ckreef Posted August 3, 2019 Author Report Posted August 3, 2019 Fogo Super Premium low-n-slow test is underway. Here is a link to the live graph if anyone is interested. https://sharemycook.com/Cook/Detail/325e32b7-16cd-4191-9a92-79a8d413f94e
Jon B. Posted August 5, 2019 Report Posted August 5, 2019 (edited) On 7/28/2019 at 5:04 PM, DennisLinkletter said: Thanks VERY BIG!! I really appreciate it @DennisLinkletter Tony B. gets the credit and thanks for sending the Coffee Char Edited August 5, 2019 by Jon B. 1
tony b Posted August 5, 2019 Report Posted August 5, 2019 According to the tracking number, it's out for delivery this afternoon!
Tyrus Posted August 5, 2019 Report Posted August 5, 2019 (edited) Ckreef, wanted to see the difference so I bought a box of KJ xl lump. While cooking up 4 racks of pork ribs approx 6 hours at 250 I welcomed a noticeable difference in the amount remaining to the good. Argentine hardwood. 24.99 / 20lbs Edited August 5, 2019 by Tyrus 1
ckreef Posted August 5, 2019 Author Report Posted August 5, 2019 3 hours ago, tony b said: According to the tracking number, it's out for delivery this afternoon! It's here A big thank you to @tony b. The box and lump looks in great shape. Can't wait until it's turn in the lineup. 1 1
ckreef Posted August 6, 2019 Author Report Posted August 6, 2019 7 hours ago, Tyrus said: Ckreef, wanted to see the difference so I bought a box of KJ xl lump. While cooking up 4 racks of pork ribs approx 6 hours at 250 I welcomed a noticeable difference in the amount remaining to the good. Argentine hardwood. 24.99 / 20lbs There really is a difference between lump made out of wood south of the equator and lump made out of wood north of the equator. In most cases south of the equator is a little more expensive but once you factor in the extra burn time not really more expensive. 2
Tyrus Posted August 6, 2019 Report Posted August 6, 2019 It felt heavier and on appearance looked denser, just by opening the box. Proof was in the burn. Have been burning one American hardwood lump for years so the comparison for me was easy after opening the lid. After burning this lump for so long gota say I've grown comfortable with it, like an old friend. KJ XL lump is better but, for my range of use mine has yet to let me down
ckreef Posted August 6, 2019 Author Report Posted August 6, 2019 8 hours ago, Tyrus said: It felt heavier and on appearance looked denser, just by opening the box. Proof was in the burn. Have been burning one American hardwood lump for years so the comparison for me was easy after opening the lid. After burning this lump for so long gota say I've grown comfortable with it, like an old friend. KJ XL lump is better but, for my range of use mine has yet to let me down My informal conclusions this far in the tests: All lumps tested would easily last long enough for the average low-n-slow and once stabilized none of them had noticeable smoke. If you were planning on multiple back to back low-n-slow cooks you'd be better using the South American lumps for the extra long burn times. All lumps tested had no problems getting to 500* and burning for 2 hours. If you were planning on an extended 500* + cook you definitely want South American lump otherwise you stand a good chance of running out using Noth American lump. Normal everyday cooking they all work. If you're doing the extreme cooks you might want to choose your lump wisely. 2 1
tony b Posted August 6, 2019 Report Posted August 6, 2019 I'm currently using a bag of Fogo Argentine lump - this stuff is very nice. Like the other Fogo's, some of the pieces are a bit too large, but a screwdriver and a mallet take care of that in short order. @ckreef - glad it survived the trip. Was a bit worried having to go land the whole way and who knows how many hand-offs?
ckreef Posted August 10, 2019 Author Report Posted August 10, 2019 Fogo Marabu low-n-slow test is underway. Here is the link to the live graph. https://sharemycook.com/Cook/Detail/62e52adc-1862-411e-9143-4026441317a9
ThreeDJ16 Posted August 10, 2019 Report Posted August 10, 2019 Man you can tell I've been out of the game for a long time when I've never even heard of these charcoal brands. All I could get locally was Cowboy, which sux and Royal Oak which is still what I use. Might be a few new ones now that there are some specialty outdoor stores in the area. I still have two boxes of Dennis' CEL in which I did the 85 hr run time on one load. I bet the new stuff would run even longer. That was pretty crazy as I never expected 85 hrs and that was an original basket load, which was smaller than the new baskets. Bet the new stuff and the bigger baskets would push over 100 hrs at 225. 1
tony b Posted August 11, 2019 Report Posted August 11, 2019 19 hours ago, ThreeDJ16 said: Man you can tell I've been out of the game for a long time when I've never even heard of these charcoal brands. Fogo ships. That's how I get the Premiums like the Cuban/Argentina/Brazil ones. My local BBQ shop has started carrying their regular lump. Also look for Rockwood, if you can find it nearby. There's always Amazon. That's how I tried the Kamado Joe lump. Good stuff and well packaged for shipping. Dude, Royal Oak is soooo passé now! LOL 1
ThreeDJ16 Posted August 11, 2019 Report Posted August 11, 2019 1 hour ago, tony b said: Dude, Royal Oak is soooo passé now! LOL LOL.....oh well. I'm happy just to be using charcoal again. 1
DennisLinkletter Posted August 11, 2019 Report Posted August 11, 2019 As we all know every species has it's own unique flavor profile, oak tastes much different than mesquite. I'm surprised nobody mentions these charcoals flavor. Is it strong like mesquite or light like apple? My problem here in Indonesia before I started making my own charcoal was not knowing what it was going to taste like because it was mixed or species unknown. Mystery charcoal makes it more difficult to get repeatable consistent results. If I was going to smoke a chicken with applewood, I would not want to use mesquite because you would never taste the apple. The reason I fell in love with the coffee char was because of how it tastes.. there are many much more dense woods here but I also personally refuse to cut trees to make charcoal. There are great mangrove charcoals but I feel you are either part of the problem or working on the solution. The coffee trees are cut every 15 years because their yields go down. The tamarind charcoal I buy is only trimmed branches, and of course, no trees are cut to make the coconut shell char. Just saying 7
ThreeDJ16 Posted August 15, 2019 Report Posted August 15, 2019 Just an FYI, I have tried oak as a smoke wood and it was nasty. I had some very large limbs that had to be trimmed from the huge oak tree behind my house. So I sawed them up and let them dry out in the shop for a year or two.....yuck...wasted effort. Screw it, cut me some good tasting trees down....LOL. Though the coffee charcoal does sound very interesting. I think you started doing it right about the time I had to stop cooking for a while. Maybe one day I'll have to give it a try. I still have two boxes of your CEL around here too. 1
Pequod Posted August 15, 2019 Report Posted August 15, 2019 Oak and hickory are best used sparingly, IMO. Like many, I started my smoking "career" not knowing any better and over-smoking everything with oak and hickory. Less is more. Coffee lump charcoal is far and away my favorite. The flavor it imparts is subtle, but sublime. Can't recommend it highly enough. 1
ThreeDJ16 Posted August 15, 2019 Report Posted August 15, 2019 2 hours ago, Pequod said: Oak and hickory are best used sparingly, IMO. Like many, I started my smoking "career" not knowing any better and over-smoking everything with oak and hickory. Less is more. Coffee lump charcoal is far and away my favorite. The flavor it imparts is subtle, but sublime. Can't recommend it highly enough. Yup, I learned that lesson many, many years ago. But still never liked oak. It could simply be the variety of my oak tree too, since it's the only type I've tried. To be honest, there's lot of cooks I use no additional smoke wood at all. Tastes change over time.
ckreef Posted August 15, 2019 Author Report Posted August 15, 2019 My suspicion (maybe @DennisLinkletter can chime in on this) is that there is a difference between kiln dried smoking wood (what's usually sold in the big box stores) and green seasoned wood (from chopping and drying yourself). I suspect kiln dried has a more mild smoke profile compared to green seasoned wood.
ThreeDJ16 Posted August 15, 2019 Report Posted August 15, 2019 (edited) 19 minutes ago, ckreef said: My suspicion (maybe @DennisLinkletter can chime in on this) is that there is a difference between kiln dried smoking wood (what's usually sold in the big box stores) and green seasoned wood (from chopping and drying yourself). I suspect kiln dried has a more mild smoke profile compared to green seasoned wood. Misread... But yeah, I'd never use green wood (nasty chemicals) or even wet wood. We've used wood that we dried ourselves for many years without issue. My subdivision has lots of pecan trees and they (used to know) I got the pecan limbs around here...LOL. That stopped years ago unfortunately. I need to get with the groundskeepers again and see about getting a limb or two. Pecan was my favorite smoke wood. Edited August 15, 2019 by ThreeDJ16
