What do you do with the small pieces of lump coal at the bottom of the bag?

jsdtx

Every so often a bag has small pieces about the size of a quarter or slightly larger.  I have been using those for the brisket low temperature cooks, because those small pieces clog the air vents.  If I need to get the temperature up with some of those pieces, I put them toward the front and put big pieces at the back all the way down.  What do you do with those small pieces.  Sometimes I want to throw them out but they work fine.  So it is a waste of money to toss them.  Thanks 

buzd504

I just dump them in. It all burns. 

ColtsFan

I try to put them back together and make bigger pieces. Best puzzle ever

GregW

If you have a chimenea, small pieces work well to get a bed of coals started to help light the wood logs. 

mEGG_My_Day

Sometimes I’ll take the bag with the leftover small lump, roll it up and put it on the firepit - build a log cabin of firewood above and start a fire. 

SciAggie

Burn them in the Mini Max. Don’t stress over lump size. 

Mattman3969

I love small pieces for my mini. Lately I’ve been breaking up RW so it will fit in the little guy. The small pieces also work great to help spread the fire when you put them on top of the larger pieces. 

cookingdude555

All of it burns. I dump it in. 

Botch

When my bag is almost empty I set it aside, load with the new bag, and then sprinkle with the crumbs on top, for two burns.
Nothing's wasted, nothing's clogged.  I do have to count, which for a retiree can be a struggle.  

nolaegghead

You can't clog an egg up too much for a low and slow with small lump.

Lowcountrygamecock

mEGG_My_Day said:

Sometimes I’ll take the bag with the leftover small lump, roll it up and put it on the firepit - build a log cabin of firewood above and start a fire. 

This!!!!  Really good fire pit starters. I torch the whole bag under some logs and away we go. 

rekameohs

cookingdude555 said:

All of it burns. I dump it in. 

When I scrape out the ash, I use a cat litter scoop to catch the smaller pieces, while the ash falls through.  I just dump the pieces back on the pile.  Nothing gets wasted, and they burn just fine.

alaskanassasin

Smokem

Botch

rekameohs said:
When I scrape out the ash, I use a cat litter scoop to catch the smaller pieces, while the ash falls through.  I just dump the pieces back on the pile.  Nothing gets wasted, and they burn just fine.

Stolen!    

TEXASBGE2018

I plant mine in the ground and try to grow charcoal trees. So far im not having much luck

Mark_B_Good

mEGG_My_Day said:

Sometimes I’ll take the bag with the leftover small lump, roll it up and put it on the firepit - build a log cabin of firewood above and start a fire. 

This is exactly what I do ... roll the bag up and chuck the entire thing into the fire pit. Makes for a good starter.

builderdawg

SciAggie said:

Don’t stress over lump size. 

That's what she said.

Wooderson

I always dump them in.  Hell, i even shake the bag empty

stlcharcoal

Dump it all in.  It had the same BTU/# regardless of the size....even the dust.  Small pieces do not burn at a rate faster than the large ones.

If getting to the bottom of the bag and need to fill the entire egg, then I start a new bag and use the rest of the old bag to top dress.  The dust and fines will sprinkle down into the firebox and will actually help maintain a low & slow by providing a "fire bridge".  Big chunks leave big gaps.  Big gaps = cold air.....not good on starting and low & slows.....charcoal needs 670F to burn.

theyolksonyou

BTUs is BTUs.  Or so I’ve heard