Lighting your Lump....

Richard_LK · November 2014

Okay, here's a HOT topic... how to start your fire for low and slow cooking. Yeah, I'm new and just started with my BGE, but even without any experience, there doesn't seem to be a clear best practice method from all the videos I've seen. I'm sure there's no single "best" way of doing it, but here are my concerns:

-- If you light your lump in the center only, wait only 5-10 minutes before closing the lid and getting up to temp, doesn't that leave a lot of the lump unlit? Won't you run the risk of imparting an undesirable flavor to the food as the lump catches fire from the center out? I suppose it might depend on the brand of lump you're using as well.... I have bags of Royal Oak (USA version), BGE and Hasty Bake... the Royal Oak and BGE coals have a much stronger smell straight from the bag, while I get no smell at all from the Hasty Bake.

-- If you light your lump in the center only, won't that require you to monitor the temp more? As the coals burn outward, they'll be more of it.....

-- if you light your lump in several places, or use one of those chimney starters, won't that cause your overall cooking time to decrease before you run out of fuel? If so, I guess for long cooks, you'll have to add prelit lump.....

Yes, I should just stop watching videos and cook something huh ..... and figure it out myself, but I wanna know now!.. lol.

Richard

mlamb01 · November 2014

Think of it this way... For low and slow, you are better off having a small, compact, hot fire going than one that is cool and spread out, just barely hot enough to keep itself lit. Those fires will go out over time.

I light in the center of the lump pile, and place the starter cube in a little pocket I make on the top. Light and leave the lid open till the flames from the starter go out, then put in the plate setter and grid, and close the lid. Bottom and top vents remain fully open until about 50 degrees away from my target temp, then I start closing them down.

Once your fire reaches a certain combustion temp(you can tell this by the color of the smoke, it will be thin and smell good), you don't have to worry about the VOC's from unburned lump. I have done many low and slows and found that some pieces in my lump pile never caught.

lkapigian · November 2014

Minion Method...I leave a hole in the middle of my lump by filling around a coffee can, remove can and poor in lump I started in my chimney ,,works perfect for me

paqman · November 2014

+1 on what @mlamb01‌ said. I would add that the temp will go down after you add the meat/platesetter on the egg. Don't change your settings, the temp will stabilize after 20-30 minutes.

When I do a low and slow, I fill the lump up to about half of the fire ring but I always have a lot of leftover lump when I am done (been up to 20 hours). You could probably fill up to the top of the fire bowl and be ok...

Terrebandit · November 2014

Dude. You are over analyzing this. Just light the thing in the center and bring it up to your desired temp, Wait until it's burning clean and cook.

Carolina Q · November 2014

Terrebandit said:

Dude. You are over analyzing this. Just light the thing in the center and bring it up to your desired temp, Wait until it's burning clean and cook.

This. Except I usually light it in multiple places regardless of my target temp. Probably a waste of mapp gas, but...

As for your concern about VOCs, heat is what gets rid of those, not fire. Even if the lump is burning in only one spot, the VOCs will dissipate and the lump will burn clean.

DieselkW · November 2014

Consistency is the key, find a way you like and do it that way every time so that every time you set your vents "like this", you get the same temperature at the dome.

I stir my lump gently, don't want to break down partially burned lump so they fit in the fire grate holes and change my air flow. Before adding more fuel, I ALWAYS shop-vac out the ash through the open vent before I light a starter as close to the grate as I can get. Then I make a little fire fort for that flame, get it safely burning underneath yesterday's lump. Then I add lump to the top of the fire box.

The same amount of fuel, the same air flow, the same cleanliness results in a more predictable cook. No surprises, especially doing a long burn - I want it the same every time.

And Royal Oak is the supplier for BGE lump, so those two are exactly the same stuff in different colored bags. I like the Hasty Bake, and I just bought one of these to try:

Which lump you use is a lot like which coffee you buy - everyone has a personal preference. I'm trying them all - but I really like that I can get Hasty Bake at Amazon, delivered for $60 / 50 lbs. and if it rains I've only gotten a partial 10 lb bag wet, instead of a partial 20 lb bag.

The Rockwood was $25 for 20 lbs. and I had to go get it, so if it's not noticeably better, I'm going to order Hasty Bake until the box shows up crushed and pisses me off.

TigerTony · November 2014

I always light the lump in my lg bge the same way every time. Using a Map gas torch I hold the flame for 20 seconds each in three separate places (3-6-10 o'clock) Doesn't matter whether I'm doing a low and slow or a high temp cook. I set the vents accordingly and have never had a problem with temp control and NEVER lost a fire on over nights. Nine years of doing it this way. It's fast, easy and consistent..

My lumps of choice are Rockwood, Ozark Oak and Royal Oak,

dldawes1 · November 2014

All eggcellent comments above !!!

I start with 91% alcohol. Just squirt a little on top of lump at 11 and 1 O-clock. Wait a few minutes and light. Wait around 10 minutes and put in plate setter and close dome, leave both vents 100% open until within 50 degrees of your desired target temp. Then I only adjust bottom vent...I leave top open completely throughout the entire cook. I now use a stainless instead of the daisy wheel....no noticeable difference.

I allow dome to stabilize at desired temp for 15-30 minutes while prepping food, then add everything into the egg and leave it alone until ready to check IT.

Before every light, I stir the leftover lump from previous cook, rake the ashes out from beneath with the BGE ash tool, and dump lump from bag (Rockwood only here !!!! [[unless I run out}}). I scatter a few chunks of wood if desired at different levels and different areas for low and slows.

I disassemble and do a thorough cleaning about every 6-10 cooks. I have never (in my 10 months of egging) had any type of air flow issues.

It is my understanding that air flow is greatest from underneath, to the back of the egg, up to the top , then rolls over onto the food. I have noticed several times when I cook that if I leave food all the way in the back of the cooking grate, that it cooks faster, than towards the front/middle of the cooking grate. This would support this theory of air flow. Hence, the idea of lighting at 11 and 1 o'clock to get highest air flow for ignition.

I think VOC's have been thoroughly discussed above. No problems here.

Like also mentioned...be consistent, and find what's right for you. Many methods to achieve good results....that's why we are EGGHeads !!!!!

Donnie

DieselkW · November 2014

dldawes1 said:

...
I disassemble and do a thorough cleaning about every 6-10 cooks. I have never (in my 10 months of egging) had any type of air flow issues.
...

That's interesting - I dis-assembled recently because I had a cracked firebox and the replacement came in. I found a little pyramid of ash under each of the machined holes between the egg interior and the firebox exterior I didn't know was collecting in there.

Those pyramids are now part of the collective in the shop vac pre-compost ash collection and a reminder to clean more thoroughly than just what I can see. Thanks for the tip.

Grillin_beers · November 2014

I wish I could find the picture to show you but it is somewhere on @Griffin‌'s site. Basically you always want to build your fire in the center for low and slows. You're also better off stacking your chips and chunks in the middle as well.

WeberWho · November 2014

I don't ever use my daisy wheel with temps above 300. I adjust the lower vent to the temp I need before lighting. I than take my weed torch and light the piss out of the charcoal for 30 seconds and then shut the lid. Usually at or near the temp when coming back out to put the food on.

BRush00 · November 2014

So everyone above has already shared how THEY light; but to address your comments/concerns directly, I'll give it a try:

Richard_LK said:

-- If you light your lump in the center only, wait only 5-10 minutes before closing the lid and getting up to temp, doesn't that leave a lot of the lump unlit? Won't you run the risk of imparting an undesirable flavor to the food as the lump catches fire from the center out?

Yes - this DOES leave a bunch (most) of your lump unlit. No, it does not impart the yucky VOC chemical flavours. @Mlamb01 mentioned above - once your fire is at a certain combustion temp - and the smoke is clearish/smells good - the VOCs burn off before entering the cooking atmosphere (or so is my understanding).

-- If you light your lump in the center only, won't that require you to monitor the temp more? As the coals burn outward, they'll be more of it.....

Not at all. your temp is a combination of Air and Fuel, but surprisingly has little to do with the 'size' of your initial fire. As coals burn out - they can only expand by a certain factor, determined by how much air you're letting into the Egg. Therefore if you're only letting enough air in to burn 5 pieces of lump (weird measurement, but just go with it for a minute..), as 1 piece burns out, 1 piece will light - because the air volume is fixed, the fire size is fixed.

-- if you light your lump in several places, or use one of those chimney starters, won't that cause your overall cooking time to decrease before you run out of fuel? If so, I guess for long cooks, you'll have to add prelit lump.....

Yes and No, mostly no. Again, remember that your fire size and temp are regulated by the amount of air you're letting in. If you lit 10 pieces in a chimney, and dumped them in the egg that's only set up to burn 5 pieces of lump.... your fire will die down, until the point where it's balanced - at 5 pieces.

The yes part comes in from the Direct Radient Heat generated by 1 full layer of lump burning. You'll have a bit of an advantage on direct grilled/even heat dispersion at first, but over time, as your egg settles into it's air setting, this advantage will disappear.

Yes, I should just stop watching videos and cook something huh ..... and figure it out myself, but I wanna know now!.. lol.

Richard

Yup - absolutely, stop analyzing it, and start cooking. You'll soon figure out that, as you've already read - there's no 'right' answer.

Good luck and Happy Eggin

Richard_LK · November 2014

THANKS EVERYONE! I've got a much better understanding of this now and what I have to do.

QDude · November 2014

mlamb01 said:

Think of it this way... For low and slow, you are better off having a small, compact, hot fire going than one that is cool and spread out, just barely hot enough to keep itself lit. Those fires will go out over time.

I light in the center of the lump pile, and place the starter cube in a little pocket I make on the top. Light and leave the lid open till the flames from the starter go out, then put in the plate setter and grid, and close the lid. Bottom and top vents remain fully open until about 50 degrees away from my target temp, then I start closing them down.

Once your fire reaches a certain combustion temp(you can tell this by the color of the smoke, it will be thin and smell good), you don't have to worry about the VOC's from unburned lump. I have done many low and slows and found that some pieces in my lump pile never caught.

+1. The Weber starter cubes work great for all types of cooks. I know other people like their methods, but a 20 cent starter cube with a match has never failed me.

nolaegghead · November 2014

I start with alcohol. When I'm done drinking that, I get out a powerful torch and use propane.

Carolina Q · November 2014

nolaegghead said:

... I get out a powerful torch and use propane.

Question for you... I bought the BernzOMatic latter day mapp (mapp-ish?) torch a few years ago. Been using the yellow cylinders. Istr you saying that that gas is no better than propane, but that the mapp torch itself is needed. Or am I misremembering? I'm running low on the yellow cylinder and if propane works as well with the mapp-ish torch head, I'll buy that. What say you? Merci.

nolaegghead · November 2014

Carolina Q I find the high BTU MAPP replacements to light marginally faster than propane but cost much more. I switched to propane two years ago and recently upgraded my torch from a disposable bottle to one of these http://www.harborfreight.com/propane-torch-91033.html which is always connected to a 20lb bottle of propane. It's the fastest, cheapest way to start. I started my medium last night and had chicken grilling over a medium hot fire in under 10 minutes with good smoke.

Carolina Q · November 2014

Thanks, Nola. One of these days, maybe a weed burner. For now, I think I'll try the disposable propane cylinder and use the mapp torch.

Ladeback69 · November 2014

The main reason I got my egg was to get rid of the propane bottle and I am happy with using my electric element and a hair dryer to get the fire up and running. I can have it at 400 in 15 minutes with the hair dryer.

Lighting your Lump....

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