Boshizzle
somebody shut me the fark up.
Update on my excursion with a UDS -
I have about 10 cooks under my belt using my UDS and here are a few things that I have learned.
The UDS is a fun way to cook BBQ. You build it the way you want, you don't pay an arm and a leg, and, after a small learning curve, it holds temps steady as a rock. All things considered, it is easier to clean than my CG Outlaw w/SFB too.
I tried cooking without a diffuser and with a diffuser. I decided I liked the diffuser better since I am more accustomed to BBQ flavor without fat hitting the fire. I use a cheap Walmart grill just above the charcoal basket with a round 15" clay pot tray on it as the diffuser and it works great.
I had some trouble with the temps through a couple of cooks. I just couldn't get the temps up to 250 degrees. I used trial and error to figure what was going wrong. First, I changed the way I setup my square shaped charcoal basket. Using something akin to the Minion method, I started putting unlit charcoal around the edges leaving the bottom of the basket for the lit coals. This allows more oxygen to the fire.
The second thing I did, and this one really gave me a lot of control over the temps and prevent them from going up and down like a yoyo, was to setup a wind shield around the inlet of my UDS. I use what ever is handy like a cinder block, my CG Outlaw with its cover over it, some bags of charcoal, etc. It seems that wind actually sucks air out of the intake preventing enough of it from getting into the drum. In fact, the first time I put up the wind barrier, my temps shot up from 225 to 400 before I knew what happened. Right now I am running at 275 with about a 1/2 gap in my inlet (I used an inlet for a BGE). As long as I fill my charcoal basket right and keep the wind away from the inlet my UDS will keep 275 steady as a rock for hours.
I know how frustrating temp control can be and I hope some of what I learned can help someone else. Vive la UDS! The be all and end all BBQ smoker. ;-)
I have about 10 cooks under my belt using my UDS and here are a few things that I have learned.
The UDS is a fun way to cook BBQ. You build it the way you want, you don't pay an arm and a leg, and, after a small learning curve, it holds temps steady as a rock. All things considered, it is easier to clean than my CG Outlaw w/SFB too.
I tried cooking without a diffuser and with a diffuser. I decided I liked the diffuser better since I am more accustomed to BBQ flavor without fat hitting the fire. I use a cheap Walmart grill just above the charcoal basket with a round 15" clay pot tray on it as the diffuser and it works great.
I had some trouble with the temps through a couple of cooks. I just couldn't get the temps up to 250 degrees. I used trial and error to figure what was going wrong. First, I changed the way I setup my square shaped charcoal basket. Using something akin to the Minion method, I started putting unlit charcoal around the edges leaving the bottom of the basket for the lit coals. This allows more oxygen to the fire.
The second thing I did, and this one really gave me a lot of control over the temps and prevent them from going up and down like a yoyo, was to setup a wind shield around the inlet of my UDS. I use what ever is handy like a cinder block, my CG Outlaw with its cover over it, some bags of charcoal, etc. It seems that wind actually sucks air out of the intake preventing enough of it from getting into the drum. In fact, the first time I put up the wind barrier, my temps shot up from 225 to 400 before I knew what happened. Right now I am running at 275 with about a 1/2 gap in my inlet (I used an inlet for a BGE). As long as I fill my charcoal basket right and keep the wind away from the inlet my UDS will keep 275 steady as a rock for hours.
I know how frustrating temp control can be and I hope some of what I learned can help someone else. Vive la UDS! The be all and end all BBQ smoker. ;-)
