Captain Morgan said:
by the way, check out the ceramic fire flash video on that site.
Eggs will do that if they are shut down after being revved up to 700 or so while cooking steaks and such.
Oddly enough the BGE book tells you to sear the steals while the temps are soaring, then shut the cooker down for two minutes at the end to finish the steaks. They also say to open the vents first before opening the lid after this, but who reads instructions beforehand? This is when I got my arm blasted with a giant puff of burning gas.
I am aware of this now and carefully open the vents on the egg FIRST to let in some oxygen slowly and burn off the accumulated gas before opening the lid.
Try it...after a few times you can judge when to scoop up the coals for perfect lump every time!
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I have been making my own lump for years. I just get a good "campfire" going with downed limbs and leftover firewood. When the wood has burned down to coals, I scoop them up and place them in a Weber grill and put the top on with all the vents closed. ( Of course any airtight container that can take the heat will work. I have made charcoal with tin foil in the gas grill.) The next day (or two if you really want to be safe) you open the lid and the will be some of the nicest lump charcoal you will ever come by. Pick out the big lumps and put them on a bag or a garbage can with a waterproof lid.
The trick is to boil off the hydrogen, and then shut off the oxygen when only the carbon remains to stop the oxidation process. In other words: Burn it down to coals and then cut off the air and let it cool.