[MChat]

Originally Posted by P1et

Am I the only one that BBQs on lump charcoal?

I use mesquite lump charcoal with actual chunks of mesquite mixed in.

Originally Posted by Mr Tonka

I doubt most people can tell the difference from gas and charcoal if the cook is a good one.

I recently switched from briquets to lump and the lump burns far more cleaner and complete. I have at least 40% less ashes from lump.

Fellow savage here.

All that gritty ash from briquettes is the "glue" that holds the briquettes together. I'm guessing lump charcoal is also healthier than briquette.

As for not being able to tell the difference between gas and charcoal? Cooking with propane isn't BBQ, it's just cooking outdoors. I have friends that will not eat steak, ever, unless it is one of mine (not even from a higher dollar place like Mastros). And that's without "aging" the meat.

Originally Posted by TXSTYLE

Without question, charcoal gives the best flavor. BUT, I have gotten some amazingly tasty results by placing moist smoking chips heavy duty foil, poking some holes in it and getting that awesome smoky flavor! Charcoal is also such a PITA to cleanup.

Since I stopped using charcoal briquettes and started using lump charcoal, the amount of ash left over is greatly reduced and the flavor of the meat is all that much better.

Smoldering chips in tinfoil is at least a step in the right direction. But for a better flavor you want the smoke to be more translucent rather than opaque.

Originally Posted by rabman5

So, I see a lot of grilled steaks and burgers in this thread and not much smoked meat, which happens to be my favorite. I typically smoke some ribs, brisket, pork butt & chicken a few times over the season.

Finally! Yes, someone else who knows how to get the flavor in their BBQ. I use a mixture of apple (50%), cherry (40-45%) and mesquite (5-10%). The mesquite is too strong to use alone, but it adds a great flavor. When I grill I use just mesquite.

I've done as much as 120lbs of pork shoulder (done in 2 batches of ~60lbs) for an event for my wife's primary client. I have my own BBQ sauce which is a mix of my own ingredients and KC Masterpiece (or Bullseye works too). At the last event people kept coming back for 2nds, 3rds and even 4ths (one guy waited around to the end of the event to see if there was any left he could take home).

I've also done briskets, tri-tips, chicken, turkey and (of course) ribs. I started with one of those cheap "Father's day specials" from Home Depot and finally upgraded to a Lang Reverse Flow smoker last year:


(I don't have any actual pictures of mine online... )

With the old cheap smoker I was constantly needing to tend to the smoker. Add a little wood, adjust the vents, check every 5-10 minutes, adjust the vents, add a little wood, adjust the vents, etc... Was a PITA just to keep it between 200 and 250.

With the new smoker once I get the vents set based on the current conditions, the smoker just stays at that temperature, all I need to do is feed it a little wood every 30-60 minutes.