Charcoal - Lump or briquette?

[sharky]

I'm new to the charcoal game. I'm used to the kingsford bag that my dad used to buy. Is it still the best?

I will certainly be sure to buy my fair share of Kingsford products as they supplied my new weber kettle grill:-)

I'm open to other suggestions?

[sharky]

While I'm at it, does anyone have the chimney starter? Is there a particular size or brand that works better?

[StPeteBBQ]

Briquet vs Lump...

Briquets burn longer and more consistantly. Kingsford is the only briquet to buy. Briquets contain binders, but Kingsford is more natural. If concerned about binders on Kingsford, just let them completely ash over before you put your food on.

Lump burns hotter, good for searing. Better flavor with lump. More expensive.

Kingsford can be purchased at SamsClub for $11 for 48 lbs.

WalMart carries some good lump at a reasonable price.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Charcoal (http://www.nakedwhiz.com/)

As for the chimney, hands down you want the Weber. If you put a Weber next to one of those wannabe's, you'll understand. Can usually be purchased for $15, not much more than the cheapies...

And, last but not least, invest in Weber Firestarters ($1.99 for a 24 pack) instead of newspaper for your chimney. Nothing quite so nasty as a crumbled up ball of ashes that comes from beneath the chinmey and blows all over your $12 steak. UGH! One firestarter lights a full chimney.

[Harmening]

I get heartburn easily, and have found that lump charcoal doesn't give it to me. Briquets seem to give it to me, though. I also like to add a couple of wood chunks in with the lump whenever I cook. Sometimes, I'll just use all wood.

[SeanB]

I have not done a lot of cooking with charcoal, but since I started using the BGE I have read quite a bit about Lump and the biggest selling point that I came across is that you do not have to wait for it to ash over. Coming from gas to charcoal you will probably appriecate this because it means you can start cooking sooner. From what I have read some of the different brands of lump will bring some smoke to the fire.

Here is a lot of info on lump...Lump Database (http://nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm)

[TOMP]

stpetebbq hit it on the nose! use briquets for long cooking times, chickens, turkeys and large pork cuts. Use lump for fast cooking items, steaks. chicken breast, pork chops and other thin cut meats. The lump burns much hotter giving you that good sear.

Please do invest in the Weber chimney starter. You will not be sorry!

GOOD LUCK AND HAPPY GRILLING!

tom

[sharky]

I cooked the same meal I did last night, steaks, potato and asperigus. I wanted to compare!

The charcoal certainly gives it a much different taste! You can taste the seasonings more on a gas grill, but the charcoal flovor is nice.

I don't think I let the coals ash enough before I placed the steak on the grill, they had a bit of a bitter taste.

right now, my rating is a 7, where my gas would rate a 8.5 :-)

I'll keep it up and be sure to buy the chimney starter!

[SeanB]

So I just happened to stop by the BGE forum today and came across the same topic over there... http://biggreenegg.com/wwwboard/messages/125768.shtml

What I get from reading that thread is that the briquettes are easier to get a long burn from on the weber, because you can not cut down the air enough to get a slow burn from the lump.