Dumb question about lump coal

Stargaze

I bought some Wicked Good coal recently, the one thing I noticed is that they have some really big sized hunks of wood in those bags.  Do you guys whack them with something to break them up or just used them as is in your egg?  

rbierman

I'm new too, but think that the big chunks are ok and not a problem

CajunEggHead

The large ones will work fine I have some come out of the bag as large as my hand and still worked fine, I can't see where it would make any difference..

Tillerman

Keep in mind that I am new to BGE land.  However, I like the bigger pieces of lump.  In my humble opinion, I feel the temperature is more consistant with medium to large pieces (once established). 

Hansm

yes, medium to large is the best. Gravel clogs the holes

lousubcap

I bet the OP sorted this out several years ago.  

Tspud1

lousubcap said:

I bet the OP sorted this out several years ago.  

Probably still has same bag

Langner91

Stargaze said:

I bought some Wicked Good coal recently, the one thing I noticed is that they have some really big sized hunks of wood in those bags.  Do you guys whack them with something to break them up or just used them as is in your egg?  

In case anyone else sees this, nine years from now, and wonders the same thing, I use the big pieces in my LBGE, and save all the little pieces for my MMBGE.

So, the only logical answer in my mind, to the OP's question is, "Buy another egg."

RRP

I'm still in the "set them aside" group and then will smack them with a hammer and pour back into a bag.
Here's my screen for that task:

jdMyers

Wow I just dump and burn.  Re burn old and keep it moving.   Hmmm

bluebird66

jdMyers said:

Wow I just dump and burn.  Re burn old and keep it moving.   Hmmm

That's how I do it.

RRP

jdMyers said:

Wow I just dump and burn.  Re burn old and keep it moving.   Hmmm

Well, Sir when I am using my large egg then sure, ye ole dump and burn works for me most of the time as well, but when using my Small and my Mini then just two or three huge chunks fill the fire box and doesn’t create a bed of hot coals like I prefer to cook on.

danhoo

RRP said:

jdMyers said:

Wow I just dump and burn.  Re burn old and keep it moving.   Hmmm

Well, Sir when I am using my large egg then sure, ye ole dump and burn works for me most of the time as well, but when using my Small and my Mini then just two or three huge chunks fill the fire box and doesn’t create a bed of hot coals like I prefer to cook on.

Do you need an XL? 

PigBeanUs

A mix is good. One giant log of charcoal would not be great. Neither would tiny pieces. 

Best overnight i ever had was when I discovered too late that I was running out of lump. I dumped the tail end of the bag all over the top and ended up with a bed of what looked like sand and pea stone (only with lump).

there’s still plenty of air flow. 

Now if the whole firebowl was fulled with that, no bueno. But if the firebowl was fulled with two giant chunks, also no bueno

fist sized and below burn well. I tend to put the bigger stuff at the bottom to help airflow. But airflow is almost always fine anyway. 

stlcharcoal

It all burns as long as air can get to it.

Big chunks can be a issue because there's a reason why they are still big.....they are being held together by wood fiber.  And that means they are not charcoal, thus smoke, ash, and less btu/#.  Also, they can be a bear to get lit and stay lit at low temps due to the thing being a gigantic heat sink.

Rbryce1

I find that all small charcoal burns hot and fast.  What I am doing is, I hand picked the SML coals from the first bag until it was 80% empty.  I made a screen sifter using about 1/2" screen size and sift the remaining 20% in the bag into a garbage can.  This eliminates the "hole blockers" and "dust", leaving only coals 1/2"  or larger.  Then I opened the next bag, put all the coals from the sifter that were 2" or larger into the second bag and poured the rest back into a plastic tub.  Now I have a tub of 1/2" - 2" coals, bags of coals 2" or larger and no air hole blockers or dust.  Second bag 80% empty, and I did it again.  Now I have a tub of starting coals and the other bags of cooking coals, and it only takes about 5 minutes to do.  Now I start the egg with the small coals which lights very fast and gets hot quickly, then fuel the egg with the larger coals from the other bags of what ever brand I decide to use to cook with at the time.  It doesn't matter which brand coals I put into the small coals tub, they all start the same.  At least this works for me.

alaskanassasin

I have a buddy who pins his socks together after taking them off, runs them through the washer and everything, they never get separated.

stlcharcoal

Carbon is carbon......it all burns the same because of the Law of Conservation of Energy.  The only way to burn it any faster is at a higher temperature, which you can limit by metering the oxygen getting to it.  Granted, the oxygen has to reach it and there has to be a fire bridge between pieces, but provided these conditions are met, it pretty much burns the same if the conditions are held constant.

ColbyLang

alaskanassasin said:

I have a buddy who pins his socks together after taking them off, runs them through the washer and everything, they never get separated.

Lmao

alaskanassasin

Robertbozic said:

RRP said:

jdMyers said:

Wow I just dump and burn.  Re burn old and keep it moving.   Hmmm

Well, Sir when I am using my large egg then sure, ye ole dump and burn works for me most of the time as well, but when using my Small and my Mini then just two or three huge chunks fill the fire box and doesn’t create a bed of hot coals like I prefer to cook on. 

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