Royal Oak Failed Me

[BigRix]

Well not exactly, Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

I set up my SS Performer to sear like I always do and two baskets full of RO wouldn't get my temp past 350.

I scrambled and separated the two wire baskets and stuffed two sheet metal baskets on the side and put half a chimney of Kingsford Comp in between.



2 minutes later.



That's more like it.

Burgers from Sprouts after the first flip. 3 minutes cooking time.



My chimney of RO was rollin and I thought I was going to experiance the high temps I have alway heard of with lump. Didn't work out that way this time.

Anyone see a problem with my methods?

[crumbsnatcher]

That same thing happened to me today.  The RO was searing hot in the chimney, but when I poured it into my MT kettle, like you my temp never got past 350.  I didn't think to add any KBB to my pile so my temp stayed around 350 and my T-bones weren't seared very well with the gourmet sear grate. It would be good to hear what others who swear by lump have to say about this.


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[pbe gummi bear]

Is this your first time using lump? Lump isn't as dense as briqs so using chimney volume to compare charcoal amounts doesn't always hold. The pieces are also varied in size so you need to pack it to get the similar density of briqs.

[BigRix]

I packed both wire baskets full then dumped them into the chimney.

Of course my chimney bottom has not been modded and a lot of the smaller pieces fell out.

I could have fit more into the baskets after the coals were hot, but not too much more.

On a side note, I plan to use this basket set up from now on.

It really got the sear grate warmed up.

Although I will probably use Kingsford Comp.

I used RO to smoke my faux pastrami in the WSM last week and I liked that experience a lot.

Of course all of this is for not, I just picked up 200lbs of KBB so that's gonna be the majority of my cooks anyways.



I feel like grillfella now.

[addicted-to-smoke]

Nice looking Stingray. A Crate bike was my dream as a kid.

[1buckie]

"Anyone see a problem with my methods?'


 Best I've been able to determine, some lump (even different bags of the same brand) needs more air to survive & flourish..........
Unscientifically speaking, I think it may have at least something to do with the type of original wood & how fully carbonized it is..............

 Wicked Good, for instance, is a little harder to lite, but once going almost will never go out with a certain minimum amount of airflow; go below that airflow & it MIGHT snuff out, stay above air amount & it will burn constant & even & continuous for a very long time................


 Some lumps I've used seem to have a thing about being fully grayed over & burning toward the center of the piece before they work right & others will contact lite just fine........maybe others who use lump more often will have some insight?

Nice looking Stingray. A Crate bike was my dream as a kid.

Second one I've seen today....the 1st was a posterization print on a friend's T-shirt.....we got to talking & he said an original, or super clean restore might go for 15 grand......we got no grill problems...................none at all..................

[Duke]

My guess is that by putting it in a chimney it just burnt out by the time you dumped it in the grill. I put mine where I want and then use a torch and get searing high heat but it burns down quickly. It doesn't last as long as K, so you have to use more.

[Johnpv]

Lighting lump works just fine in a chimney, I do it all the time.   What I tend to do with lump vs briquettes is 1, dump it out of the chimney sooner.  It doesn't need to spend as much time getting going as briquettes do.  2 have your vents at the top and bottom completely opened.  3 Either make a small bed of unlit lump that the lit gets put onto, or add a small amount of unlit lump on top of the hot stuff.  4. Like it's said lump is all different sizes, so a bunch of smaller pieces are going to burn hotter than say 2 large pieces, though they'll burn longer.  So you need to have a good mix in sizes in your chimney or in the grill.   

[BigRix]

Nice looking Stingray. A Crate bike was my dream as a kid.

Thanks, Yet another one of the things I was left after my dad's passing.

Had to dig it out of one of his five storage sheds. My parents were hoarders.

He displayed it next to his Ranchero at car shows.

It needs a lot of work to even be ridable. Never got to ride one as a kid so I plan to at least take her around the block once or twice.

[G$]

1)  Nice idea with the perpendicular baskets Rick.  That circle has to be blazing hot packed like that.
2)  Regardless of the therm temp, I am surprised the initial lump was not hot enough for a direct sear as it was.  Did you try it, or did you just judge it not hot enough because the thermo was lower than you felt it should be?

[BigRix]

I didn't try to sear but both the lid therm and my hand over the coals told me it wasn't hot enough.

This method gave me the best results I have had so far.

I think I will stop and get some bone in rib eyes from Sprouts and try them next.

[cbpeck]

I'll add that each brand of lump is a bit different, but generally I've found that lump will burn hotter & faster than briquettes. Royal oak has been pretty reliable for me. I think you just need more of it, and maybe more airflow, at least at first. These days I use Cowboy lump almost exclusively (big sale last Fall), and never have a problem, but then I don't typically use baskets, either. I'd say give it another go with substantially more charcoal & wide open vents until the kettle comes up to temp, then dial it back. You can always snuff out the fire after the cook and reuse the leftover charcoal next time.

[crumbsnatcher]

Sounds like I just need to light up more per cook to get my temp up to searing levels. This can't be good for the wallet if I have to burn more per cook and the lump cost double of what kbb cost per pound.


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[1buckie]

Sounds like I just need to light up more per cook to get my temp up to searing levels. This can't be good for the wallet if I have to burn more per cook and the lump cost double of what kbb cost per pound.

 Yeah, after listening to 453 people say:
"Lump burns hotter"
..............the unconscious message is that you can then use less......not exactly true.........by weight, it may be less for the same calories / BTU's but in actual use it seems the cubic volume needs to be more than briquettes..............

[G]

Been using a lot of lump lately.  I like to place a thin layer of briqs on the bottom of the chimney followed by lump to the top.  The briqs help to prevent the smaller pieces from falling through and also seems to light the stack better.  After placing on the charcoal grate, Ill add a bit more lump if needed and give it some air to get it rippin' hot.