Heat Beads in an Akorn

  • will keep this short as i have no idea. Father has an akorn however mother doesnt like the taste of lump so he is limited to heatbeads.

    How would he go about using them? Use a certain number? Only light a couple and let the fire spread? Light whole chimney full?

    My possessions: GMG DB - Ziggy Triple

  • Don't tell Mother... :D

    What about robo turds? They are fairly taste neutral.

    I've only ever mixed them in so perhaps others can chime in, but I'd go the minion method. Pile them up then chuck a bunch of lit ones on top and let them burn down.



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  • Or use a couple of Weber kettle charcoal baskets, the same as you would with a kettle. Kind of defeats the purpose of having a kamado though. Lump shouldn't give off a taste unless he's using some of that imported mangrove stuff.

    Big Green Egg - Asmoke Pellet Grill - Weber Kettle - Maximus Pizza Oven - Dragon Hibachi - Ziggy Portable - baby kamado - Grillz 2 burner - Cobb BBQ - Converted Gas Bottle Spit - Charbroil Grill2go - Anova sous vide - Digi Q controller - plus Tip Top Temp - Smokeware cap - Grill Grates

  • Have you tried a different charcoal? I find different types taste very different, for example if you have been using the cheap mangrove then I can understand why she might not like the taste and smell, maybe try kleenheat or another very neutral charcoal as they put out a totally different flavour.


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  • come for a visit so finally giving the akorn / heatbead combo a run. I went with the weber kettle baskets idea.

    Put 27 beads in each basket with additional 5 lit beads on top. Also put a wood chip foil pouch in the middle to keep baskets separated as much as possible.

    My possessions: GMG DB - Ziggy Triple

    Edited once, last by Swamptrout (March 24, 2018 at 6:48 PM).

  • temps have maxed out at 225c. A little higher than we wanted. Added a water bowl to try and bring temps down. Vents are at 1 position top and bottom.

    1.5hrs in and temp is at 190c.

    My possessions: GMG DB - Ziggy Triple

  • Ive been cooking with heatbeads in a kettle for... forever. Just recently got a dragon so it's a very new experience for me.

    Been reading a few threads on this but haven't read any info on 'why'. Why shouldn't heatbeads be used in a dragon? Or why is it not suitable? It is a heat source as is lump charcoal. In both instances, wood chunks are added to create smoke. So why not use heatbeads?

    Weber Q. Weber kettle. Rambo high output wok burner. New baby - Dragon Kamado

  • Ive been cooking with heatbeads in a kettle for... forever. Just recently got a dragon so it's a very new experience for me.

    Been reading a few threads on this but haven't read any info on 'why'. Why shouldn't heatbeads be used in a dragon? Or why is it not suitable? It is a heat source as is lump charcoal. In both instances, wood chunks are added to create smoke. So why not use heatbeads?

    You can use heat beads, Kingsford briquettes, robo turbs etc in the Akorn and Dragon because they are metal Kamados and won’t absorb the chemical vapours at start-up they can release.

    Ceramic Kamados on the other hand can absorb these chemicals and can release them back into the food giving it a chemical taste. This absorbing ability is why people season ceramic Kamados when they are first bought. Eg low and slow pulled pork. A bit like why people season cast iron cooking utensils.

    Another reason people don’t use briquettes compared to lump charcoal is that some briquettes create lots of ash and a pain to clean-up.

  • That's not why I don't use them. Nothing to do with vapours being absorbed at all in my opinion. It's more about the ask build up which then blocks the air holes in the bottom plate and can snuf the fire. A pit full of good charcoal like red gum will burn down better then a pile of heat beads and won't make enough ash to block up your air way

    Nobody said you can't use them, we just said you have better options and lump charcoal is one of those. I said this somewhere else but if you do use heat beads, use them in a Weber basket so at least they air can still come up the centre between the baskets.b

    And forget Kingsfords unless you are going to use them when grilling. For any sort of roasting or low and slow, they are useless. They don't burn long enough and they create a lot of ash.

    Big Green Egg - Asmoke Pellet Grill - Weber Kettle - Maximus Pizza Oven - Dragon Hibachi - Ziggy Portable - baby kamado - Grillz 2 burner - Cobb BBQ - Converted Gas Bottle Spit - Charbroil Grill2go - Anova sous vide - Digi Q controller - plus Tip Top Temp - Smokeware cap - Grill Grates

  • You can use heat beads just like lump. Just fill up the bowl and use the top and bottom vents to control the temp. A good example is how they use Kingsford briquettes in the Weber Summit.

    You can use lump and heat beads together. Eg lump on the bottom as the main fuel and heat beads on the top to give the meat the heat bead taste. Eg like you do with wood lumps/chips.

    You only need to burn heat beads for the first hour to give the meat the flavour.

    For low and slow heat bead flavour. Eg 10 hour cook, disperse the heat beads amongst the lump.

    If you have been cooking for years with a kettle, but want the extra versatility of a Kamado. The metal Akorn and Dragon are good because you can still enjoy the heat bead smoke flavour. Heat beads are made from brown coal and this helps give its different flavour.

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