Newbie questions

[Saucier]

Ok, here are a couple of newbie questions...

What brand of charcoal do the KK fans here favor? I see on Nakedwhiz's site he reviews them, but not sure I have time to read that many reviews, was hoping you folks might help me narrow it down.. I would like to know whats best, and order a large supply of it. Hate running out of stuff!

Also do you normally cook with something (pan or deflector) between the fire and the product? Or does the lack of airflow and design of the cooker negate that worry?

Also do most folks here just get the propane burner just to light things? Or are folks actually cooking with propane in these?

These questions and possibly more lurk in whats left of my brain.

Thanks in advance.

Warren

[beerco]

I've only been kamado cooking since the spring, but I'll give it a go anyway:

Charcoal - find out what you've got nearby and check it out both in the reviews and in person - much easier than mail order. Luckily for me I've got a GFS which stocks royal oak lump year round (mix of U.S. and Argentinian) which is good enough for me. No sense in turning your garage into a warehouse until winter time when availability may be limited.

I use a plate setter for any cooks longer than an hour or so (I use a BGE BTW). If you use a drip pan, use little foil balls to make a little spacer between the drip pan and plate setter. For things like chicken (.75~1.5 hours) I go direct.

For starting I bought one of those electric starter things and absolutely love it. I use it to start everything except overnight cooks in which case I use a chimney starter to start a small amount of lump which I pour on top of the mother-load already in the fire box.

[Firemonkey]

Welcome to the party, Saucier.

Ill second what beerco says about lump. Find what you have locally, and go with it unless its just horrible stuff. Some people do mail orde$r their lump, but shipping is almost always outrageous.

I coordinate with a group of local people, and we order wholesale from a distribution center in town. We end up with Lazarri mesquite lump for about $12 per 40# bag - we dont pay shipping since the manufacturer stocks it at this warehouse. We can also get stuff off the shelf, but just for comparison, Royal Oak is about $5 for a 10# bag.

As one who does stockpile lump, my advice is to get what you can off the shelf, as you need it unless you find a really good deal that makes it worth storing.

The KK comes with a heavy heat deflector, which sets right down on top of the lump basket for when you want to do indirect cooks. Whether or not you use it depends on what you are cooking. Sometimes, you cook direct over the fire, other times you bake or do indirect. Check out the cooking pictures and recipe section, and you will see discussion and examples of each.

I have the gas burner, and for me its a convenience to light the lump with. I think tcoliver actually cooks with gas, but he is the only one I can think of that uses it for more than ignition. Its a convenience, and I find a chimney on the other end of the scale...somewhere near the PITA designation. You want a simple alternative, without getting the burner...use a MAPP torch. You can get one cheap, and you can light 3 or 4 spots on your lump in about 90 seconds.

[Sanny]

Cowboy (available at ACE Hardware and Lowe's) is ok. Some say sparky, some say lot of ash. And sometimes pieces of wood that look familiar (like molding or 2x4). Some have said they found plywood, but I've not. One does NOT burn plywood, of course.

BGE stores sell their own brand, which is made by Royal Oak. Expensive for Royal Oak. Wal*Mart also has Royal Oak, and less expensive. Wegman's brand (a grocery store in the Northeast) has its store brand, which is, yes, Royal Oak.

Kingsford lump is also available, but (from what I've read) has gotten uniformly bad reviews. Sparks a LOT!

Farther south, there's a lot of mesquite available. Probably in AZ where you are there's quite a bit. Some like it, some say it sparks, some say it's too strong a flavor.

Speriment, see what you like.

[Firemonkey]

Just for your comparison, I called Wicked Good this week to see what it would cost to get about 1500 pounds of lump sent to Florida (Its almost time for another group order, and I was shopping alternatives).

The price per 22# bag, in the quantities we were discussing was about $9.60. The freight, delivered to a commercial loading dock was about $5 per bag. That was just the freight from CT to Orlando, plus a 20% fuel surcharge.

Shop locally if you can. If you decide you want to buy in bulk, find the closest distibution center. You can begin by contacting the company of whatever seems most readily available in your local stores. You may also try contacting restaurant wholesalers...like produce distibutors who may supply local restaurants that cook over fire.

[trish]

Firemonkey wrote:

We end up with Lazarri mesquite lump for about $12 per 40# bag

Lazzari also makes an oak lump but in some areas it is not available. I emailed them and their rep told me that the store brand for Barbeques Galore was their oak lump. I understand it is more for restaurant supply, but your local distributor may be able to get it for you. I have not used it and do not know how good it is. I do know that their mesquite is usually good size pieces and reasonably priced.

[Firemonkey]

Yep, I asked about it last time we ordered. They dont stock the oak here, so we would have been facing up against the shipping monster again. FWIR, the guy at Lazzarri didnt even want to quote me what it would cost

[Saucier]

Thanks

Thanks for all the good ideas.... Most helpful..

[TheNakedWhiz]

You don't really need to read very many reviews. Just the reviews for the brands you can buy locally. Also, you can go to http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumprankpoll.htm to see a list of all the brands and what score I gave them, as well as what readers think. You can then narrow it down to the better ones. Good luck!

[Saucier]

Thanks Whiz

Thanks Whiz, I hadn't read far enough to find that list, just found the reviews with the pictures of the bags..

Makes it much easier to see the ranking list!

You have a great site BTW, I sense my productivity at work today lagging a bit

I don't see this stuff on your list, but might be missing it, have you (or anyone else) had any experience with this stuff?

http://www.calchar.com/natural.html

This place is not far from me.

Warren