Syzygies Posted June 30, 2016 Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 3 hours ago, JimBob67 said: Plus, she really likes what I cook. That is the key. I pushed a bit to get the POSK. Laurie bought me the KK. (Her favorite part was talking with Dennis.) Don't emphasize price. Try different techniques, and ask attentively what you should do the same, or different. She'll lead you. I'm pretty much under orders to only use coconut extruded lump and my smoke pot for low & slows. And we're eagerly phasing out ordinary charcoal for high temp chicken, now that we have coffee lump. We're not affluent, but we can afford what we want, and food matters. The problem with more charcoal is finding space to store it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBob67 Posted June 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 Good points, indeed! Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Pearson Posted June 30, 2016 Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 Hey jimbob do you live in Cali.? I have charcoal, bought a pallet and a half. The garage was full until some of the guys took some of it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBob67 Posted June 30, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 Hi, Bruce, thanks for thinking of me, but I live in Colorado. I have a couple boxes of the CoCo that Dennis shipped with my KK. Wish I'd thought to order more as I guess it ships pretty cheap with a cooker! I'm going to try the CoCo on my overnight shoulder smoke over the Fourth, but I have to say that BGE worked pretty well (NO smell like Cowboy Charcoal) yesterday during my last break-in burn. (Finally no smell or bubbling, so that nightmare is behind me!) Thanks again, Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted June 30, 2016 Report Share Posted June 30, 2016 According to the Naked Whiz's database, BGE lump is made by Royal Oak and just re-labelled. Cowboy is crap! (IMNSHO) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBob67 Posted July 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 I've read that too. BGE did fine for me but I'm anxious to try the CoCo this weekend. Cowboy has been OK when grilling steaks on my big Cauldron, but it is NOT very good for low and slow. Really bad smell gets added. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted July 1, 2016 Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 It's cheap scrap lumber, in particular moldings, sometimes even pieces that have been finished. Hence, the off-putting smells. Since most folks douse it with lighter fluid anyway, they never notice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBob67 Posted July 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 Aha! Well, I won't be using it again. Never noticed it when grilling a steak. My stent with the BGE stuff was markedly different. I could actually smell the solvent! By the way, has anyone used the BGE "Organic" yet? Got some just to try. I have decided that after carefully placing the CoCo extruded in the basket, I'm going to start it with a small amount of hot charcoal from my chimney. Seems to me that the stuff underneath, as it lights, will send any small amounts of incompletely combusted vapor through the hot embers, which should eliminate that. Probably overkill, but we'll see. Jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5698k Posted July 1, 2016 Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 Let the coco char fall randomly into your basket, don't place it. Rob 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted July 1, 2016 Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 @JimBob67 - +1^! I carefully placed my first basket of Coco Char in the basket. I got MUCH better results from my cooks when I followed Rob's advice and just banged the sticks of Coco Char against each other and let the pieces fall where they may win the basket. Believe it or not, the fire was much easier to work with. I use a MAPP Torch to light my lump and it works remarkably well. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBob67 Posted July 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 I guess the CoCo stuff will be better than the Cowboy lump I used. I poured that into the basket, but found the problem was the teeny pieces and dust occluded most of the airflow routes through the charcoal pile. Thus, the smoldering pile of leaves analogy. I will follow your advice. And, I have a MAPP torch so may give that a go. I'm just paranoid about having smoldering going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted July 1, 2016 Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 @JimBob67 - relax! You're cooking on a KK and you have that in your favor. The airflow system in the KK is superior to anything else yo've ever tried. I get great airflow whether I'm using Coco Char or FOGO. All I do is dump my lump, shake the basket a couple of time, top it off with lump, shake again, and light it up in a single spot for low-n-slow cooks. Cowboy Lump is pure crap compared to Coco Char. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBob67 Posted July 1, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2016 Well, I DID NOT get very good airflow with the Cowboy crap. Really added a bad taste to a real nice Tri-Tip. Having figured that out and had a good burn with BGE, I don't anticipate any problems from now on, especially with the CoCo (as long as my supply lasts). However, "Once burned, twice cautious", and all that... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted July 2, 2016 Report Share Posted July 2, 2016 Lots of good charcoal out there, so no need to settle for crap. You've seen the Naked Whiz database. I am very partial to Weekend Warrior from Wicked Good Charcoal. The FOGO that Ken (Ceramic Chef) uses is also very good (and available on Amazon Prime!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CeramicChef Posted July 2, 2016 Report Share Posted July 2, 2016 2 hours ago, JimBob67 said: Well, I DID NOT get very good airflow with the Cowboy crap. Really added a bad taste to a real nice Tri-Tip. Having figured that out and had a good burn with BGE, I don't anticipate any problems from now on, especially with the CoCo (as long as my supply lasts). However, "Once burned, twice cautious", and all that... @JimBob67 - you've learned a lesson the hard way! But then, don't we all? I have always viewed lump as much a part of the cook as any rub, spice, etc. I've found out the hard way that if you buy quality you get quality in return. Life is too short to buy cheap grade meat, bad spices, cheap charcoal, and gut rot whiskey just because it's cheap! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Pearson Posted July 2, 2016 Report Share Posted July 2, 2016 Her is a question, when doing a low and slow do you put a pan of liquid in the KK? say water, apple juice or the like? I have been reading Franklins barbque and he says to put liquid in the smoker. I know that this is a whole different was of cooking but just curious. I haven't seen any comments about it in the forum so I'm guess it isn't necessary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted July 2, 2016 Report Share Posted July 2, 2016 (edited) Bruce, no pan of liquid is needed. Edited July 2, 2016 by MacKenzie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dstr8 Posted July 2, 2016 Report Share Posted July 2, 2016 ^ ditto! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted July 2, 2016 Report Share Posted July 2, 2016 Never! Don't even bother with the spray bottle either. The KK cooks food so moist it isn't necessary. If you put in a pan of water, you'd get too much moisture going and you'll wash off the rub and get no bark. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimBob67 Posted July 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2016 17 hours ago, CeramicChef said: @JimBob67 - you've learned a lesson the hard way! But then, don't we all? I have always viewed lump as much a part of the cook as any rub, spice, etc. I've found out the hard way that if you buy quality you get quality in return. Life is too short to buy cheap grade meat, bad spices, cheap charcoal, and gut rot whiskey just because it's cheap! You got that right! Although in my neck of the woods, Cowboy Charcoal costs almost as much as BGE. Always worked OK to grill meats, but I'm certainly moving on from here. Jim 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
