Fuel Calculator
Tell it your cooker, your pit temperature and how long the cook runs. It tells you how much fuel to have on the patio before you light anything.
Open now to anyone with the bundle or this tool
Why it exists
Running out of charcoal four hours into a twelve hour cook is a special kind of misery, and the shop is always further away than you remember. This works out what the cook will actually burn, in the units you buy fuel in, before the fire is lit.
What it does
Every fuel you might be running
Briquettes, lump, wood splits, pellets or propane, each with its own burn rate at your pit temperature.
The weather counts
Wind and cold make a pit drink fuel. A windy day, rain or snow, and a thin uninsulated build each add their own percentage, and the tool shows you the adjustments rather than hiding them.
Units you actually buy in
Pounds, yes, but also bags, chimneys and cords. "15 lb" is a number. "One 16 lb bag, buy two" is a decision.
The fire-up allowance
Getting to temperature costs fuel before the meat ever goes on, and that is counted separately so you can see it.
Three steps, start to finish
Pick your cooker and the fuel it burns.
Set the pit temperature and how long the cook runs.
Tick the weather and how often you open the lid. Buy what it says.
Who it is for
Anyone with a long cook coming up, and anyone who has done the 4 a.m. petrol station charcoal run. Offset owners, mostly, but pellet cooks get caught out by cold weather just as often.
What it will not do
Fuel burn depends on your particular pit, and a leaky offset can drink half again as much as a tight one. Cook once with the estimate, note what you actually used, and adjust the cooker build setting to match.
Questions
Does it know my exact smoker?
It knows six families of cooker and lets you say whether yours is thin, standard or insulated. That gets most people within a bag.
What about the wood I add for smoke?
On a charcoal cooker, smoke wood is a handful of chunks and is counted separately from the fuel load. The Wood and Smoke Picker sizes that side.
Is propane included?
Yes, by the tank and by the hour, which is mostly useful for knowing whether you can get through a long cook without swapping mid-way.
Fuel Calculator opens shortly
The store is not open yet. Tools will sell one at a time, or as a bundle that keeps feeding you the rest as they land. One payment either way, and up to three devices.
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Works alongside
These three come up most often on the same cook.
Cook Timeline Planner
Tell it what you are cooking and when you want to eat. It plans backward and hands you every clock time that matters, with the rest built in so you finish early instead of late.
See what it does ›Wood & Smoke Picker
Pick what you are cooking, what you are cooking on, and how much smoke you like. It ranks the woods, suggests a blend, tells you what to skip and sizes the wood for your cooker.
See what it does ›Cost & Profit
Know what a cook really costs before you light the fire, then price a plate or a catering job with the margin spelled out.
See what it does ›