Briquets

DWFII

Probably self evident but just for clarity...I know and understand why lump is recommended, but how much problem would mixing some  (say 25%) briquets in with the lump cause? I mean really?

I have a few bags of "all natural" briquets (Stubbs, Trader Joe's,etc) that I have to use up somehow. But I don't want to throw off temps or interfere with temp control.

Once they're gone, I promise to never buy any more...

Sundown

You'll just have to clean you Egg sooner that's all.

DWFII

Sundown said:

You'll just have to clean you Egg sooner that's all.

What causes that? If the briquets really are "all natural" how is it different from lump?

And if it's un-"charcoaled" wood particles, how is that different from adding smoking wood to a cook?

I am speculating that what "have to clean" is mainly creosote?

Skiddymarker

Use up your stock if you must when you are grilling, the dome is open. There will be more ash, airflow will not be affected too much if you are only grilling for 1 to 20 minutes. after the novelty of the egg wears off, maybe pick up a little Weber Smokey Joe for quick grilling. 

MeTed

Using briquettes is fine, just nothing like match light with chemicals in it. The only extra cleaning you will have to do is extra ash because of the filler used in the briquettes.

stlcharcoal

Limestone, anthracite, borax, softwood sawdust, sodium nitrate, etc are all  "Natural" occurring, so can dump as much as you want into a briquette and still call them "all natural".

In our lab testing, most briquettes are 6000-8000 BTU/#, with an ash content of 40-50%.  Didn't matter if they were "competition", "professional", etc.  That totally jives with carbon being 14000 BTU/#.  Our lump is about 11500-12000 BTU/# at 80-85% carbon with about 8-12% ash.  So worst case scenario on an all-natural briquette, you're getting 50% less BTU's in the bag (twice the ash [i.e. limestone]). Unless that bag is less than 50% the cost of lump you're losing money.  But at the same time, you're creating more work for yourself on clean out, and cooking over coal (anthracite) and softwood sawdust, vs. charcoal (wood).

fishlessman

i put an older grid between the fire ring and fire box to put the briquets on that, then cook over that. no problems with ash build up this way. works best with shorter cooks, definitely not the best for low and slows

pgprescott

DWFII said:

Sundown said:

You'll just have to clean you Egg sooner that's all.

What causes that? If the briquets really are "all natural" how is it different from lump?

And if it's un-"charcoaled" wood particles, how is that different from adding smoking wood to a cook?

I am speculating that what "have to clean" is mainly creosote?

I'm not sure, but I doubt that they are as advertised. What is "all natural"? There are a couple out there, but they are pretty pricey. Weber makes some and I think WG either does or used to. They are similar to lump in ash production.

DWFII

@stlcharcoal I understand. And all that is both relevant and important...it's just that I don't think throwing the briquets away is a reasonable course of action.

The business with the BTU's is really revealing and I suspect it would affect both times and temps in a low and slow cook. I'm just not sure whether using lump with some briquets interspersed would affect time to temp, sustaining temps, or how high a temp you could ultimately reach that much. After all a fire is a fire and when you get right down to it what's burning is the carbon not the filler.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not second guessing anyone here, I honestly don't know.

I do have a Weber kettle (old but still intact) and the grid is still usable but I don't do much grilling--mostly low and slow and some chicken (and turkey at thanksgiving, of course), and am hoping to do pizza.

I even have some coconut fiber charcoal that was given to me when I bought  (second hand) my old WSM (which I gave to my son-in-law). I have been saving that but don't know when and where it would be appropriate to use it. 

fishlessman

DWFII said:

@stlcharcoal I understand. And all that is both relevant and important...it's just that I don't think throwing the briquets away is a reasonable course of action.

The business with the BTU's is really revealing and I suspect it would affect both times and temps in a low and slow cook. I'm just not sure whether using lump with some briquets interspersed would affect time to temp, sustaining temps, or how high a temp you could ultimately reach that much. After all a fire is a fire and when you get right down to it what's burning is the carbon not the filler.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not second guessing anyone here, I honestly don't know.

I do have a Weber kettle (old but still intact) and the grid is still usable but I don't do much grilling--mostly low and slow and some chicken (and turkey at thanksgiving, of course), and am hoping to do pizza.

I even have some coconut fiber charcoal that was given to me when I bought  (second hand) my old WSM (which I gave to my son-in-law). I have been saving that but don't know when and where it would be appropriate to use it. 

the extra ash buildup effects the airflow through the lump grate and the lump itself if you are using both. on a low and slow it would help to have a wiggle rod and a poker to move the ash out of the way. lump likes to be in contact with other burning pieces of lump with small tiny fires

jeffwit

I somehow would up with 3 big bags of Kingsford around a year ago. Used them until they were gone and they did fine. But, man, they ain’t lying about the ash production. Significantly more than using lump. 
And I wouldn’t use it for low and slow unless you were babysitting it carefully or had a controller on it. 

stlcharcoal

A big difference is BTU/# vs. BTU/in3.  Briquettes are compressed so conceivably you would have the same amount of BTU's in your firebox (they just weigh a lot more).  The weight is the limestone/gypsum.  Ash other have stated, the problem is the ash.  A 20# bag of properly carbonized lump, cooks down to less than a quart of ash.  So with the 7-8# you have in a large (which lasts 24 hrs at 225F), you're going to end up with less than 2 cups of ash which the area below the firegrate can handle.  Fill up the firebox with 16# of briquettes for that same amount of BTU's (for 24hrs at 225F), and you're going to end up with 8# of ash--that would almost fill that briquette bag half up.  It would choke that ash tray.  To answer your question, a few of them here and there wouldn't be an issue though.

Be forewarned about the taste you're going to get off them......coal vs. wood, and softwood vs. hardwood.

Not sure how old the trader joe's ones are, but if they're 3-4 yrs old, they're good stuff.  In our testing, those had a very high BTU (thus low ash).  They were not loaded with limestone.  But sometime about 2-3 yrs ago, they moved the production south--not sure about the quality now.  I hear Weber makes a briquette that is nothing but charcoal and starch.  I haven't tested it, but that would be one to try in the BGE if it's true.  If it weren't for the limestone, sawdust, and petroleum byproducts in a lot of them, there would be nothing wrong with running them in a kamado.  We looked into it, but the equipment cost was too high. 

DoubleEgger

I’m going to take this conversation in a new direction. Chasing rabbits if you will...

If a 20lb bag of Rockwood makes just a quart of ash, then you’d have to burn 100+lbs of lump in an XL before you’d even come close to restricting any airflow due to ash. The stock XL grate is huge and airflow is never an issue in that regard. Someone please help me understand the allure of a Kick Ash Basket on the XL. 

stlcharcoal

The problem with the XL grate is the amount of flat plate area......or lack of holes.  The ash builds up on that flat plate and if you don't clean it out or vent it often, the humid summer can make that ash kind of tacky.  I've seen it in mine actually have ash over the top of those holes.  You scrape it from above or hit it with a wiggle stick from below and 'poof' it all falls down, but ash is not like sand where it pours easily.  Viscosity?  Maybe someone has a better engineering term for it.

That kick ash basket is the bees knees though.....it shouldn't be so much better, but it is.  If you don't want to shell out the $80 for it, but a cheap $10 Weber 22in grate for it and give it a try.  Clean out is a lot easier.

But your math is correct.  I usually clean out the XL after 3-4 bags.

GrillSgt

I still use my kettle frequently. Occasionally have to use lump in it. I can fire it up and have 2 burgers done by the time the egg is in the clean burn stage.

DoubleEgger

stlcharcoal said:

The problem with the XL grate is the amount of flat plate area......or lack of holes.  The ash builds up on that flat plate and if you don't clean it out or vent it often, the humid summer can make that ash kind of tacky.  I've seen it in mine actually have ash over the top of those holes.  You scrape it from above or hit it with a wiggle stick from below and 'poof' it all falls down, but ash is not like sand where it pours easily.  Viscosity?  Maybe someone has a better engineering term for it.

That kick ash basket is the bees knees though.....it shouldn't be so much better, but it is.  If you don't want to shell out the $80 for it, but a cheap $10 Weber 22in grate for it and give it a try.  Clean out is a lot easier.

But your math is correct.  I usually clean out the XL after 3-4 bags.

That XL has many more holes than the smaller eggs. A lot of opportunity for air to pass through elsewhere if a hole gets closed. On my medium, I like the KAB because the grate is small with only 21 holes. Each hole clogged in that scenario is about 5% of the airflow. 

The money isn’t a concern. I just can’t get my arms around the need on the XL specifically. 

stlcharcoal

@doubleegger I smell a math challenger here......standby while I break out the tape measure and calculator!!!!

stlcharcoal

Large fire grate:

9" diameter = 63.58 in2
34 holes at 5/8 in2 diameter = 10.42 in2 open area
= 16.4% is open for air to pass through


XL fire grate:
17" diameter = 226.86 in2
61 holes at 3/4 in2 diameter = 26.93 in2 open area
= 11.9% is open for air to pass through

So, yes more holes and bigger holes, but much more surface area too.

Kick Ash Basket for a XL is 17" in diameter and has (25) 1/4" rods across it.  I would have to measure each one individually, but averaging, they cover about 80 in2.  So that's 63% is open for the air to flow through.  I seem to remember Chad telling me the number was in the 60's.....thus at least 4-5x more airflow than the stock grate. 

DoubleEgger

So the XL has about 2.5x the airflow of the large using the same intake vent. 

stlcharcoal

Intake is bigger on the XL.

XL:  5.25 x 2.75 = 14.44 in2
Large:  3.75 x 2.25 = 8.44 in2

Not saying I'm smarter or anything, just have all this stuff sitting here in my office and nothing else to do!!!!! 

DoubleEgger

stlcharcoal said:

Intake is bigger on the XL.

XL:  5.25 x 2.75 = 14.44 in2
Large:  3.75 x 2.25 = 8.44 in2

Not saying I'm smarter or anything, just have all this stuff sitting here in my office and nothing else to do!!!!! 

I appreciate the math 

stlcharcoal

Keep in mind I'm getting these numbers off brand new BGEs in the showroom.  I seem to remember the firegrates being different back in the day--they added more holes or made them bigger.  My XL is an '07.  If I can find the cast iron grate I'll see if it's the same.  I don't have my original medium anymore, but I think the grate had more holes, but they were a lot smaller.  My large had the old ceramic fire grate, so that's no help.  I think the XL always did have the bigger draft door though.

jtcBoynton

The old ceramic fire grates on the large BGE have the same size holes as do the new cast iron grates, only they have half the number.