The Best Way to Mix Lump Charcoal and Charcoal Briquettes.

Today I was thinking about the great charcoal debate of Lump Charcoal vs Charcoal Briquettes. I was going over all the pros and cons I can think of and then I hade a thought. What would happen if you mixed them? So I got online and did some reading I’m sure I’m not the first person to think of this. After a little searching, I found a lot of other people talking about it in forums. Here’s everything I found out on the subject so far in case this is something you want to give a try.

Yes, you can mix Lump charcoal with Charcoal Briquettes. When mixing Lump charcoal with charcoal briquettes you’re going to get a little of the pro and cons of each. By mix the two types of charcoal you may have a problem with controlling your heat.

I’m sure you’ve got more questions I know I did like how should I mix them. Do I dump on bag into the other and shack it to mix them I don’t know. Or do I just dump them into the grill and hope for the best? Also, I know that lump charcoal tends to burn hotter then charcoal Briquettes is that going to be a problem. I don’t want to lose control of my heat and burn dinner. So I kept on digging throw the forums and got some good answers. Here everything I dug up so you can save your self so time.

Best way to Mix Lump and Briquettes

Let start with the best way to mix your lump charcoal with charcoal briquettes. After lots of reading, I found the best way to mix the two types of charcoal is to not axially mix them. The best way to use your lump charcoal with charcoal briquettes is to layer them.

What your going to want to do is light a chimney of charcoal briquettes and make a bed of lit briquettes on the charcoal grates and then add your lump charcoal on top of that. This way your lighting the lump charcoal with the lit charcoal briquettes. By doing it this way the small pieces of the lump won’t fall throw the grates instead they’ll sit on top of the briquettes.

Now I’m not saying you have to do it that way some people like to start their grilles with briquettes and then switch to lump charcoal as they start to burn out. Iv also read about people making two zones one with lump and one with briquettes. I just don’t see any benefits of making a zone with lump and a zone with briquettes. So really it up to you how you want to mix your lump charcoal with your charcoal briquettes.

Added Benefits of Mixing

There some added benefits of using these two types of charcoal to gather. First, you’re going to be able to get higher heat like you would have if you just used lump. Also, you’re going to get a batter smokey flavor in your food from the lump. If you’re not for miller with lump charcoal let me give you a little background on it.

Lump charcoal is made from whole pieces of wood, not sawdust-like briquettes. So do to the uneven shape every piece might not be fully carbonized inside. Sins it’s not fully carbonized it will burn hotter and give off a bit more smoke and flavor of the wood its made from. But the uneven carbonizing and hotter burning temperature also causes it to burn faster so you don’t get as much cook time as you do with briquettes.

But sin you have a bed of briquettes under it you don’t have to worry about the shorter burn time. Since I did a quick back round on lump here’s a little bit on how briquettes are made. Briquettes are made from a mix of sawdust that has been fully carbonized then it mixed with a few other additives. It’s then pressed into the square were all used to seeing. This makes them all the same exact size and shape and ensures that every piece is fully carbonized. So you’ll get a more even and longer burn along with better temperature control.

Using both charcoal in a layered set up means your going to get the best of both worlds. Your going to get batter flavor added to your food, high temperatures, and longer cook times. It does make sense that you wood but that means your going to get the problems of both as well. If you like to learn more about lump charcoal and briquettes and all the other types of charcoal you can click here.

Some Problem You Might Get From Mixing

So like I said above sins your using both types of charcoal you’ll get some problems. The first problem is going to be temperature control. Both lump charcoal and charcoal briquettes are going to react differently to you adjusting yours are intake. This means it going to be hard to get a specific temperature. If you’re trying to do a low and slow cook it could run off on you.

This is going to be due to the uneven shape of the lump charcoal. Like I mentioned above lump charcoal is made from whole pieces of wood. That means it all different sizes and shapes and that is going to make it burn unevenly. The little pieces are going to light and burn fast, and your bigger pieces are going to take a bit longer to be fully lit but once they are they’re going to make a lot of heat and smoke.

Now sens you’re using lump on a bed of already lit briquettes you might not want all that extra heat. So you’re going to want to be careful when adjusting your air intake. Like most everything when your trying something new and still learn how to do it take your time and make small adjustments as you go.

The next things aren’t really problems just more so things to wich out for. So if your new to using lump charcoal something you might not be ready for is it throwing off sparkes. Sens some of the bigger pieces on the lump might not be fully carbonized they may throw sparkes like wood in a campfire. This is due to them not being fulling carbonized on the inside as well as there is a little moisture still in the middle. It’s something you definitely want to keep an eye on especially if there are kids around.

Now on the other hand if you’re not for miller with using briquettes then you might not know that the make a lot of ash. Like I sad not really a problem just something yous should know. The ash is fin just make sure it doesn’t block your air intake and you shouldn’t have any problems.

Conclusion

There you have it, now you know how to best mix your lump charcoal with your charcoal briquettes. That’s by not mixing them at all but by layering them. Also, keep an eye on your temperature so it doesn’t run off on you. If you do this right you’ll end up with amazing tasting meats. If you’re new to either lump charcoal or charcoal briquettes then wich out for sparkes. Also, make sure you keep your air intake clear of ash buildup or else you’ll coke out your charcoal.

I look forward to trying this the next time I grill. I myself prefer to use briquettes oven lump so it will be nice to have a way to use up the bag of lump I have laying around. I think just adding a little on top of my briquettes is going to be the best thing to do. This way I gat the add smokey flavor without having to worry about my temperature running off on me.

As Always, Happy Grilling