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Charcoal question

mclosson
mclosson Posts: 7
in EggHead Forum
I have been really disappointed in the taste of some of my cooks. Especially beef. Can have an acrid taste. I am beginning to wonder if it is my charcoal. I have been using cowboy lump because green egg is so expensive. Only other I have seen around here is royal oak. Any thoughts? Do you think it is the charcoal?
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Comments

  • YEMTrey
    YEMTrey Posts: 6,835
    Have you given the fire enough time to vurn off the voc's and for the smoke to turn clear?  Could be putting the food on the egg to soon.  Just a guess though.
    Steve 
    XL, Mini Max, and a 22" Blackstone in Cincinnati, Ohio
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  • shtgunal3
    shtgunal3 Posts: 6,134
    Make sure you let the lump burn clean before you put the meat on. No smoke coming from the egg. For what it's worth, I wouldn't use cowboy if it was free. Royal oak is much better. I use Ozark Oak and it burns clean right from the start. I get it from firecraft.com

    ___________________________________

     

     LBGE,SBGE, and a Mini makes three......Sweet home Alabama........ Stay thirsty my friends .

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  • gmac
    gmac Posts: 1,814
    I keep reading Royal Oak and BGE are from the exact same place so I'd give it a try and see if you notice a difference in the taste.
    Mt Elgin Ontario - just a Large.
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,583
    cowboy seems to take the longest time to burn clean, if you look over the lump you will almost always find some unburnt tree branches in the bag of cowboy. i use it but it takes way longer to get it to burn cleanly and if your in a hurry pick out that unburnt dense stuff. dont listen to the stuff online about cowboy in general, it seems their lump keeps changing year to year, sometimes its actually good
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • shtgunal3
    shtgunal3 Posts: 6,134
    edited December 2013
    Maybe I need to give Cowboy another try. I stopped using because of all the foreign objects mixed in with the lump and it took FOREVER to burn clean. I know there is a chance of finding "stuff" in all brands of lump but it seemed I was finding a lot in Cowboy. I found a good bit of insulation in Royal Oak. Shortly after that is when I ordered the Oazark Oak and really liked it. The only thing I can buy local is Cowboy, Royal Oak, and BGE. My choice of the three is Royal ......Just my opinion.

    ___________________________________

     

     LBGE,SBGE, and a Mini makes three......Sweet home Alabama........ Stay thirsty my friends .

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  • mclosson
    mclosson Posts: 7
    At first I thought I was putting on too quickly. Last couple of tries I think I let it burn clean. Still strong taste. Wife wants no more beef off of bge :(
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  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
    Where are you located?
    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
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  • jaydub58
    jaydub58 Posts: 2,167
    Royal Oak burned clean has given me consistently good taste.
    Give it a try.  Good luck!
    John in the Willamette Valley of Oregon
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,583
    mclosson said:
    At first I thought I was putting on too quickly. Last couple of tries I think I let it burn clean. Still strong taste. Wife wants no more beef off of bge :(
    wonder more if its your cooking method with the steak on the egg. trex and hot tub methods work the best for me, as opposed to cooking the steak at 450 and flipping. putting pepper or oil on a steak before searing produces an acrid taste as well, just salt before a sear, no pepper, rub, or oils
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • mclosson
    mclosson Posts: 7
    I am in Wilmington NC.
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  • jhl192
    jhl192 Posts: 1,006
    I have had a similar experience.  I was using Cowboy Lump as well.  I believe however the slightly off taste was do to the fact that I had done a few low and slow cooks and never did a clean burn at about 750 degrees for 30-45 minutes.   I did one and the taste improved.  That is my experience although that may not be yours.    
    XL BGE; Medium BGE; L BGE 
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  • Acorn
    Acorn Posts: 163
    NO more beef off the egg !?!? Those are fighting words...........
    Totally agree to ditch the cowboy and find RO or BGE. I understand about overpaying but i do not let 4 or 5 dollars stand in my way of getting good lump. Good Luck in the next few cooks and get that bad boy dialed in. BEEF ROCKS!!!!!!
    Atlanta, GA  - LBGE -
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  • mclosson
    mclosson Posts: 7
    Thanks. I have had egg for about 6months. Have never done a clean burn. Will try it.
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  • shadowcaster
    shadowcaster Posts: 620
    I would ditch the cowboy as well...I have had problems like that, mainly on my medium and I feel it was due to all the small, garbage pieces of lump near the bottom of the bag. You get what you pay for, spend a few extra dollars and I think you will notice that 90% of your problems will go away.,
    Pure Michigan
    Large BGE, Medium BGE, Mini BGE, Weber Smokey Mountain, Weber Performer.
    If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 23,179
    how are you cooking the beef? We seem to hear this a lot when people follow the dwell method (sear and then shut down the vents) laid out in the BGE cookbook. I really wish they would change that. The dying fire creates a lot creosote and acrid flavors. It also does not fully vaporize any of the beef drippings so they burn and smell horrible. Also, are you using olive oil or any other oil on your steak? If you grill hot, that is above the smoke point of most oils. Once they smoke, they taste horrible. so if you are using oil, lose it and go dry. Your seasonings will stick without oil,  just rub them in a little. 
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • NPHuskerFL
    NPHuskerFL Posts: 17,629
    I've used BGE, R.O., Cowboy. Cowboy had good size pieces but, definitely took much longer to burn off VOCs.
    LBGE 2013 & MM 2014
    Die Hard HUSKER & BRONCO FAN
    Flying Low & Slow in "Da Burg" FL
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