Lumpwood vs briquettes: which burns longer?
On a single load, dense briquettes burn longer than lumpwood: 5–8 hours for hexagonal briquettes against 3–4 hours for birch lumpwood on an open grill. But lumpwood lights in 10–15 minutes and runs hotter at the start, and in a closed kamado with the vents nearly shut, good lumpwood can last up to 8 hours too. How you cook matters as much as what you burn.
