Greg_R Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 I am currently using BGE lump which is supposedly hickory. I love the flavor but my fiance would like something a little more mild (i.e. less smokey). Should I a) Cook with BGE and foil after a bit (may not be possible with some foods) Get a less flavorful charcoal. What is recommended? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 Maybe a new girlfriend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 My vote would be to shop around for some different fuels that you may be happier with. I have not used the BGE lump, but you will likely find different types of lump to impart different flavors. Are you sure that the wife is objecting to the smoke of the lump, or just the difference in flavor from charcoal grilled vs. maybe gas? I have found the differences in lump (absent of any raw wood) to be subtle, and primarily use mesquite lump, which IMO does not impart much in the way of smoke flavor at all. You might also try getting the coals VERY hot then cooling before putting your food on. This would ensure that your lump is fully carbonized, and all you are cooking with is the heat. If I recall correctly, the BGE is Royal Oak lump, so if you are shopping for something new, Royal Oak will likely be more of the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmer John Posted January 3, 2007 Report Share Posted January 3, 2007 Burn Off The other thing to make sure of is that you are burning off the smoke from start up. Let it burn for a good 20 minutes to burn off any impurities in the coal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeDJ16 Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Re: Burn Off The other thing to make sure of is that you are burning off the smoke from start up. Let it burn for a good 20 minutes to burn off any impurities in the coal. Just curious on that one, I have never heard of having to do this with natural charcoal (that was the main selling feature for me on natural lump), only brickets. I personally start cooking with natural lump as soon as it is lit and never had a problem with it being too smokey or smutty. Matter of fact, cooking at high temps, if I waited 20 minutes to start cooking, I would not have much charcoal left. I use Royal oak (Firemonkey is correct - they make BGE charcoal too) and unless I find the occasional piece on non-carbonized lump, there usually is not a lot of smoke flavor on high temp cooks. Now low and slow there naturally tends to be more, but not overpowering unless you add wood. You would probably have to use coconut charcoal to drastically reduce the smoke flavor. -=Jasen=- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerard Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Re: Burn Off Just curious on that one' date=' I have never heard of having to do this with natural charcoal (that was the main selling feature for me on natural lump), only brickets. [/quote'] I used to agree but I'm coming around to Farmer John's opinion. The last few butts I've done have had rather bitter bark. And recently, after adding fresh lump, I tried to cook some vegetable kabobs... the charcoal smoked and the things were awful, i.e., so acrid that they were inedible. So, this past weekend, I fired up the charcoal, let it get seriously hot and burning and then choked it down*... when it got to cooking temp, I added the meat... and the bark was wonderful. Not sure if this is a reflection of just a bad batch of Cowboy lump or what. Seems with hundreds of cooks under my belt and tens of thousands under the belts of the ceramic cooking forums, this shouldn't be a new thing for us to discover. I bet TNW has an opinion and I hope he shares it. I bet his opinion is that I've had a lousy batch of charcoal and that Jasen's approach is usually fine. Gerard *technique relayed to me by Greendriver of Primo forum who saw DrBBQ do it at a competition: leave lid open, put three or four starting cubes in charcoal, light, walk away with lid open, return to blazing fire, stir it up to evenly distribute burning pieces, and then choke it down. Of course with the increased heat retetion of the thick refractory cookers getting the temp back down may be problematic but perhaps not if the lid has been left open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Malter Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 I have found the same thing. Fresh lump smokes for a while, I tried bread in a Mexi-K with fresh extruded coconut. It was inedible. I find 30-60 min preheat works well. jim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeDJ16 Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Hey Gerard, was there maybe some non-carbonized pieces in it? I have noticed when buying Cowboy, every single bag purchased in my area had several pieces in it. Sometimes some pretty darn big pieces, but they were usually obvious. Maybe some of the pieces your getting had the bark left on; that would make them funky? I try to sort through mine and take out anything odd. I would never say that my charcoal does not smoke when lit; heck there is always some smoke. Just never thought it to be a problem with a high temp cook since the smoke does not hang around the food long. I also tend to do high temp cooks uncovered (so maybe just did not notice it). But even doing a low and slow, I add smoke wood because charcoal alone was not enough smoke. Now that I think about it, doing spatchcock chicken at around 325-350 covered, the wife has not complained about it being too smokey (and trust me she would). Agreed, maybe the Naked Whiz can give us some direction. Though I am probably wrong with my charcoal method - hehe! For some reason that tends to happen........still not changing anything though! -=Jasen=- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Never had that problem. But anyway, when I cook slow, I light the fire and get it stabilized at the low-n-slow temp for about 2 hours. When I cook hot, it takes it at least 20 mins to get to the hot temp anyways. So maybe I've just avoided the issue all together Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samantha Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Maybe a new girlfriend didn't this answer cause a problem when I used it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samantha Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 I beleive there have been previous discussions regarding cowboy lump on other forums. This is link to the NakedWhiz review of Cowboy lump: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumpdatabase/lumpbag6.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNakedWhiz Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 Sorry it took me so long to wade into this, lol. All charcoal smokes when lighting up. Meaning all fresh charcoal. Kamado extruded coconut smokes when you light it. Royal Oak smokes when you light it. < insert the names of the other 53 brands I've reviewed here > smokes when you light it. So, I agree that it is best to let the fire burn for a while before adding food if you don't like the smoke. The smoke will lessen. And lots of people have reported in emails and in forums that Cowboy seems to be less smoky. I have some in my garage. It's been a while since I have burned any. Maybe I should play with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Porkchop Posted January 4, 2007 Report Share Posted January 4, 2007 some "fuel" for thought: preheat for 30-60 min first if lighting coals in the cooker (with like a fire starter cube, whatever) my OPINION on this is that, while igniting your initial core of hot coals, you get alot more smoke than when individual coals initial ignite thru the duration of your long cook. iow, once you have your drafts set for your 250 deg cook, you go from igniting a pile of coals to lighting just the edges of a lump or two as other coals in the fire ash out. don't know how you are lighting your cooker, BUT you might try pre-setting your drafts for your target temp and then start a 1/2 chimney full of lump outside of the cooker. dump the hot coals on your pile, and the restricted air enivironment in the cooker should only allow a few coals to ignite in the presence of the hot coals. regardless, for a butt cook, i preheat for an hour, just to make sure i have my drafts tweaked properly. ribs, less so. they can take (even benefit) from an initial spike in temps, while indirect, up to 350, as long as you can get that temp to come down to 250 within like 20-30 min of getting that spike. also, ALWAYS sort thru your lump. all sorts of junk can be in there; moon rocks, PLASTICS!, wood, dirt, etc. finally, if you're like me, and do lots of indirect, you haven't really "cleaned" your heat deflector. grease built up over a cook or two will smoke terribly when you first light that fire, because it's right over the hot pile of coals. either clean off the stone first or just plan to burn the stuff off by allowing the cooker to preheat. i ususally flip the stone so that the, uh, "detrius" from my previous cook is directly over the coals. result? tons of nasty smoke over the next 15-20 min, then all gone. it takes longer to get all the smoking from this fat finished if you don't flip it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg_R Posted January 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. I've been lighting my charcoal with the gas attachment and letting it stabilize for ~5 minutes (after hitting temp). I'll try the top-down burn and separate coal starting method and see if that changes the flavor. BTW: she loves the flavor in pork and beef... it's things like pizza and breads that she doesn't like the smoky flavor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curly Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 BTW: she loves the flavor in pork and beef... it's things like pizza and breads that she doesn't like the smoky flavor. Well then, that's a whole lot differnt...you can keep her now...yeehaw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Firemonkey Posted January 5, 2007 Report Share Posted January 5, 2007 Greg, I light with gas, directly in the grill as well. Keep that convenience, and just let the coals burn a bit before adding your food. Even if you dont want to run it up to high temps then clamp it down, you will still see benefit simply letting the grill sit at temp for 20-30 minutes before you cook. Dont think of this as wasted fuel, because during that time your dome will be absorbing the heat, and then will be able to radiate it back out when you load the meat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
