Charcoal briquettes or Lump Hardwood??

[fishin couillon]

Using just a regular ol BBQ pit, what do you use and or prefer?

For last several years I've been units my gas grill....dad finally gave me his old BBQ pit that was made for him in the 70's while on a job.....i started using the hardwood coal and finding it burns alot quicker than charcoal. Now this is not a large pit, small and only cooking for 2 people.....

Just wondering what others have to say....

[rb]

Not trying to be funny but both. Grilling its almost 100% lump. Fast and gets hot.
Smoker I'll put a small amount of lump to help get it up to temp quicker then the rest will be briquettes they burn longer and are uniform in size.
I use B&B for both. If I can't find that then its Royal Oak

[itsahog]

for what it’s worth I use both would prefer lump.


From the web…..

Since lump is charcoal in its most natural form, it's no wonder purists will almost always prefer it. Beyond that, lump charcoal has a lot of attractive qualities; it lights faster, burns hotter, and leaves very little ash compared to briquettes.

[Mike Daleo]

I like the Cowboy brand Lump Charcoal from Lowe's or Tractor Supply. Burns slow, burns hot, and you don't have to use as much.

[fishin couillon]

Well today i put chicken on the pit and used the regular charcoal briquettes and noticed that i wasnt imagining things...........it does burn slower than the wood lump.......with that said, i'll still be using both....

[XingEyeballs]

B&B for me if I’m grilling, clean flavor and predictable hot burn with just a small coal bed. Also maintains heat well once lit. If grilling I usually throw a couple chunks of wood on the coals when I go in to get the meat to put on. Oak, hickory, apple, mesquite, pecan…keep a bucket of each and use what taste good with the meat.

Smoking is all on the RecTeq these days, although I use a wedge with actual wood smoldering on the side for the first couple hours while the pellets keep the set temperature.

[SteveDyer]

I like lump for burgers, steaks anything faster cooking. Briquettes for smoking and everything else. Briquettes burn far more consistent.

[Cestratton]

Kingsford Original briquettes for the majority of my cooks, especially in my WSMs. I play around with lump some times mostly Royal Oak. If you haven't already get a Weber starter chimney and use starter cubes, the paraffin wax cubes that Weber sells at any HD or Lowes are like $3.50 for 24. Another hack is take a paper towel and fold it down to a little square then put enough cooking oil to get it saturated this makes a good starter also.

[Ranger Rod]

I use lump because my understanding is the briquettes have chemicals in them.

[WPS456]

I use a Big Green Egg and only use lump. For a quick cook I'll use Royal Oak, for a longer cook I use Rockwood. The Rockwood burns much cleaner than the Royal Oak and has less rocks, nails, etc mixed in. Royal Oak used to be much better but is getting worse. I've tried B&B and Cowboy as well and they were terrible.

[rds_nc]

Kingsford Original briquettes for the majority of my cooks, especially in my WSMs. I play around with lump some times mostly Royal Oak. If you haven't already get a Weber starter chimney and use starter cubes, the paraffin wax cubes that Weber sells at any HD or Lowes are like $3.50 for 24. Another hack is take a paper towel and fold it down to a little square then put enough cooking oil to get it saturated this makes a good starter also.

I keep a jar in my grill box of 91% isopropyl alcohol soaked cotton balls. Cheap and ready to go. Of course the alcohol was hard to find when COVID started so that was a bummer.

[SteveDyer]

They make a electric starter you just stick in the chimney. Easy peasy.

[fr8dog]

I use lump in the egg. Light it with the napkin/veg oil method. Briquettes in my portable Weber. I have some of the wax starters in my box for it. Briquettes in the stick burner to start, then wood.

[Ranger Rod]

My Weber has a propane flame for starting the charcoal.

[wwc3]

Paper towel with veg oil to start my BGE !!!!

[RazorCat]

I see the large pieces of lump in my BGE. Especially for long 20-24 hour cooks. The smaller pieces on the bottom get combined in a spare bag for grilling on a Weber kettle. Wad up one sheet of newspaper and place in the bottom of charcoal chimney. Cover with lump. Place two sheets of newspaper under, and light. Pour on once it’s started thoroughly. The thing about lump is you can reuse it after a cook. I mix it with fresh lump, and it adds flavor.
I use nothing but Royal Oak Tumbleweeds to start my BGE. 1 in the center to start a slow cook Smoking), 2-3 to start a high temp cook for steaks, burgers. They’re cheap, easy, and burn off clean.

[Triton19x2]

I see where Kingsford is offering a "slow burn" bricket now....anyone tried one?

[Transom]

I prefer lump but burn mostly kingsford just because it is cheap when bought around the holidays.