Charcoal question

[Chili Head]

On cooks around 4 - 5 hours is it better to setup the charcoal basket then add a few lit coals to get a long burn or use a chimney full and wait till all the coals are grey then dump em in? I'm thinking the heat would be too high even with the vents almost closed off..by time the temp came down the coals would be half burned up.

I'm asking because I read about an off taste briquets can give off when the coals are lighting and smoking. During a slow burn this is happening almost the whole time. The last ribs I cooked were great and I didn't pick up on anything strange so I'm going to keep doing what works until it gets broken.

 

[MrAdam]

Best way to light coals is to dump 15 lit coals on your load of unlit charcoal. I've never noticed an off flavour by doing this.

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[Big Poppa]

ok as you cook more you will get more comfortable..right now you are using a very conservative ap0proach which works... I always start with a full basket a quick hit of the torch....when the cook is over I close the vents...I can usually get 3 cooks out of a full basket then I start over.

The real key is that you have discovered that many charcoals taste different....I cant stand kingsford blue in the drum....IU can use it in a gravity feed....I like really good lump...If I cant find that I will go with kingsford comp in a pinch....

Most charcoal cookers rely on the charcoal slowly catching fire to produce the smoke flavor....

 

[BabelBBQ]

I hadn't even considered leaving the leftover charcoal in the basket for another cook. Sounds a lot easier than what I was doing, after each cook I was dumping the leftovers in a small covered metal can for storage. No more!

 

[scooter]

I'm asking because I read about an off taste briquets can give off when the coals are lighting and smoking. During a slow burn this is happening almost the whole time. The last ribs I cooked were great and I didn't pick up on anything strange so I'm going to keep doing what works until it gets broken.

You've just dis-proven one of the many myths out there about briquets. I absolutely love K blue bag charcoal. It burns even and lllooonnnnnngggggg. Much longer than lump. And I also have never detected any off taste. I love lump for grilling applications where I want higher heat.
For lighting on long cooks I'd say NEVER do this "use a chimney full and wait till all the coals are grey then dump em in". Do what Mr Adam said. 10-15 lit on top and you'll hit your temp and stabilize quickly. BP's method of hitting the top of the unlit pile quickly with a torch is very interesting and I'm givin it a try. You always want to start small and build up. Never start hot and tame it down.

Also, after the cook is done and coals are cold, I'll take the coal basket to my ash can and shake it. The ash and coals that fall through the basket grates are thrown out. Everything big enough to not fall through the grates is reused for the next cook.

 

[Chili Head]

Thanks for the insight! I'm going to load it up next time and see how it goes. I did pick up some Stubbs lump to try too.