KAB and Airflow

My settings for low and slow haven't changed and I'm using much less lump per cook. KAB has paid for itself many times over.

I just smoked st Louis ribs for about 6 hours at 250. I ran out of lump for the first time ever, probably less than an hour before optimal cook time. The only thing I changed was the KAB. I started to lose consistent temps at 5 hours. This was disappointing, I've cooked 8-9 hours without ever adding lump.

whldch said:

I just smoked st Louis ribs for about 6 hours at 250. I ran out of lump for the first time ever, probably less than an hour before optimal cook time. The only thing I changed was the KAB. I started to lose consistent temps at 5 hours. This was disappointing, I've cooked 8-9 hours without ever adding lump.

There is no way to burn any sizable amount lump without a higher temp if all things are equal.  BTU/# is BTU/#, so it doesn't matter if there's a basket or anything else in the middle.  If temp and meat are the same, then the only way to get rid of charcoal faster is to burn it at a higher temp.  The only other way is to have something else eating the BTU's.....bigger piece of meat, water pan, etc (but even those are not going to make that big of a difference.)  Rain, snow, high winds can cause the Egg to lose heat, but again, not very much and surely not in this case.

What you're describing sounds like you didn't have enough charcoal in the egg, or your dome temp gauge is off.  Either way, there's nothing that a basket, fire grate, grilling rig, plate setter, or any other gadget could have done to produce what you described.  In the end on a L&S, you are controlling the airflow going in via the draft door, and the exhaust going out via the chimney--nothing in the middle changes the amount of oxygen hitting the fire.  Law of conservation of energy.  O2 use is constant, the amount of heat produced is constant, therefore the fuel use is constant.

Just sharing my experience.  I have one in both my large and small.  I have used with the OEM grate and without and have not noticed much of a difference in vent settings for high or low cooks.  I keep the grate in on both, just a personal preference because I like picking up the small pieces that fall through and toss them back in the basket when I start a new cook.  I fill the basket to the top or more for all types of cooks.  Just did a 15 hour brisket with lump left over...

The KAB improves airflow around the lump and that’s what causes the higher temps. The gap from the KAB to the sidewalls of the firebox facilitates the improved airflow. 

Reminds me of devices that improve car mileage.....

The Scientific Explanation

• Promoters claim fuel-line magnets will break up "clumped" fuel molecules so that gas burns more efficiently. "But gasoline molecules don't clump up," Allen says, "and … don't respond to magnetic force."
  
  

• Engine ionizers clip to spark plugs, supposedly to increase combustion efficiency. But in tests, Allen says, increased combustion served to decrease power — and triggered an engine fire.
  
  

• Vortex generators are said to mix fuel more efficiently with air. What they really do is reduce the air flowing into the manifold, reducing power.

• Vapor injectors are said to convert raw fuel to vapor outside the engine for better performance. In reality, engine computers prevent any such benefit.
  
  

• Water injectors use technology that provided emergency power in World War II planes. But tests show this technology doesn't work in automobiles.
  
  

• A device that plugs into a cigarette lighter is claimed to "smooth out noise" in electrical systems and increase mileage. No such gain was found in tests by Popular Mechanics and Consumer Reports.
  
  

So what does the device do? "It lights up when you plug it in," says CR's Sue LaColla.

nolaegghead said:

I can't figure out if this is a thread about violating the physical law of conservation of energy or if the KAB is a perpetual motion machine or performing some kind of alien technology version of cold fusion.

People say there are laws of thermodynamics, but I just say that laws are made to be broken!

jtcBoynton said:

nolaegghead said:

I can't figure out if this is a thread about violating the physical law of conservation of energy or if the KAB is a perpetual motion machine or performing some kind of alien technology version of cold fusion.

BTUs are BTUs and airflow controls the size of the fire in our eggs.  However, not all the air entering the egg makes it to the fire. Some passes through without contributing to the burn.  The KAB can make a small difference in air getting to the fire. If someone routinely built fires that blocked free flow to the fire site, then the KAB might allow more air to reach the fire leading to more charcoal burn without changing the vent settings.

Sure, but can you explain to me how someone switching to a KAB uses less fuel (lump) for the same cook?

it is possible that start up would be faster with vents wide open and you are creating a bigger fire before the ceramics heat up. when you close them down to your setting you over shoot the temp range you are looking for with that bigger fire. it will come back down to range if you wait it out and keep with your known setting. that being said, i dont use settings and just merge into my temp range, i think most of us just do that

No, but I must have missed that someone was claiming it caused less fuel to be used.  Most of the concerns seem to always be that fuel burn increases/fire burns hotter (do they think it burns hotter without more charcoal burning?).

In any given situation, it takes a specific amount of BTU to keep a specific temp and it takes a specific size fire to produce that level of BTU.  The KAB does not change those numbers - it only helps to ensure that air flow can get to the fire. Overall, the KAB will not change the amount of charcoal needed for your cooks.

• 
  
• Water injectors use technology that provided emergency power in World War II planes. But tests show this technology doesn't work in automobiles.
  
  

We had that on the early B206 LongRanger helicopters.  Once you hit a certain turbine outlet temp, the water/alcohol injection would kick in.  The TOT would drop, then you could pull more torque.  You didn't have much of that stuff though.  They didn't make too many of the early L's, and then the L1's and later models would usually hit the max torque limits before you'd run out of time in a TOT transitional time or max temp limit.

If you watch the B52's takeoff, or other older turbojets, a "wet" takeoff is accompanied by a TON of black smoke behind the airplane.  Funny to watch.  Not really needed anymore on modern aircraft since the high bypass turbines are so much more powerful at lower speeds.

I’m having the opposite. Hard to get temps above about 330. The LGBE is clean. 

What do do you all do to shake the leftover lump in the KAB so there is more airflow?

JNDATHP said:

I’m having the opposite. Hard to get temps above about 330. The LGBE is clean. 

What do do you all do to shake the leftover lump in the KAB so there is more airflow?

I hate when I can't get it up....

I only need a single piece of lump for a hole butt with my kick ash basket.  You can’t beat that with a stick.