Update on the first all nighter! BGE very good! Cowboy lump bad!!

jhl192

OK, the Medium egg performed flawlessly, holding the temp within a few degrees throughout the 20 hour cook and the the Boston Butt was AMAZING!!! It only dropped below 250 twice, at the 10 1/2 and 17 hour marks! Each time I removed the meat and platesetter. Sure enough, 90%ash. Reloaded lump, let it burn off the VOCs and put the meat back! Not a big hassle but disappointing. I think it's the Cowboy lump! I will try BGE and Royal Oak the next two times and report back. They are the only 2 other brands I can get readily around here. Could it be the Medium? Anyone else with a Medium have a similar problem?

henapple

Where are you located?

jhl192

Central CT.

KennyLee

I've used Cowboy several times in long overnight cooks with good results, but I have a large.  Just a guess, but maybe 20+ hours for a medium may be too much?  Not sure. 

Carolina Q

jhl, I don't have a medium so no help there. 

However, Vinny's Garden Center in East Hartford carries, or used to carry, Wicked Good Weekend Warrior lump, unless they have discontinued it. Don't know, but worth a phone call. Not cheap though, about the same as BGE brand as I recall. $25 for 22 lbs last I looked.

WG's distribution center is in Holyoke. You can buy direct for a lot less if you want a pallet full and have a way to pick it up. Maybe a half pallet, I forget. I think. From their website you can also order two bags for $13+ per bag, but I don't know the shipping charges.

Good stuff. Little ash, burns a long time, a bit harder to light. Some folks mix it with a bit of Royal Oak to get it going. I never needed to do that.

http://www.wickedgoodcharcoal.com/

This is WG before and after an 18- 20 hour cook in my large...

 

jhl192

Thanks @carolina q! Looks like a trip up to Holyoke is in my near future!

Conneggticut_Yankee

Also, Home Depot carries Royal Oak. They stock it way up high where no one would think to look for it. You can do an on line inventory check just to be sure.

boatbum

Was never a fan of Cowboy. I used to like Wicked Good, but their quality dropped so much I quit it. Charcoal can make all the diff. Dont know anythign about a medium, I use a Large. Can go 20+ hours on a single load of "good" charcoal. Also, there are some charcoals that are very good for higher temps, but dont do as well for low long cooks.

Carolina Q

boatbum said:

I used to like Wicked Good, but their quality dropped so much I quit it.

Boatbum, how so? What is the problem with it? I haven't used it in a while. I wasn't aware of any issues with WG quality.I knew they had some supply issues a while back, but that's it. 

SmokinDAWG82

See if you can find Rockwood Lump, They have a distributor finder on their site I think

jhl192

Wow!  Yesterday I found on old @henapple post that suggested purchasing Rockwood thru Firecraft.  If you spend $99 you get free shipping and since I am out of state no tax.  I placed an order in the morning.  The Fed Ex guy just delivered 5 @ 20# bags of Rockwood to my front door.  Now I have a supply of Rockwood for my Low and Slows. Firecraft sells Ozark too.   I will use the Cowboy for the quicker directs and indirects until its used up and will go to Royal Oak for the quick stuff.  Wicked Good, Rockwood and Ozark for the low and slows. 

D_Train

@jhl192 Does it look like the shipping left the coal mostly intact or were you left with a lot of small pieces? My winter stash is down to 1 bag left of Royal Oak, and all I can get around here is that or Cowboy. Am considering a Firecraft order.

jhl192

@D_Train the boxes they came in were intact and when I unloaded the bags I heard that nice sound of larger pieces of lump charcoal rubbing together inside the bags.  You would know the sound if you heard it.  I haven't opened it up yet it feels like any other decent bag of charcoal.  I'm not sure how they make any money over nighting 100lbs of charcoal halfway across the country for $99.75.  BTW,  If you order some they also carry Ozark Oak and a few other top brands.  You can try out some of the highest rated on the NAKEDWHIZ.com list and see what all the fuss is about.  I can't wait to try it out.    

bicktrav

I've also ordered in 100 lb increments from Firecraft.  It's a great deal.  I'm currently making my way through the final few bags of Ozark Oak I got in my last shipment.  I will say this though: with the Ozark Oak, I have found that charcoal does not arrive entirely in tact.  Strangely, that isn't the case with Rockwood.  I think it's mostly to do with the difference in bag size.  100 lbs. of Ozark Oak comes shipped in 10 10 lb. bags; whereas 100 lbs. of Rockwood comes shipped in 5 20 lb. bags.  Imagine putting a bunch of potato chips in 10 tiny ziplocs, or the same amount in 5 larger ziplocs.  After tossing them about, the 5 larger ziplocs will have fewer broken chips.  At least that's my thought.  I still love the Ozark Oak, but I don't know that I'd have it shipped again.  Too much dust and detritus after the shipping process.  Rockwood is better in that regard.

WeberWho

jhl192 said:

I will try BGE and Royal Oak the next two times and report back.

Big Green Egg lump is actually Royal Oak. If you can find just plain Royal Oak lump you will save $ money by not having the bag say Big Green Egg on it. Exact same lump. I haven't used Rockwood myself but only have heard good things about them. I'm a Ozark Oak fan myself. I've tried Cowboy a few times when I started out egging back in the day. It was ok. It worked. Bought Cowboy a couple months ago for $2 a bag since it was on sale just to try out again. It's terrible! You get spoiled after using good lump. Cowboy is super sparky, it takes a long time to burn off bad smoke, lots of ash, your food ends up smelling like bad lump, you end up smelling like a smokey bon fire. I'm telling you right now how spoiled you're going to get with good lump. You will notice a huge difference in your overall egg experience and food taste! After 4-5 cooks with Rockwood try out Cowboy again. It would be interesting your thoughts between the two.

Sundown

Here we go again. jhl 192, you live in a region where you can readily get Wicked Good lump.

I feel like a cheerleader but, I've been using WG for years and have NEVER had a problem with it. I know some of the whiners have made more noise than a baby with a wet diaper but, the damned charcoal still works better than anything else.

It has always been my feeling that if your fuel is consistent then your cooks will be more predictable. That's not hard to figure out is it?

This is for those that can bring themselves to read it: You've spent considerable money on a Big Green Egg and yet you cheap yourselves out of the room when you go to buy charcoal. The very thing that makes owning a Big Green Egg worthwhile. I don't understand that thinking.

Finding a great supplier of charcoal and sticking with it instead of bouncing from manufacturer to manufacturer based on what kind of price you can get is ludicrous.

You remind me of the sailboaters I've had the pleasure to deal with over the years. They sail because the "wind is free". Then cheap their way through sails, electronics and service because . . . wait for it . . . THEY'RE CHEAP! Thank you for getting this far. My rant is done for the day.

mokadir

Ambient outdoor temperature makes a noticeable difference in my burn rate, no matter what the lump I use. I burn much more doing the same cook when it is 20 vs 80 outside.

Coastalcooker

I have a medium and remember doing about 20 hours on one fill and then shutting off the air to put out the fire. It was probably Publix (RO) lump. Temps here in the south are usually above freezing at night, but I don't remember.
I fill to the top of the firering and then use the chimney to light so it adds more lump, but regardless of the brand, two refills seems excessive.
Bob

hapster

Never had any issues with the quality of WGWW... it was the difficulty in getting in my area. Once I discovered that FireCraft is 10min away, trying Rockwood was a no brainer. I like it, it's on par or better than WGWW and most importantly, I can order it and have it in my egg within 2 hours. That said, if I happen across some WGWW, I'd probably pick some up just because...

BYS1981

I have a medium and I've done cooks that long, a big key is making sure you have enough charcoal - I load up until right below the platesetter. of course, the second main variable is the charcoal, I had cowboy lump go out on me after 8hrs and stopped using their lump.

I used to use WGWW, but since it isn't really available at ace hardware I no longer use it. I use kamado joe lump since I can get it from ace.

Timvanee

I did not get my Small past 10 hours with RO... Not sure if you can extrapolate that to the medium, but 20 hours seems long to me for one fill of lump

YEMTrey

I ordered 100lbs of lump from Firecraft.  Great service and pricing with free delivery.

Funny thing is, the FedEx driver came knocking on my door and asked me, "What the hell you want me to do with this box?!"  Basically refusing to deliver it from the truck.  So I went out to the back of his truck and helped him unload it and put the box in my driveway.  I then proceeded to drag the box to my garage and empty the contents there. Only downside to the whole experience.  Not sure what he would have done if I wasn't home at the time.  Refuse delivery?  My driveway is only two car lengths long, so those of you with longer driveways etc, take note.

I purchased Rockwood and some Ozark Oak.  Should be good to go for a little while.

Hungry Joe

No one asked, how much lump did you load your medium with? I only have a large but I always load to the top of the fire ring, not the firebox with lump for a long cook. If you can get WG do it.

 Is there a restaurant depot near you? I was there yesterday and they have RO for $10.50 for a 17.5lbs bag.

If nothing is close to you the firecraft free shipping is a good deal.

jhl192

@Hungry Joe  I fill it to the top of the fire box and not the top of the fire ring.  I will give that a try.  Thanks to the responses to this post I now have sources for Wicked Good within driving distance and I bought some Rockwood and Ozark Oak from Firecraft.  I should be good to go.  I'm looking forward to giving it  another shot as soon as the temps get into the 20's.    

Hotch

I am on the bottom of a 60 bag pallet of WGWW. Best investment I ever made. I get the same cook time and time again.

 I will most likely buy another pallet when I need more.

henapple

I've got 20 bags of Ozark Oak and 9 of Rockwood and I'm getting worried. I may have a problem.

Carolina Q

ask RRP how many HE has. 

ShadowNick

BYS1981 said:

I have a medium and I've done cooks that long, a big key is making sure you have enough charcoal - I load up until right below the platesetter. of course, the second main variable is the charcoal, I had cowboy lump go out on me after 8hrs and stopped using their lump. I used to use WGWW, but since it isn't really available at ace hardware I no longer use it. I use kamado joe lump since I can get it from ace.

 +1 I've gotten 31 hours out of one load of Cowboy on my medium, just fill it up to within the top inch of the fire ring.

Hungry Joe

I went into winter with 23 17.5lbs bags of RO, six 8.8lbs bags of RO, three 22lbs bags of WGWW and bought five 20lbs bags of Rockwood. I have no problem, I'm until next fall.

Mattman3969

henapple said:

I've got 20 bags of Ozark Oak and 9 of Rockwood and I'm getting worried. I may have a problem.

I have 5 of Rockwood and 2 of OO. Gonna stop tomorrow while I am in IL and load back up on Rockwood. Oh and I fergot about the 1/2 bag of RO that I have had since I met you in Evansville

FATC1TY

Cowboy just makes way to much ash for me for use for a really long cook. Love it for pizzas and burgers and quick cooks.

Wicked is my go-to for most any cook I'm picky about. I can get 10 hours from a chimney and about two handfuls with wicked with minimal ash.