Slightly used lump Question

Peggy

I own both a Small and Large Egg. How often do you clean out the slightly used lump charcoal that is left over from general cooking? In other words, after cooking burgers, steaks, chicken etc, there is left over slightly charred lump that looks like it can be used again. Here is my process and I wonder if I'm correct? Everytime I get ready to use the egg, I stir up the old slightly used lump and let the ashes and small pieces fall through the holes. Then I clean out the ash with the ash cleaner and fill the fire box with additional lump if necessary. Is this correct???? Are there disadvantages to having slighly used lump mixed in with new lump? It's hard to measure how much lump you need for every cook so there is always some left over. Every now and then, I clean the whole thing out perfectly especially if I'm doing a 20 hour cook for pulled pork. Your eggspert advice is greatly anticipated. Peg

RRP

Peggy,
you're doing it correctly! Just give the old a few stirs and bring it back up to your desired level with some new lump.

Unknown

Peggy,[p]I'm quite sure I'm not the top expert here but I do know that lump charcoal (the kind made from real wood like these guys recommend) is wood that has had all the moisture driven off and essentially just pure carbon and some trace minerals that were once part of the wood (which is why there is so little ash, the ash is the minerals that were in the living wood, the stuff you get in the store has a bunch of other stuff in it, it's not pure wood).[p]Any lump that is still lump, and not just some powdered minerals, is still charcoal just as much as the stuff that came out of the bag, so it's no problem to use it. [p]However, it would also have to be true that that charcoal will have somewhat less energy in it for it's size, because it'd get more "porous" as it burns, so if you were trying to get some zany amount of burn time like 20 hours like you mentioned it might be better to set it aside and use it another time or just throw it away, better safe than sorry. Any project I had 20 hours into I wouldn't want any chance it would get screwed up even if it's not likely, when you're talking about two bits worth of charcoal.[p]

Mike in MN

Peggy,
Sounds like my process exactly, except I don't clean the ashes out very often (lazy? unnecessary?) It seems to work fine, and I normally don't have any temp problems. The used lump doesn't burn as long or as hot, but if it's just a short cook, it doesn't matter. I fill 'er up when the level lump level drops down. EZ![p]Mike in MN

The Naked Whiz

GK,
20 hours zany? 20 hours is just gettin' started! :-)[p]Seriously, 20 hours is nothing for a large. You just fill it up half way up the fire ring and you'll have more than enough lump to last 30 hours at low temperatures.[p]TNW

The Naked Whiz

Peggy,
The only time that I clean out the lump is either because it is covered with junk from the last cook and I don't want that flavor in the fire, or when doing a long burn when I think it's important to make sure you have a fire that's built so it will last 20 hours.[p]TNW