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T.G · 09-07-2016, 08:22 PM

Thanks.

Dom, those are solid questions, so here goes...

Worth the effort? I think it was under the circumstances. I wanted the unique gritty flavor that charcoals produce. It wasn't intense like I could get on a webber kettle or burning lump on my santa maria, but it was there. The work involved in making the mix wasn't that much, I had the tail ends of a bag of Lazzari mesquite lump handy and most of what's left in the bag at that point is really small. But there are some extra things to deal with, it's not just as simple as dumping them together. I'll probably do it again, but wouldn't do it for everything.

How much ash... a lot of fine, light ash that gets blown out of the fire cup and all over the bottom of the grill. Smashed up kingsford might be different, this was natural lump.

Snuffing out fire on long cook... Not sure, maybe. There was definately more ash. Might blow enough around that some starts ending up in the bark too.

Cleaned out after every use... Yes. I typically vacuum out my pellet grill after every run anyway, sometimes I skip, but this was definitely a "don't skip the cleanup".

Caveats... If you get a piece of lump that isn't fully charcoal, and has some wood fiber left, and you crush it and it splinters, if one of these splinters works it's way between the auger screw and the auger tube, it could jam the auger. This could result in a blown motor or gearset, in addition to likely ruined food.

Caveats 2... Charcoal doesn't go out that easily. When the pellet grill goes into shutdown mode, it cuts the fuel auger and cranks up the combustion air. The preset time that air runs for is based on tests of how long it takes to burn out pellets. Charcoal on the other hand, might not burn that fast. To shut the grill down and not risk a flameback through the auger tube, I allow it to burn off everything that is in the auger tube. I empty the pellet hopper while it is still running and after I take the food off, I crank the temp to max so that it goes to high feed rate and let it go until it flames out.

09-07-2016, 08:22 PM	#5045
T.G Grrrrrr Join Date: Mar 2009 First Name: The Other Adam Posts: 15,559 Trading: (37)	Re: What's in your smoker? Thanks. Dom, those are solid questions, so here goes... Worth the effort? I think it was under the circumstances. I wanted the unique gritty flavor that charcoals produce. It wasn't intense like I could get on a webber kettle or burning lump on my santa maria, but it was there. The work involved in making the mix wasn't that much, I had the tail ends of a bag of Lazzari mesquite lump handy and most of what's left in the bag at that point is really small. But there are some extra things to deal with, it's not just as simple as dumping them together. I'll probably do it again, but wouldn't do it for everything. How much ash... a lot of fine, light ash that gets blown out of the fire cup and all over the bottom of the grill. Smashed up kingsford might be different, this was natural lump. Snuffing out fire on long cook... Not sure, maybe. There was definately more ash. Might blow enough around that some starts ending up in the bark too. Cleaned out after every use... Yes. I typically vacuum out my pellet grill after every run anyway, sometimes I skip, but this was definitely a "don't skip the cleanup". Caveats... If you get a piece of lump that isn't fully charcoal, and has some wood fiber left, and you crush it and it splinters, if one of these splinters works it's way between the auger screw and the auger tube, it could jam the auger. This could result in a blown motor or gearset, in addition to likely ruined food. Caveats 2... Charcoal doesn't go out that easily. When the pellet grill goes into shutdown mode, it cuts the fuel auger and cranks up the combustion air. The preset time that air runs for is based on tests of how long it takes to burn out pellets. Charcoal on the other hand, might not burn that fast. To shut the grill down and not risk a flameback through the auger tube, I allow it to burn off everything that is in the auger tube. I empty the pellet hopper while it is still running and after I take the food off, I crank the temp to max so that it goes to high feed rate and let it go until it flames out.