Charcoal usage on an 11 hour cook with a Kamado Joe

[KamadoSimon]

Just a quick before and after showing the amount of lumpwood charcoal used yesterday.

I cooked a pork shoulder for 10 hours and left it going for another hour / hour and a half in order to be able to finish off the crackling once the meat had rested & I separated the fat from the meat.

So that means it was going for 11.5 hours, initial temperature was 300F, put the ceramic plate & water tray in & adjusted down to 220F ish. First hour saw the temperature fluctuate from 220 to 250F and back down once I closed the daisy wheel some more. Then it held 220-230F without adjustment for 10 hours! Pretty amazed at that.

As you can see, plenty left over so reckon it would have gone another 2 hours or so with the vents opened a little more.

Kamado Joe loaded with lumpwood charcoal & two natural firelighters (compressed sawdust):


Kamado Joe the morning after the 11.5 hour cook:

[JEC]

I can't believe how little charcoal these things use, I would have used twice that on other cookers, in around 5 years this will have paid for itself in the cost of lump alone

[keith157]

Now that's enonomical

[KamadoSimon]

Yeh yeh - you keep justifying the purchase..!!!! I so nearly went and bought a mini BGE - my son (4) is showing quite a lot of interest in the BBQ and thought this would be a great way for him & I to do one together as he struggles to see over the side of the KJ. But I think a little step next to the KJ is a cheaper way!!

[BBQFanatic]

Thats fantastic!!! On the WSM 47cm, we have done a 12hr brisket cook with only a single Weber chimney starter of lumpwood. We use a clay tray instead of a water pan, because the water consumes energy. The unit sat at 225F for the entire cook (+- 12hrs). To be fair, it was a warm evening and there was no wind. This was a mistake by us (as we thought we had more charcoal in), by the end we had nothing left in the WSM, but it was suprising at how economical it was using clay over water.