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Warning: Swapping to lump charcoal ruined my brisket bark for 3 months
Switched from standard Kingsford briquettes to some premium lump from a place in Austin called Fogo. First 5 cooks all had this weak, patchy bark that just flaked off. Turned out I needed to dial in my airflow way differently since lump burns hotter and faster. Anyone else have to completely relearn their temp control after switching fuel sources?
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keith1649d ago
Yeah man "the ash blanket" thing is real. I had that same issue when I switched last year. With briquettes that layer of ash actually helps insulate the meat and keep temps steady but with lump you don't get that so it throws everything off. I ruined like 4 briskets before I figured out I had to basically shut my vents down to almost nothing. Once I did that the bark started setting up way better and holding together. Lump burns so much cleaner too you gotta remember the firebox is getting way more oxygen than with briquettes so you gotta choke it way down. Totally agree it takes a few cooks to retrain your brain on how the airflow works.
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nancyramirez10d ago
Gotta say I had the exact opposite experience. Switched from briquettes to lump a couple years back and got better bark on my first try. The key is not overthinking it. Lump burns clean so it doesn't leave that ash blanket on top of the meat, which I think gives you a much better crust. Maybe your issue was running too much airflow? I keep my vents barely cracked with lump and it holds steady at 225-250 for hours. Briquettes always gave me that bitter chemical taste too, lump just tastes like wood smoke. Sounds like you might have been trying to run it like briquettes instead of adjusting your damper settings.
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Man that's a good point about the ash blanket I never thought about it that way. Makes sense since lump burns cleaner you get more direct heat on the meat surface. I found the same thing though about having to almost close off the vents completely with lump. With briquettes I could run them half open and get steady temps but lump needs barely any air or it shoots up past 300 real quick. Once I stopped trying to treat it like briquettes and just let the lump do its thing the bark turned out way better.
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