Indirect heat/direct heat

While I agree with the following to some extent...

CaptGrumpy said:

I think at that low of a temp the distance from the direct source may play a role as to cooking faster than drying out a piece of meat.

Click to expand...

OSD said:

Distance from the fire or offsetting from the fire eases the radiant effect and then the created environment takes over. JMHO

Click to expand...

I think we are missing one very important point. Just how much charcoal is actually burning at any point in time? On my UDS, I've gotten as much as an 18 hour burn on roughly 8 - 10 pounds of lump. To me, that's saying that there cannot be all that much burning at any point and the heat is going to be disapated rather quickly throughout the cooker, unlike a grill where you go through 4 or 5 pounds in the span of say an hour.

To tell the truth, I've been known to go through 40 pounds of lump and a dozen logs on my Lang in 12 hours. Yes, it's a larger cooker and in order to keep the temps up in the cooking chamber, I need to have a good amount of heat in the fire box. Something we just don't need in a UDS.

Direct and indirect heat are radically different in terms of cooking. In this case 250 degrees direct is not the same as 250 degrees indirect.

3 types of heat,

conduction -hot solid/liquid contact, like oil, your cooking grates or water
radiant, think the warmth you feel from standing to the side of your camp fire
convection, hot air moving around the food

The above scenario of sitting in the sun is a perfect example. The air temp can be 90 degrees in and out of the shade, however your body will take up the extra radiant heat if you are sitting in the sun. Your food is the same way.

edit,
Hook line covered all of the above

the air in air theory if the heat is moving fast the meat will not asorbe as much heat the more heat the meat asorbe the better use of btu you are getting.

I suppose this smoker would be consider direct heat it work great but it have a baffle system betwenn fireboy and heat chamber with this much wood it will be on 275. Very good fuel /air ratio


baffle /deflector over firebox heat come out in 4 points very even heat
it think it a big green egg. I luck out on the baffle designe I suppose a blind hog find an acorn sometime

Convection
Radiant
Conduction
Fat Up
Fat Down
Slather
No Slather
Wood
Briquets
Lump
Pellets
Foil
No Foil
Blue Thermapen
Orange Thermapen
Green Thermapen
Egg
Off Set
UDS
Kettle

I used to think this was easy!

trp1fox said:

Convection
Radiant
Conduction
Fat Up
Fat Down
Slather
No Slather
Wood
Briquets
Lump
Pellets
Foil
No Foil
Blue Thermapen
Orange Thermapen
Green Thermapen
Egg
Off Set
UDS
Kettle

I used to think this was easy!

Click to expand...

If it was easy, everybody would do it. :razz:

trp1fox said:

Convection
Radiant
Conduction
Fat Up
Fat Down
Slather
No Slather
Wood
Briquets
Lump
Pellets
Foil
No Foil
Blue Thermapen
Orange Thermapen
Green Thermapen
Egg
Off Set
UDS
Kettle

I used to think this was easy!

Click to expand...

You forgot "K" orientation. :biggrin:

You forgot "K" orientation.

Click to expand...

Up or Down? Great thread guys.

Paul

up and pointed to the left... ooppss your other left...

The important part is what color the offset is. But seriously I think back in the day it was just easier to control low and slow with an offset Now we've came up with ways to control the airflow better. I don't know why the UDS wasn't built sooner.

This is a really interesting and informative thread.

All I know is that every smoker I have ever cooked on had it's own personality.
Even a pair of WSMs or FECs may not match up.

As soon as I figured that personality out, I could cook good eats on it.
Never knew why and did not think about it.
Just different personalities I guess, and I was able to adapt.
I was lucky, I guess

TIM

Revived!!!!

BUMP

This is a farkin great read.
I absolutely LOVE this place. THIS is the kind of stuff I just love to find and learn here.


THIS PLACE ROCKS!!!!
:thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb::thumb:

Well I thank you for asking the question way back when. I learned about the difference between conduction, convection and radiant cooking a while back. Thought it would be a great way for newer folks to learn some of the "science" in this thing we call BBQ.

Just another way to show that there are SO many variables in cooking with fire and smoke. 225 isn't necessarily the same as 225.




The way I have learned to achieve good convection is to keep my exhaust vent(s) 100% open all the time. I control the airflow only through my intakes. What this does for me is instead of "choking" the cooker temp by limiting the airflow out (and thus airflow in), I control the intakes, thereby creating a constant "suction" of fresh oxygen to the fuel. I first learned this on my stick burner offset. Smallest fire possible, exhaust open and intakes cracked just enough to get the cook chamber where I wanted it. This creates the swirling, fresh smoke environment and keeps the air moving, thereby giving me convection, which also speeds up the cook.

Pretty wild that I had to literally start cooking with charcoal and wood outside to finally understand what really happens in a convection oven inside......:thumb: