not because you used brunettes.

What, because of the blondes?

Ozzie_Isaac

nolaegghead said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Yes, but not because you used brunettes.

What, because of the blondes?

Frotoian Slip, but truth had been spoketh.  Although me thinks redheads are the gate keepers.

nolaegghead

Ozzie_Isaac said:

nolaegghead said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Yes, but not because you used brunettes.

What, because of the blondes?

Frotoian Slip, but truth had been spoketh.  Although me thinks redheads are the gate keepers.

Oh, ginger SNAP!

nolaegghead

I'll have you know we have many gate keepers in my immediate family.  Be warned, spawn hell fodder...

YukonRon

Were there any rocks in the briquettes bag? You might need to add a chunk or two of feldspar, quartz, mica, biotite or limestone (maybe just concrete too) to get the real flavor.
Hell may ultimately be our destination, my brother, for crimes far worse against humanity, than dumping a load of briquettes in  ceramic cooker. 
I will save you a spot, and bring the wine.
FWIW - I am committed to a blonde. Keeps my life as interesting as it is wonderful.
Peace.

Botch

Who dug this up?

Gulfcoastguy

Just a year in purgatory using propane grills.

KiterTodd

He put briquettes in the egg? 
Why hasn't the Buffalo deleted his account yet? 
This is unforgivable.  At least it wasn't match-light...

1voyager

You will not go to hell. You will be struck by lightening. Then, while in a state of bewilderment you will trade your briquette-violated Egg on a $6.00 BBQ Pro disposable grill.

The shame.

Hibby

I realize this is an old post. The main reason I left briquettes behind (pre-bge for me) was that I had heard the fillers in briquettes were hygroscopic or at lest the remnant ash after a burn was. Since I was using steel smokers and grills, that increased corrosion. Once I switched, I liked everything about the lump more than the briquettes so I never went back. 

nolaegghead

Lump is analogous to the "organic" food movement.  No additives, minimal processing.  Lights quick, burns hot, very little ash.

Briquettes are the "fast food" of fuel.  Cheap, highly processed, burns evenly, lots of ash, chemical additives.

I'm not sure about differences is hygroscopicity and corrosivity, obviously not an issue in a ceramic cooker. 

What matters is the taste of the food, and briquettes have a distinctive taste.  Not saying it's better, just different.  You can't deny plenty of cooks place first in KCBS using briquettes. 

I'd take briquettes over gas any day, and I'd take lump over briquettes .

Hibby

Agree with all of that

stlcharcoal

The really bad byproduct in briquettes that no one has mentioned is anthracite.  That stuff can have just about anything in it, including sulfur.  It's cheaper, has more BTUs, and is more plentiful than charcoal fines.....and that why they use it.  There can be very little true "charcoal" in a "charcoal briquette".  They should call them "coal briquettes".  

We did the chemical and BTU testing on all the brands, and I was amazed how much limestone was in those things.  People complain about a rock or two in lump, how about all the ground up lime in a bag of briquettes??  And there was only a minor difference between the premium / competition ones vs. the regulars.  The BTU's were about he same and one variety actually had a higher ash content in the premium line.  The ones that did the best were trader joes.....but this was years ago before they switched manufacturers (I believe they are made in Mexico now.)

Weber apparently has a briquette that contains nothing bit charcoal fines and a binder.  Those would be worth a try.  But the "100% natural" line doesn't mean there isn't limestone and other natural fillers in there.  Don't worry about the borax.....that's minimal and it's to get the press to release the briquettes.

nolaegghead

The anthracite/lignite content in briquettes probably helps explain why the food tastes different and the smell is different from lump. 

HeavyG

stlcharcoal said:

The really bad byproduct in briquettes that no one has mentioned is anthracite.  That stuff can have just about anything in it, including sulfur.  It's cheaper, has more BTUs, and is more plentiful than charcoal fines.....and that why they use it.  There can be very little true "charcoal" in a "charcoal briquette".  They should call them "coal briquettes".  

We did the chemical and BTU testing on all the brands, and I was amazed how much limestone was in those things.  People complain about a rock or two in lump, how about all the ground up lime in a bag of briquettes??  And there was only a minor difference between the premium / competition ones vs. the regulars.  The BTU's were about he same and one variety actually had a higher ash content in the premium line.  The ones that did the best were trader joes.....but this was years ago before they switched manufacturers (I believe they are made in Mexico now.)

Weber apparently has a briquette that contains nothing bit charcoal fines and a binder.  Those would be worth a try.  But the "100% natural" line doesn't mean there isn't limestone and other natural fillers in there.  Don't worry about the borax.....that's minimal and it's to get the press to release the briquettes.

What's wrong with a little sulfur? 

Many of my favorite foods are loaded with it - eggs, garlic, onions, broccoli, cabbage,

Yum!

DoubleEgger

Do they make center cut briquettes? 

stlcharcoal

HeavyG said:

What's wrong with a little sulfur? 

Many of my favorite foods are loaded with it - eggs, garlic, onions, broccoli, cabbage,

Yum!

Yeah and we all know what those taste like when you burn them.  Haha.

I was at the Hot Sulphur Springs place west of Denver one time.  They have about 20 different pools you can get in, but it all wreaks of sulphur.  Never could get that swimsuit clean.....had to throw it out.