Am I the only one who thinks lump charcoal is overrated?

I dug into some numbers from a Naked Whiz test last month and found that briquettes actually burn 20-30% longer per pound than most lump brands. I get the appeal of all-natural stuff, but for a 12-hour brisket cook, I'd rather not be reloading my WSM every 4 hours. Has anyone else switched back after giving lump a fair shot?

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dakotal194mo ago

Man, lump had me feeling like I was running a charcoal marathon with pit stops every few hours. Switched back to briquettes for my last brisket and actually got to sleep more than three hours without waking up to check if the fire was dying. Felt like such a dummy standing there with my cheap thermapen watching my WSM temp drop because I tried to be fancy with some cowboy brand lump that burned up in four hours flat.

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the_jake4mo ago

Gotta push back a little here. I've been using lump for years and never had that issue, but it really depends on the brand. Cowboy is notoriously inconsistent, like big chunks and huge dust pockets all mixed together. Try something like Royal Oak or Jealous Devil if you get a chance, they burn way more even and last way longer than briquettes in my experience. Idk, maybe it's just me but I've gotten 8-10 hour burns on a full basket of lump without touching it.

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