Natural coal strategy

[ioannisds]

Picked up some "natural" coals Yashman recommended to me (Diamante fingers), and was going to give them a shot tonight. I have no experience whatsoever with natural coals, as I have used quicklights for years. Can someone give me some starting points regarding coals like this? I'm using a small (Mya) bowl, probably some Al Amir or AF, and foil. How many pieces of coal do you guys recommend I start with, and about what size? I'm just trying to avoid:a)Starting with way too little, and then having to go fire up another piece on the stove.b)Starting with way too much, and burning the shit out of my bowl. As a reference, I normally use one 40mm Three Kings per bowl, and I can go for 45 minutes to an hour pretty easy.

[Joseph]

Fire up a few, add one, if thats not enough add another. Have one or two extra going just in case.

[NorthEastSmoker]

I use Nour fingers, and love them.. I usually light up 3, about 1-1.5" in length each on my stove top.. get them well lit, until they're ashed over on all sides.... set 2 of them up on opposite sides, on the edges of my bowl.. get it smoking well, move them around a tad (they tend to ash a TON).. when it quiets down a bit, add the 3rd one.. those 3 will usually last me a good 1-1.5 hour smoke session.. if I'm doing a big bowl, I'll light a 4th 1-1.5" finger about 1/2-way through and put it on as needed..