1st UDS Pork Butt, Thank you all!!!

deerslayer8153 · Jun 19, 2011

This is an amazing place! Sooooo much information!

Using your info I built a UDS. I followed lots of your advice and have been doing a weekly cook to get used to controlling temps in my UDS rather than dive in and to a butt like I wanted to.

First two cooks were st louis ribs, they were so-so. Have done chicken a few times, both halved and 8 piece. I was amazed how good the chicken was, especially the thighs since I usually am a white meat guy!

You guys were right, I needed to learn my UDS, I had lots of drastic temp fluctuations. I now have a better understanding of what to do.

Did a small brisket last week, it was a bit dry but tasted wonderful, I had a little trouble with temps being a bit high though.

Today did my first UDS pork butt. Just as you all told me, the practice has helped me learn how to better control the temp. It rocked along at 244-255 for 11 hours with minimal tending. Got to 205 internal,let it rest in foil in a warmed ice chest for an hour and WOW!!!

Flavor was wonderful, maybe a bit dry but really it was good, wife was impressed!

I know this is a learning process, and I am learning. Next time I'll shoot for maybe 225 degrees as a cook temp.

Again, thank you all!!!

Boshizzle · Jun 19, 2011

Congrats, bro! The brethren are great but give yourself some kudos too. It takes passion to do what you did.

martyleach · Jun 20, 2011

Hey, good for you!! Learning how to smoke (and Lord knows I need to keep learning..) is great fun. Do you use a drip pan? I find that in the UDS that acts somewhat as a heat diffuser and kind of mellows out the heat. I frequently use a water/drip pan(beef broth, apple juice, whole onion, celery, whatever) underneath when low temp smoking,to keep things a little moister because the heat is directly under the meat. It also tastes pretty awesome when you are done....

If you are having trouble controlling temps, you have a problem with too much air getting into the drum. Did you weld the 3/4" nipples on the bottom of the drum or just thread them in?
How is the fit of your lid? This is usually the culprit.

LoneStarMojo · Jun 20, 2011

Great job man!...I plan on building 3 UDS's before summer is done...Think I'll follow your UDS workout plan and learn to controls temps as well. Thanks for sharing your experiences because it adds to the depth of knowledge here at the Brethren and helps others be the best Brethren we can be!

smokeraddict · Jun 20, 2011

Great job,
this looks great i will try soon my first one

deerslayer8153 · Jun 20, 2011

Marty,

The nipples are threaded and the Weber top fits pretty good I think. I know if I shut all the nipples and close the exhaust, it'll start slowing pretty quickly and kill the fire leaving charcoal for the next cook.

So far it looks like in my case I need to start via the Minion Method with about a half chimney on top of the fire basket. Let it get up to temp with the lid on and all 3 nipples open, then start regulating with the ball valve. Yesterday it stayed very stable with the ball valve about 3/4 open most of the time. It was the most stable fire I have run and I was pretty happy!!

I did add a 9" water pan on the lower grate the last 2 cooks, it seems to even out the temps across the upper grate making the center closer to the same temp as the edges.

This is fun!

Randbo · Jun 20, 2011

martyleach said:
Hey, good for you!! Learning how to smoke (and Lord knows I need to keep learning..) is great fun. Do you use a drip pan? I find that in the UDS that acts somewhat as a heat diffuser and kind of mellows out the heat. I frequently use a water/drip pan(beef broth, apple juice, whole onion, celery, whatever) underneath when low temp smoking,to keep things a little moister because the heat is directly under the meat. It also tastes pretty awesome when you are done....

If you are having trouble controlling temps, you have a problem with too much air getting into the drum. Did you weld the 3/4" nipples on the bottom of the drum or just thread them in?
How is the fit of your lid? This is usually the culprit.

Great job on your first Butt there it looks great!!!! I like the water pan in UDS also.

gaspipe1 · Jun 20, 2011

deerslayer8153 said:
So far it looks like in my case I need to start via the Minion Method with about a half chimney on top of the fire basket.

I am new to my UDS myself and have only used my smoker twice, but I have ready multiple times to only use 8-13 briqs in the chimney. Any more then that and you will have a tough time keeping the temp low.

I use the side burner on my gas grill and it works great w/my chimney starter.

1FUNVET · Jun 20, 2011

deerslayer8153 said:
Marty,

The nipples are threaded and the Weber top fits pretty good I think. I know if I shut all the nipples and close the exhaust, it'll start slowing pretty quickly and kill the fire leaving charcoal for the next cook.

So far it looks like in my case I need to start via the Minion Method with about a half chimney on top of the fire basket. Let it get up to temp with the lid on and all 3 nipples open, then start regulating with the ball valve. Yesterday it stayed very stable with the ball valve about 3/4 open most of the time. It was the most stable fire I have run and I was pretty happy!!

I did add a 9" water pan on the lower grate the last 2 cooks, it seems to even out the temps across the upper grate making the center closer to the same temp as the edges.

This is fun!

You might try closing the nipples before it gets to temp you want and only use the ball valve.Takes a little longer but i found out its easier to get the temp up to what i want than trying to bring it down when it gets too high..Also i only have to have one nipple open along with the ball valve to start.Might give this a try next time.

RevZiLLa · Jun 20, 2011

You've come a long ways and you did it yourself. :clap:

1st UDS Pork Butt, Thank you all!!!

deerslayer8153

Knows what a fatty is.

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Boshizzle

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1FUNVET

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RevZiLLa

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