Sparking Charcoal

JohnnyArms

What causing this? Using Cowboy lump to reverse sear some filets. Charcoal is sparking any reason for this?
Hard to capture with a picture. 

stlcharcoal

If you're getting yellow/orange flash that burn out quick, that can be the dust.  But the snap crackle and pops that happen accompanied by am ember are usually moisture......it boils and pop!  Unless you have some really underkilned charcoal, that should go away in 5-10 minutes after lighting.

I dump the lump, fines, dust, etc in my BGE.  Its all 80%+ carbon and will burn.  No reason to waste good BTUs or time sorting.  If I'm at the bottom of a bag and prepping for a low and slow, ill start a new bag, then top dress it with whats left in the old bag.

johnmitchell

Cowboy is da bomb😎

JohnnyArms

Still think they turned out decent

dmourati

I get it at the end of a bag of Rockwood when charcoal dust gets dumped into the Egg. I always tell myself that next time, I'll empty out the 20 pound bag into a separate container and segregate the pieces into small, medium, large and discard the dust/pebbles. I never get around to it.

Nice steak.

mEGG_My_Day

@stlcharcoal had an explanation of this a whole back - perhaps he will chime in. 

JohnnyArms

Thank you!

Mikee

If your lump is sparking, stay away from that brand. It is a potential fire hazard if using a wooden table or have a wooden deck. Not all lump is the same and looking at old reviews does not mean the manufacture has the same quality they had 10 years ago. Find a brand that you like today and not a brand that had good reviews 10 years ago.

speed51133

I love the sparking. It's like fireworks. I look forward to it every time I light up. 

Mickey

Sparking on my Large

Mickey

The above was a bad bag and they replaced it. 

stlcharcoal

Sparking or popping during lighting with a weed burner or torch is not a fair assessment.  You're taking it from 70F to 2000F in a microsecond, all with a ton of force/flow behind it.  Charcoal is dusty, no way you can prevent that out of that bag unless you washed every piece and handled it individually.  So when you hit it with a flame, that dust is going to light and burn almost instantly.  At the same time, if there's a big blast behind it, of course it's going to go everywhere.

If you're going to use a weed burner, hold it back at least 12-18".  Don't hit the charcoal with the blue flame, the outer edge of the yellow/orange is fine.  You just have to bring it up to about 670F for it to light off.  Lot safer that way.