Dry brined overnight, then smoked for several hours over a mix of apple and cherry. Basted during final hour with a maple-orange glaze.

I seasoned the ribs overnight with raw sugar, kosher salt, #10 & #16 mesh black pepper, garlic powder, season salt, adobo powder, chipotle powder, celery seed, sumac, & arbol pepper using Italian dressing as a binder. I left the membrane intact on the ribs since it will protect the meat during the cooking process. I barbecued these ribs on my Weber Smoky Mountain smoker from start to finish using only direct heat, starting with the meat side down with the grill grate directly over the coal box. I made sure to move to ribs around so they would achieve a nice sear without burning. After the ribs had achieved a good crust I moved them to the top rack of the smoker with the water pan removed to keep the heat direct & cooked them at 300F until tender. I mopped the ribs every 8-12 minutes using a mixture of beer, orange juice, cider vinegar, onion, poblano, crushed garlic, lemon slices, brown sugar, salt, & arbol pepper that had been brought to a boil & allowed to cool (add 2 parts ketchup & 1 part mop to make a bbq sauce if desired). After cooking for 2 hours the ribs were ready to come off the smoker. The ribs were bite through tender while still retaining nice char/grill flavors, the cooking method also turned the membrane into a nice crispy texture with the soft meat. This was a really fun way to do ribs & while I don’t think this replaces smoking ribs with indirect heat I do think it’s a good alternative & suggest other people give it a try & see what they think. I served the ribs with sweet baked beans & esquite.

Greetings,

Cooking on a PK360 and trying to stick with lump, ideally something affordable like B&B. The bag is mostly small pieces (see pic). I’m aiming for about 500F indirect for crispy chicken thighs. Would be nice to go even hotter for pizza on a stone.

The best I’ve managed is 450°F, and only with a wide single-layer fire, which eats into my cooking space. When I pile on more charcoal, the small pieces pack tight, airflow drops, and the temp falls, even with both vents wide open. I light with a full chimney.

Briquettes get there fine, but I’d like less ash. Any tricks for arranging small lump, or is the answer just a better bag, or briquettes?

many thanks in advance,

a.p.

I teriyaki’d some thighs, wanna see??

Stopped by Home Depot and found 17.6 lb bags of FOGO Premium Lump Charcoal on clearance for just $5.74 each!

They had 36 bags left, so naturally, I bought every single one of them! 😂🔥

That's over 633 pounds of premium lump charcoal for just $206.64 before tax!

Looks like the Big Green Egg won't be running out of fuel anytime soon!

What's the best charcoal deal you've ever scored?

I grilled some pork chops tonight on my 26 using the reverse sear method. I had some B&B charcoal left over from a couple of previous cooks so I put about seven new ones in the bottom of my chimney and put in the remaining older charcoal. I dumped the hot coals with a couple of hickory chunks in the charcoal baskets in the center and put the chops on the side to smoke, damping down the top vent. After five minutes of smoking on each side I put the chops right on the flames and turned them appropriately for another five minutes. After I took them off the grill, I closed the lid but left the vents wide open because the charcoal was old and I thought it would be better to use new ones for the next cook. I left it and went inside for a great meal. Two hours later I figured the coals would have burned off enough. Instead, I found that the temperature climbed up to 500 degrees! Granted it’s been unseasonably warm today with a high of 72 and current outside temperature of 66 degrees as I post this but still! I’ve never seen that happen with other brands of charcoal. I don’t even have a Wooly Bully cover yet. Very impressive!

I’ll be doing the Thanksgiving turkey over charcoal. I’ve done breasts over Kingsford briquettes and they have always come out well. Today I’m trying a chicken over Meat Church lump charcoal. Open to any and all suggestions, what would you use for the best result on a turkey? TIA

Was checking Homedepot out and one near me in Lorain Ohio has Fogo in clearance.

I am curious about your experience with these brands of lump. El Diablo mesquite lump. A 40lb sack at costco will set you back $24.49. The other option is Frontier mesquite, a 34lb sack sets you back $25.79. Are they free of debris, and how is the burn?

Cut out of a chuck roast, tied with butchers twine for shape and uniformity. Dry brined in about 1.3-1.4% salt by weight for six and a half hours. forward seared the shit out of it 30 second per side at a time in several increments until I was happy with the crust on the 18 inch kettle grill using green bag B&B lump charcoal. Then moved to indirect and inserted probe into center muscle. Pulled at 115F internal and rested 10 minutes. fresh cracked black pepper upon removing from heat. Untied then broke into separate muscles and sliced. Served with sauteed asparagus and finished off the meal with peanut butter, vanilla and chocolate ice cream. Honestly one of the best meals I've eaten in a while.

18 inch weber kettle green bag B&B lump charcoal. Bought the wings pre-seasoned from Ralphs butcher counter and left them on a wire rack for 2-3 hours to tack up the marinade then covered loosely with plastic wrap for another 3-4 hours. Indirect heat for 30 minutes, flipping at the 15 minute mark. Avocado oil on the celery and put the bunch of celery on direct heat with 10 minutes remaining in the indirect wing time. With 5 minutes left I flipped the celery. Drumettes were temping at 175 after the indirect portion so I opened the lid and just finished searing everything on direct heat. Balsamic vinaigrette drizzled over the celery immediately after removing from heat. Shaved parmesan. Eat. Was delicious.

I seasoned the Cornish hens with salt, season salt, black pepper, grains of paradise, garlic powder, arbol powder, & sumac. I then stuffed compound butter under the skin consisting of garlic (lots), white miso, parsley, lovage, rue, pineapple sage, lemon pepper, & the chicken seasoning, then let it dry out in the fridge overnight uncovered. Right before I placed the chicken on the smoker I stuffed them with cooked rice, jalapeno, onion, corn, slab bacon & the compound butter. I then cooked the chicken on the top rack of my “Weber Smoky Mountain” smoker at 300F using a blend of lump charcoal & pear wood. I rotated the chicken every 12-15 minutes so it cooked evenly. At the 40 minute mark I flipped the chicken breast side down & let the chicken cook an additional 20 minutes. I finished the Cornish hens directly over the coals to achieve a crispy flavorful skin. The meat was served with the rice stuffing, deviled eggs & cornbread.

Cut out of a chuck roast. dry-brined in 1.5% salt by weight for eight hours. 18 inch Weber kettle B&B lump charcoal. Cooked indirect until 106F internal, then patted dry and seared 30 seconds per side. Would have liked a little better crust but took it off to maintain the desired internal temp. Cracked black pepper over it immediately after removing from the heat. rested for 8 minutes. Internal temp after 5 minutes of resting was 127-128F.