Best Lump for low and slow?

KRod

I’m doing a brisket this weekend for Father’s Day and it got me thinking what the best lump is for low and slow.  I just read the bigger the lump the better on one site (Fogo Premium) and then I read that that burns extremely fast.  What’s everyone’s experience?

GrateEggspectations

Regardless of lump choice, when I’m cooking low and slow, I actually welcome the bits. They help plug the spaces that otherwise provide airflow, thereby keeping temps down. Am doing a packer tomorrow and deliberately mixed in a lot of small pieces for this reason. 

Your comment references a quick burn using big chunks. Maybe there weren’t enough small pieces in there to slow the roll. 

(Edit: For the record, I am in Canada and use either Nature’s Own Basques Sugar Maple or Maple Leaf. Both great lumps, IMO.)

Botch

It is (or should be) one of your vents (upper or lower) that ultimately control the speed of your burn, not the size of the lump.  
That being said, I've had many overnights go out on me using too many "crumbs", but I've just gone to a temp controller (SmoBot first, now a ThermoWorks Smoke w/fan when the SB burned out).  When I get down to the crumbs at the bottom of the bag, I dump them into a separate pail and sprinkle them lightly around the edges of a new load, just so they don't go to waste.  
 
Even when I bumped my "low und slo" temp to 250º, I could rarely keep a fire going overnight without it going out.  I know a lot of folks here can just use the vents and keep a 200º fire going, but like posting a video here, climbing a promotion ladder or getting a corn tortilla to puff, there are just some things BotchLuck™ won't let me do, and I don't fight it anymore.  My two scents.   
 
EDIT:  As far as "which lump" is better for a low-und-slo, I don't know.  

lousubcap

I prefer a mix of small (half-dollar) sized and around a deck of playing card or slightly smaller sized lump for all cooks.  The key is air-flow thru the lump load.  BTU's are btu's and the fire will generate the same given the same volume of fire, however at the low&slow cook temperature the fire is quite small and seems to work better with smaller pieces too keep rolling thru the lump load enhanced by the air flow.  FWIW-

DoubleEgger

Rockwood is THE lump for all applications. You can’t go wrong with it. 

Elijah

+1 for Rockwood. I've purchased every other brand that I can get locally. 

stlcharcoal

Carbon is carbon......1# doesn't burn any faster if it's a large chunk or several small.  Law of conservation of energy.  The only way to make it burn "faster" is to introduce more O2, thus the temperature is going to go up--but you're metering the O2 with the vents, so it cannot burn any faster.

Having to make tiny pieces can choke the airflow, just as have to many large chunks can be a heat sink and/or not have too much of an air gap to provide a "fire bridge" to the next piece when doing a low and slow.  Open a bag, fill the entire firebox, light from above, and don't worry about it.  Lump Charcoal is the oldest and most simple product know to man--people WAY over think it because of creative marketing combined with internet lore.

All you need to be able to do is break it apart by hand, thus it being 80%+ carbonized.  Undercarbonized "charcoal" is charred wood is NOT charcoal (yet) and then introduces all kinds of variables because you're still cooking with wood.  When you're 80%+ carbon, you're cooking with a constant than has little room for variation as you quickly burn away the remaining <20% water, wood fiber, volatiles, etc.

ColbyLang

Oh and buy ROCKWOOD………@stlcharcoal

Mark_B_Good

I would argue ... there are two conditions that determine the energy output from the coal, and therefore the temperature.  Oxygen feed rate (air) ... as others have pointed out, and surface area for reaction (burning).  Fines have SIGNIFICANTLY more surface area than lump.  Therefore, I expect that they will burn more efficiently with a given amount of oxgyen flow, than a larger lump.  

However, as others have pointed out, fines may also plug path ways and create resistance for the draft to pull in air ... so it's not a simple issue.  And it will change over time ... those fines will burn, and reduce to ash, and the air channels will eventually open.  The only way to really control the circumstances, is to remove the fines altogether ... and use lump, and have the air intake closed pretty tight ... somewhere around 1/8" is what I find on my excel to keep at 225F to 250F.

fishlessman

ive done plenty of low and slows with all small lump, the trick is to not fill the egg as deep as you would with regular or big sized pieces. in the tiny mini 10 inch sized egg you can go 14 plus hours low and slow with a mere 2 to 3 inch depth of tiny pieces. thats how you dont block the air pathways with tiny pieces

Canugghead

Can ash from the top choke the bed of tiny pieces below? Curious about gravity fed, fire burns at the bottom right? If so, that would mean the ash drops down without impeding air flow. Our Costco has a Masterbuilt Gravity Series with a GMG style pizza box included for $799, may pick one up at end of summer clearance to play with if the price is right.

lkapigian

Canugghead said:

Can ash from the top choke the bed of tiny pieces below? Curious about gravity fed, fire burns at the bottom right? If so, that would mean the ash drops down without impeding air flow. Our Costco has a Masterbuilt Gravity Series with a GMG style pizza box included for $799, may pick one up at end of summer clearance to play with if the price is right.

My Stumps is Gravity Feed, ashes drop off into the ash pan , which is were you put your wood splits for smoke , the ashes never really collect in the fuel chute …master built may be different since its fan forced 

stlcharcoal

Mark_B_Good said:

I would argue ... there are two conditions that determine the energy output from the coal, and therefore the temperature.  Oxygen feed rate (air) ... as others have pointed out, and surface area for reaction (burning).  Fines have SIGNIFICANTLY more surface area than lump.  Therefore, I expect that they will burn more efficiently with a given amount of oxgyen flow, than a larger lump.  

That's not true.  You are thinking about surface area you can see......and that's far less than .001% of the total surface area of properly kilned charcoal.  The porosity of 80% hardwood charcoal is somewhere around 250m2/g.  That means a a golf ball sized chunk has the surface area of a tennis court.  That's why charcoal is so hot--it burns all the way through, not just the exterior like a piece of wood or a briquette. 

When we kiln it, we are burning/melting/distilling out all of the volatiles, fiber, and water that are in the pores.....so the O2 can enter every nook and cranny of that charcoal and hit carbon.  See below for a pic and it will make more sense.