Question about charcoal amount

[Mattbastard]

Hi everyone. Smoker noob here, but as of my 6th attempt with my offset rig things are on the up and up.

My question is about charcoal. At first I just used Kingsford, and every addition I just tossed cold coals on the existing fire. This gave the meat a really bad chemical taste. My next try I used a chimney with my turkey fryer to get ALL the coals to grey over, then added it to the firebox. This got rid of the weird taste, but I got A LOT of ash. Now I'm using Grove or Royal Oak, and still using the chimney to "prep" the coals. Very little ash, but I go through 10 lbs for a 6 hour smoke! I don't really remember how much Kingsford I was going through when I started, but last weekend I did a 6lb rack of spare ribs, 3-2-1 method, held 250 degrees F, and used almost the whole bag! Granted these ribs were the best I've ever had, but 10 lbs? Is this normal?

Yes, my pit isn't the most air tight. For every smoke addition I did (on the top of the first three hours, then one last one for the last hour) there was a bit of smoke coming out of the lid on both the firebox and pit.

So, is using this much normal? I see some people using one chimney and making it last all day. Any pointers are appreciated.

[FL_bobecu]

Sounds about right.

I'd go through 4lbs of Kingsford to get one slab of ribs done. I switched to Stubbs briquettes, found it lasts a bit longer and doesn't have any weird "chemical" taste, because it uses natural binders. Furthermore, I am now using lump. There's guys who have gone 30 hours straight with 5lbs of lump with my cooker.

[k.a.m.]

Welcome to the ring Mattbastard, looking forward to seeing some pics of your cooks.
As FL_bobecu mentioned that is not far of of what most offsets will burn using only charcoal. You might try alternating between chimneys with wood splits, that should cut your charcoal consumption greatly.
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[CliffC]

Yes it is probably fairly typical if you are using a Chargriller or a Charbroil
with a SFB. You can do a couple of things to lower charcoal consumption-
1. Cook at a lower temp, my Chargriller will stay around 230-240 for about an hour on a chimey of lump.
2. Supplement with wood for heat as well as smoke, when my temps get down around 225 or lower I add a couple of small sticks of wood and open up the intake to get them burning. This will take your temps back up while you start another chimney of coals, this will add about 20 min. depending on the size of the wood.
Doing these two things I use about 2/3 bag of RO lump for a 5-6 hr cook during the summer, I use more fuel in the winterbecause of the lower air temps.

[Mattbastard]

Thanks for the help everyone.

I just thought this was weird on account of I can make two bags of K last most of summer when grilling (or frying, I'm in Sheboygan ). When I think about it, converting to gas or electric would probably net the same cost. Running an electric element, if it can hold that temp of course, would be between $5 and $10 for the 6 hours, and keeping a propane tank going that long would probably only last two or three smokes, making it about $7 a pop. I think my bags were about $7, but I bought a bunch of other stuff too. I'm just gonna stick with lumps.

[MattU]

I am new to this also but I have been experimenting lately with different types. Maybe this will help you, I have an offset brinkman smoker that I have built a fire basket for I can usually get 3hrs out of the first fixing using the minion method then about 1.5 to 2 hours after that with every chimney I add. That is using Frontier Lump from Sam's.
I just recently tried Cowboy Lump without much success went thru an 8.8lb bag in about 4 hours at 225°.
My plan this weekend is to try Royal Oak Lump to see. Still playing around with the different brands?

[saltwatercowboy]

Royal Oak is my choice. Tried many brands and keep coming back to Royal Oak. My Stumps will burn about a pound an hour. My old leaky off-set would burn 3 times that.
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[Mattbastard]

I think I'm gonna hit up McMastercarr for some fire retardant rope to fix to the joints for a good seal. That should up my efficiency a bit, no?

[Big_AL]

I have a COS myself. Here is what I do when using just charcoal and wood chunks...

Fill my charcoal basket with un-lit lump (Royal Oak or Full Circle). Fill my chimney starter with K and light that until nice n hot. Pour the fully lit K in the fire box and let that burn 3+ to 4 hours doing the minion thing. I then light one more chimney of K and add that to the fire box for the last 2+ hours. I've been pretty successful with this. Just make sure to add lit coals...never unlit. If cooking a pork butt I alternate between lit K and lit lump for the remainder of the cook.
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[troystr68]

I only use lump in my Weber when using my chargriller its all hickory all day long just get a small fire going and tned it all day long till the meat is where I like it. LOTS of splitting to smaller size logs and enjoy your day outside drooling over the smoker!!
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[Mattbastard]

You use a whole log? Now I'm new to this, but doesn't that make the meat too smokey?

[troystr68]

good question actually i split the logs into MUCH smaller pieces and keep a small clean fire going the goal is to have a blueish tint to the smoke this is a sign of a clean fire
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