UDS Fuel

[Teleking]

So I have to say that the burn times on the UDS are very impressive. However, the wife and I are less than impressed with the charcoal flavor from the RO briq’s and red oak chunks. Yeah I know RO but it was on clearance at Lowes over the winter for $1.25/bag and I got a lot of it. The guests loved the food and thought it was great but 2 thumbs down from the wife and edible for me (barely). She actually smothered ribs in BBQ sauce (insult to the cook) and still couldn’t eat it. I have set the bar pretty high with the other cookers with flavor and quality and the wife said the Q is better on the offset.

So how does one get around the gray charcoal smoke flavor in the UDS?? I have seen many people post pic’s of using briquettes and the minion method in a WSM’s and UDS. Is that the flavor people are looking for and what they expect????

My next option is lump and hopefully that helps. What do you use for fuel to not get the charcoal flavor?????

Thanks

[Yakfishingfool]

I've never gotten a foul flavor from royal oak, are you sure it wasn't cowboy? Also what was your drum in a previous life? Scott

[Bbq Bubba]

Problems not with the RO, look elsewhere.
Try some fruit woods or good ol' Hickory chunks.

[Divemaster]

I use RO lump all the time (same sale at Menards)... Never a problem... Look to a diff. wood...

Yak brings up a good point about the drum....

[Teleking]

Thanks for the responses. The drum is a food grade unlined bare steal and steam cleaned and definitely RO. I didn’t know Cowboy made briquettes. I have pretty much been using red oak exclusively (have a lot as fire wood) in my off set for years. It literally tastes like the light gray smoke that the charcoal gives off when it is lighting. I am use to stick burning and relatively new to the UDS. I was intrigued by the long burn times.

I know a lot of people use the minion method with briquettes but if that is the flavor you’re shooting for, not my cup of tea.

[Weiser]

See. I told ya it might be a stupid question!
Spank me.

This may be a stupid question..
did you burn out the drum?
I too doubt very much that it was the RO, but the wood.
Look for a bag of Hickory chunks and try that before you write
it off to the RO.

Weiser

[motley que]

Enough exhaust? If not maybe getting flavor you don't like

[Divemaster]

Originally Posted by Teleking

Thanks for the responses. The drum is a food grade unlined bare steal and steam cleaned and definitely RO. I didn’t know Cowboy made briquettes. I have pretty much been using red oak exclusively (have a lot as fire wood) in my off set for years. It literally tastes like the light gray smoke that the charcoal gives off when it is lighting. I am use to stick burning and relatively new to the UDS. I was intrigued by the long burn times.

I know a lot of people use the minion method with briquettes but if that is the flavor you’re shooting for, not my cup of tea.

Originally Posted by Weiser

See. I told ya it might be a stupid question!
Spank me.

This may be a stupid question..
did you burn out the drum?
I too doubt very much that it was the RO, but the wood.
Look for a bag of Hickory chunks and try that before you write
it off to the RO.

Weiser

I would think about burning the drum... There may be something there that wasn't removed during the steam cleaning....

[Teleking]

Originally Posted by motley que

Enough exhaust? If not maybe getting flavor you don't like

two 1" holes and both bungs open. I notice some people only have the 2" bung open with a stack and that gives way more exhaust.

It was also burner out and seasoned with cooking spray. I guess the question is Bruquetts or Lump?

[SoEzzy]

The other question that springs to my mind is, how long did you let it burn before you put the meat on?

I use a Weber kettle lid that has 4 x 3/4" holes (I think 3/4") that would be 1.76" square, my new flat lids have 8 x 1/2" = 1.57" square, they both smoke fine, with a 2" hole you're looking at double the exhaust 3.14" square, so I doubt you're getting stale smoke.

It could also be a rogue bag of charcoal that had at some time in it's life got wet, and dried funky, I've had this happen with one bag of Rancher, it was hard to light and wouldn't maintain temperature once it was lit.

[jazzspot]

Are you using Royal Oak lump or the Royal Oak briquettes? Two different types of fuel from Royal Oak. I've never used the Royal Oak briquettes, so I don't know if they give off a slightly different scent while burning. The RO lump while burning, is fine to my taste palate. Never noticed a foul taste on my foods with the RO lump.

[Teleking]

Thanks SoEzzy my broth-ah from anoth-ah (well you know). I wait at least an hour for any cooker to get in the grove. It is the briquettes and at $1.25 thought it was a steal and bought 200 lbs. Can’t find RO lump around these parts, never seen it. I actually have used other bags and not had this problem so that begs the question. I’ll pull another bag from the stash and give it a whirl. I have done minion before in another cooker with a combo or lump and briq’s and never had this problem. Never even gave the QA/QC issues a thought. Just another challenge in the pursuit of excellent BBQ.

One good thing is I got the off-set to keep me in quality Q while I get this UDS dialed in to my expectations.