Charcoal has gone up!

Hungry Joe

Seems Ozark Oak going out has created a shortage, the price of charcoal is going up. Last time I bought Fogo it was $28 and hasn't come back down since.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009P166SU?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_sfl_title_2&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Good thing I got this for $16 a 22lbs bag.

Lmidkiff

I don't know how fresh it is but our local BGE dealer had a fresh shipment of Ozark Oak. She said she just got it in but it was $20 for a 10 pound bag. Ill bet she will have it for a long time at that price. 

4Runner

What is it? My local Lowes has Frontier lump for $14 per bag.  

MrCookingNurse

What is it? 

MrCookingNurse

We've got a place down the street that makes it. Been wanting to buy a pallet but just haven't. 

HofstraJet

Fresh? Lump goes bad?

MrCookingNurse

HofstraJet said:

Fresh? Lump goes bad?

@HofstraJet no, he was referring to ozark oak. They went out of business this year and since its for sale, it could be deduced that it's old stock.... Maybe

hoofaloos

Local Mexican market here sells lump for $22 for a 50lb bag.  Beats the hell out of the BGE dealer down the road.  Not really sure the brand b/c I think it rotates but it's mesquite lump and does just as well as anything i've ever used

Lit

That's easy to fix get a cabinet smoker. A $13.99 bag of white oak I can do 4 long cooks. For $14 I can cook 100 racks of ribs. Have peach, Apple, pecan, white oak, and hickory to choose from.

bcsnave

yeah....all my lump just goes up in smoke

stemc33

I haven't checked FireCraft lately, but I usually pay about a $1.00/lb. 

blasting

@Lit  So in a cabinet smoker you use hardwood - not lump?  That's interesting.  How do you keep what your smoking from being over smoked, or tasting too smokey?

nolaegghead

blasting said:

@Lit  So in a cabinet smoker you use hardwood - not lump?  That's interesting.  How do you keep what your smoking from being over smoked, or tasting too smokey?

Typically you would want to pre-burn any wood if that's all you're burning in your reverse vertical.  More common is burning lump with a lot of wood.

Hungry Joe

60 bags of Jakes blend. 35 for me and the rest to a couple other friends. 

Lit

nolaegghead said:

blasting said:

@Lit  So in a cabinet smoker you use hardwood - not lump?  That's interesting.  How do you keep what your smoking from being over smoked, or tasting too smokey?

Typically you would want to pre-burn any wood if that's all you're burning in your reverse vertical.  More common is burning lump with a lot of wood.

I warm the cabinet up with a chimney of lump then after 10-15 minutes add a split of wood. As long as the wood is on fire you have clean smoke. I learned quickly that bad smoke taste you get isn't oversmoking it's bad smoke. Bad smoke is when the wood is smoldering like it does in the egg that's why you can't use a lot of wood in the egg. The backwoods doesn't have enough airflow even with both bottom vents wide open to burn off a fresh piece of wood so I leave the bottom door open for 5 minutes or so every time I add a fresh piece of wood just to get it going good then I can close it and just use the vents. The key is keeping a hot fire going that is small enough to not overshoot temps. What NOLA said above about using lump and a lot of wood probably would work in the non insulated cabinets but mine has 2" insulated walls so I would be at 400 plus degrees if I did that. Even with just one split of wood going it will run 325 if I don't shut it down at all. Have to give props to @cazzy I ruined 3 racks of ribs my first shot then he explained to me that I was getting bad smoke not oversmoking. You can use lump in the cabinet smokers as well and I tried that and it wasn't anything different than the egg and my whole point in getting it was to learn something new. I have been getting much better results running straight wood than I have ever gotten before.

Skiddymarker

@Lit - there is the answer - hot fire going that is small enough to not overshoot temps. Takes skill and experience. SWMBO could do that with the Elmira kitchen wood stove we had years ago. She could nail 350º just by looking at the fire. 

Hungrt Joe - I think that the demand for lump will increase driving the price up. More and more folks are returning to charcoal. Weber users might be happy, read recently that briquettes are actually cheaper, maybe due to the stepped up production of lump and the use of dust and chips to make them? 

blasting

@lit great explanation,  thanks for taking the time. Interesting stuff for sure. 

nolaegghead

Lit said:

nolaegghead said:

blasting said:

@Lit  So in a cabinet smoker you use hardwood - not lump?  That's interesting.  How do you keep what your smoking from being over smoked, or tasting too smokey?

Typically you would want to pre-burn any wood if that's all you're burning in your reverse vertical.  More common is burning lump with a lot of wood.

I warm the cabinet up with a chimney of lump then after 10-15 minutes add a split of wood. As long as the wood is on fire you have clean smoke. I learned quickly that bad smoke taste you get isn't oversmoking it's bad smoke. Bad smoke is when the wood is smoldering like it does in the egg that's why you can't use a lot of wood in the egg. The backwoods doesn't have enough airflow even with both bottom vents wide open to burn off a fresh piece of wood so I leave the bottom door open for 5 minutes or so every time I add a fresh piece of wood just to get it going good then I can close it and just use the vents. The key is keeping a hot fire going that is small enough to not overshoot temps. What NOLA said above about using lump and a lot of wood probably would work in the non insulated cabinets but mine has 2" insulated walls so I would be at 400 plus degrees if I did that. Even with just one split of wood going it will run 325 if I don't shut it down at all. Have to give props to @cazzy I ruined 3 racks of ribs my first shot then he explained to me that I was getting bad smoke not oversmoking. You can use lump in the cabinet smokers as well and I tried that and it wasn't anything different than the egg and my whole point in getting it was to learn something new. I have been getting much better results running straight wood than I have ever gotten before.

Yes, hot fire gives good smoke.  Tough to keep a hot, small fire over a long time period without tending to it in a fire box.  The Traeger does exactly that.  Burns 100% wood, small hot fire.

Lit

@TOM67 what is it in my post you don't agree with?

Lit

@nolaegghead isn't the traeger a pellet pooper? The vertical I have has a full seperate firebox. The water pan is welded in and the heat goes up through the walls. It has been really easy to maintain temps it takes about 1 small split per hour to keep it between 250-275.

nolaegghead

@Lit - I love those reverse flow verticals.  I'm just sayin' you need to baby sit it if you burn 100% wood, but you can load up with lump and wood and set it and forget it.

Yep, the pellet pooper.  Burns ground up sawdust pellets.  Pure wood.