Smoke Free Lump?

Egghead_Joel

What brand of lump charcoal burns the cleanest for baking purposes? I'd prefer not to having any smoky taste to pizza, pies, etc. I've only used Royal Oak so far and I did let it burn for over an hour. Maybe I need to let the daisy wheel wide open. Thanks

boatbum

If you don't want any smoke flavor, why use the Egg?   Just bake in the oven.

I am sure I am missing something here...  all part of my continueing education..

 

Egghead_Joel

boatbum said:

If you don't want any smoke flavor, why use the Egg?   Just bake in the oven.

I am sure I am missing something here...  all part of my continueing education..

 Because I want the brick oven effect that the egg provides.

fishlessman

new lump, let it burn til it smells clean. i get less lump flavor from hotter faster cooks. there used to be cleaner burning lump available but things like wicked good comp blend no longer exist, and cowboy is just not the same anymore. you really want to smell the smoke, you will know when its not ready after you do this a few times

bigphil

what temp you doing pizza at i use RO running at 550/600 no DW and have barely any noticeable smoke if any . i also always use fresh lump when doing pizza remove the old and save it for a later cook especially if i did a low and slow and added wood chips or chunks 

fishlessman

if you can find a lump made from maple try that, but is pretty hard to find

bigphil

i find RO and WG to be very smoke neutral but WG is pricey to burn up fast so RO is my choice 

Egghead_Joel

Thanks. The lump I burned was used and contaminated for sure-makes sense to use fresh. The best temp I could get out of it was around 450 towards the end of my cook. I made 3 pizzas in all.

fishlessman

i missed that as well, take the daisy off the egg, the egg will get hotter with it off the egg.

bigphil

will only get as hot as you allow it with the bottom vent open 

Phoenix824

New lump, 500 +,  daisy wheel off gives me best results for pizza and stuff.     The times I get smoke flavor I had daisy wheel on and used old lump and was doing pizza starting at 300 for the first one.   I learned from that experience quick.

nolaegghead

You might want to look into this: http://www.charcos.biz/

I've never used it but the nude magician's testing revealed it burned hot, with little ash.  It's about a dollar a pound.  Supposed to have a sweet smell, not so smokey-wood-like as much as pleasant and refreshing.

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumpdatabase/lumpbag96.htm

nolaegghead

Well, I was way off on the price, unless you buy a huge pallet. 

Amazon does sell it.  Here's the one review there:

http://www.amazon.com/CharcosTM-Coconut-shell-Charcoal-Large/product-reviews/B005EGUWKS/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

boatbum

Egghead_Joel said:

boatbum said:

If you don't want any smoke flavor, why use the Egg?   Just bake in the oven.

I am sure I am missing something here...  all part of my continueing education..

 Because I want the brick oven effect that the egg provides.

Makes sense.   We tend to like a smoky flavor with Pizza - my immediate first thought was not pizza but other things.     My education continues.

scottc454

Charcos is as clean as it gets, but it is extremely dense and you'll wait forever to get to temp. I'd recommend using some denatured alcohol as lighter fluid.

misu

Binchotan, look here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binchōtan Google it if the link doesn't work

nolaegghead

It costs more than whatever you're cooking.

Mayberry

Try Natures Own lump. It's pure sugar maple, has much less smoke flavor, and is VERY good coal. I use it a lot on chicken and fish to lower the smoky flavor. I also use it on pizzas. Very consistent bags, burns clean with little popping and ash. Good stuff, if you can find it. I'm in GA, and have a few go to places to find it....not sure where you're located. Msee below for review. Good luck. http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumpdatabase/lumpbag9.htm

mo egg

I bake cakes and pies all the time, my neighbor came over and had a piece of cake and said i can not believe you baked that on the charcoal grill, all you have to do is let the charcoal burn clean, and not have grease,etc on charcoal, i use ozark oak lump