Tried lump charcoal over briquettes for a brisket smoke

Made a big difference in taste and heat consistency. The briquettes gave me steady temps but the lump charcoal left a cleaner smoke flavor on the meat. Anyone else find lump harder to control or was it just me messing up the airflow?

3 comments

3 Comments

oscarc126d ago

Did you try mixing them together for the best of both worlds?

lilya766d ago

Yeah @oscarc12 mentioned mixing and I tried a 50/50 blend once. It was a mess honestly. The lump burns faster so your temps spike then drop hard. Briquettes smooth it out but you still get that weird ash taste sometimes. Lump alone gave my brisket a cleaner flavor but I had to babysit the vents every 15 minutes. Not worth the hassle for an overnight cook.

jade5176d ago

Oh man, that 50/50 mix disaster is so real (I learned the hard way too). Have you ever tried building a layered fire instead? I do a base of briquettes for stability, then a middle layer of lump for the clean burn, and top it with a few chunks of wood for flavor. The briquettes bottom out and hold temp steady while the lump higher up gives you that pure smoke taste without the ash creeping into your meat. It takes a little experimenting with your vent settings but I've gotten 6-8 hours of consistent temps that way, way less babysitting than pure lump.