How much lump are you using?

Stew21

I've had my XL egg for about 1 month and so far have used 3 bags of lump. I've tried a different bag each time (BGE, then Royal Oak, now Charbone De Bois) as it's all about trying new stuff. It does seem like I'm going through a lot of lump though. I've done a couple of longer cooks (6 hours) and probably 10-12 regular cooks (<2 hours) and will need more lump soon. Does this sound right?

Mickey

Do you do like I do and toss all the old lump out before the new cook?

Mickey

That was a joke.....

tomballegg

I also have an XL and just over a month in.  I'm on 3rd bag of BGE with very similar number of cooks.  Unless we are both off, guessing it is normal.  I haven't tried any other lump than BGE.

Stew21

Re-use the old lump?? Great I've got piles of it in the garden, I'm good for another month .

Ragtop99

Sounds high to me.  How many of the cooks were high heat? Pizza and searing use up a lot coals.

Bonar

Wow bunch of lump with XL, no where near that with my large. However, picked up a small for smaller cooks and way down on consumption of lump. Cooked a whole chicken with a couple of handfuls on small and closed off vents, yet found some lumps to reuse for next cook after fire snuffed out.

Mattman3969

That sounds high to me but you are prolly cookin more than me. I bought 4-20lb bags of Rockwood on 8/20 and have used about 30lbs. That is cooking at least 3 times a week on either the large or small, temp ranges around 400 with the egg running an average of 2-3hrs each

dlk7

I use between 10 and 15 pounds per week, cooking every night on at least one XL and on both XLs at least 2 nights per week.  If I'm doing a lot of pizzas, it can burn a lot fast.  I can do a 24 hour low and slow with less than 5 pounds used (light only one spot in the middle).  In addition, you can reduce the usage on the XL by only lighting under the area you are cooking on (if I'm cooking one steak or a couple of burgers, I don't need charcoal lit across the whole firebox).  There are all sorts of ways to reduce lump usage on the XL - lump reducers, confining the lighted areas by lighting in fewer spots, filling to the top of the fire ring to do sears, etc.

Ragtop99

tomballegg said:

I also have an XL and just over a month in.  I'm on 3rd bag of BGE with very similar number of cooks.  Unless we are both off, guessing it is normal.  I haven't tried any other lump than BGE.

If I fill the XL to the fire ring, I get three cooks or more without adding coals.  I generally do not fill it so that I don't burn charcoal unnecessarily.  Most cooks I add 1 chimney full of coals to what is there, which is typical 1 layer deep leftovers.  I add more coals for a low and slow to be safe, but it does not burn through all of it.  Occasionally I need to add 2 chimneys.

I find that only need to go about 10 - 15 minutes of warm up before I start cooking.  People that wait 30 - 45 minutes to cook, that is a lot of extra coals.

tomballegg

Ragtop99 said:

tomballegg said:

I also have an XL and just over a month in.  I'm on 3rd bag of BGE with very similar number of cooks.  Unless we are both off, guessing it is normal.  I haven't tried any other lump than BGE.

If I fill the XL to the fire ring, I get three cooks or more without adding coals.  I generally do not fill it so that I don't burn charcoal unnecessarily.  Most cooks I add 1 chimney full of coals to what is there, which is typical 1 layer deep leftovers.  I add more coals for a low and slow to be safe, but it does not burn through all of it.  Occasionally I need to add 2 chimneys.

I find that only need to go about 10 - 15 minutes of warm up before I start cooking.  People that wait 30 - 45 minutes to cook, that is a lot of extra coals.

Thanks.  Guess I have a bad habit of always filling to the fire ring before firing.  I do alot of high cooks, sear and pizza...probably 3 times a week; which I know burns more lump.  Most of the time I'm also cooking 10-15 mins after lighting, seldom wait the 30 unless there is alot of smoke for some reason.  Thanks for the input.