How long will bag of charcoal last for quick cooks

Unknown

I'm considering buying a medium size Egg.

Question I can't seem to find answer to via search:

Assume you cook a couple of burgers or thin steaks or two pork chops... the short-order stuff... 5 nights a week (which we do with our gas grill) how long will a 20# bag of charcoal last? A week? Two weeks? A month?

I know what a propane tank costs me and how long it lasts for my gas grill, so I'm trying to get an idea of the cost of cooking on an Egg will be.

Doug in Eggmonton

I go through charcoal, cooking something like 5 days a week on my large in slightly less than 2 weeks call it 1 1/2 weeks per bag. I understand the medium is a little better for charcoal, so you should expect 2 weeks per bag I would guess.

Doug

Grand Oeuf Vert

Everybody cooks different things and at different temps. For reference a 20lb bag of lump used in a BGE = approx. 3 -20lb bottles of propane in cooking time.

Carolina Q

A lot depends on the brand of lump you buy. Some brands burn faster than others. In mid-November, I bought 16 22lb bags of Wicked Good brand lump charcoal. I probably cook on the egg 3-5 times a week and have all winter long (rain, snow, cold, whatever). I just checked and I have 9 bags left.

One of the nice things about the egg is that, when you are done with your cook, you close both top and bottom vents and that snuffs out the fire so you can reuse it. Next time you cook, just stir up the old lump a bit to get rid of the ash and top it off with fresh stuff.

Grandpas Grub

 
I am not sure if there is a reliable comparison. All depends on the size of your egg, how long one waits to get the temperature stable and how hot you are cooking the food.

Searing steaks for example, if one has a large and gets the egg to 600° to sear at cook level that is going to use more lump than a person taking their egg to 400° and using something like a spider to get the food closer to the burning lump and both will get the same sear.

I can load my large with about a 1/4 bag and can usually make 4 ot 6 cooks before reloading again. On my mini I can put 2 cups of lump in it and get 3 or 4 cooks before having to use another 2 cups of lump out of a 20# bag.

Lump cost is not not expensive when cooking on the egg.

However, that really isn't the issue. Cooking with propane is a huge difference that cooking with lump. Propane takes oxygen out of the air when cooking and imparts a completely different flavor & texture of the food. When you look at gas smoker you will see the term water cookers and or the advice to have water in the propane smoker. However, the water does not add much benefit in the process.

Food cooked on the egg will be much more moist, more tender and better flavor. There is also a difference between lump or propane and briquettes.

When you read the different posts about people moving form other forms of Q'ing the one thing you will see in common is the statement that they sure wish they have gotten the egg sooner.

GG

Unknown

Grand Oeuf Vert wrote:

Everybody cooks different things and at different temps. For reference a 20lb bag of lump used in a BGE = approx. 3 -20lb bottles of propane in cooking time.

That can't be right, I don't think. A 15 lb. tank of gas I get for my Weber lasts about 2 months for us... since most of what we cook takes about ten minutes to warm up (burn off grill) and eight to cook.

I've never thought that the taste of gas grills was all that great but my wife liked the convenience and lack of soot on her patio. It's time to replace the gas grill and people I speak with really like this Egg thing you folks have here.

I don't know what charcoal is made from... but I'll assume it is wood... renewable resource. LP is not! I wonder what the pollution factor is for gas vs. charcoal. My guess is they are close. All things to consider.

We started with charcoal when first married (30 years ago) but have had gas for past 20. This Egg thing looks like a 'better' way to prepare our meat (all of which comes from Whole Foods as wife does not want hormones or whatever it is they put in other meat. To me a steak is a steak... but she does the shopping.)

Thanks for answering my questions. Nice group of people here.

pci

I have a med. egg I did 5 quick cooks on it buggers & steaks & still had lump left. Lump was almost to the top of fire ring when I did the first cook. It just doesn't take long to get to 350 for a direct Burger cook.

Grandpas Grub

 
No comment about the quantity comparisons.

If you light the egg correctly you will have about the same amount of light time with the egg may be a little long. Some folks will take up to an hour to have their egg ready to cook.

Very seldom does it take me more than 15 to 20 minutes the be ready to put the food on the egg.

The lump (charcoal) is charred wood of different types.

Pollution factor, well I am sort of bull headed on that point. When the government or pollution control people begin to worry about how much they pollute than I will start being concerned about my pollution foot print. In my life time I will never pollute what they pollute in flying their jets and limo's and 'support people'.

I would think a 30 minute cook isn't going to do much harm in the scheme of things.

Lighting a gas cooker is going to be easier than most any other type cooking other than the stove top or oven.

I can cook as good or better on the stove top or oven as I can on a gas grill.

Cooking on the egg is another matter.

GG

LuckyDog

1 gallon of Propane ~= 4.23 lbs ~= 91500 Btus

1 lbs of Propane ~=22000 Btus

20 lb tank of propane holds approx 4 gallons of propane (366000 BTUs)

Your LP grill will last 366000 BTUs/ Grill BTU output hrs .

Average Grill BTU is 45,000 BTUs or 9 hrs of on time.

Lets assume you BGE grill is on at 40,000 BTUs about 450 degrees. 20Lbs of lump should maintain 400 degrees for 18hrs.

So 20 lb bag about twice of 20lb lp tank.

Lets eat.

LostinQn

I go through a 20 pound bag every 2 weeks on the large egg. this is cooking 4-5 nights a week, and is a mixture of slow & mostly fast cooks.After every fast cook i just clean out the ash and top the egg off with a bit of fresh coal.

I do live out west, so its impossible to get quality hardwood charcoal at a decent price. The best i can get is royal oak and it is ok, but not great as far as cost/use ratio.

By comparision i would use 2 5 gallon bottles of propane every 6-8 weeks on my gas grill. so i use about 40% more charcoal then comparable gas, or a cost of 26$ per month for charcoal, to 16-18$ a month for gas. The extra 8-10$ a month is well worth it though, i have seen a huge increase in quality of the food.

Grandpas Grub

 
Without a spreadsheet....

I have burned more money in lump the first 6 months than I ever did in 20 to 30 years of cooking with 2 or 3 propane bbq's, 3 propane smokers and propane pot cookers.

However, in 20 to 30 years of propane cooking I have not had a meal nearly as good as the food I have gotten off of my eggs. The propane cooks have been very good but just don't compare. Might have been my cooking and not the cooker, but I don't think so.

I am sure others feel the same way... I wish I knew about the egg 20 to 30 years ago, I would gladly spend the additional money for fuel.

The lump cost just isn't that much for any given cook.

GG