Pushing the UDS to it's limits

Cliff H.

Cliff H.

is Blowin Smoke!
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I wasn't sure about this but it looks like I am going to be ok.

I have 8 butts smoking over lump and pecan as we speak. I put them on when the temps were below 140. I wanted plenty of time for adjustments before the temps got to high. As it turns out with all the mass involved, my uds has taken a couple of hours to get up to 230 at the top grate.

 
Cliff, I think you hit the answer with that much meat on the UDS. 8 butts is a lot when put on at that temp. Once the temp is up, you should be able to rock and roll.
 
Yeah, definitely get the temp up before putting that much meat on. I even run mine up a ways further because the mass of meat will bring you back down...
 
Hows it going w/ the temps? With all that meat, = a lot of condensation... try opening your exhaust a little more to increase heat, I hope you have enough coals!
It will be a pain in the BUTT, to take them out to add fuel! LOL! Good Luck!
 
UDS is a bit shakey with holding temps at this hour. I am about 7 1/2 hours into the cook. Temps were rock solid in the 230 range once it got up to temp then it started to fall. At 218 I raised the lid a bit and in a no time it was back up to 250.

One hour later I had a temp spike in the makings.

Now I am hanging on to 220. I hate to go to bed right now.

This not the way may uds normaly acts but there is three times the amount of meat I normaly have in it.
 
Cliff H. said:
UDS is a bit shakey with holding temps at this hour. I am about 7 1/2 hours into the cook. Temps were rock solid in the 230 range once it got up to temp then it started to fall. At 218 I raised the lid a bit and in a no time it was back up to 250.

One hour later I had a temp spike in the makings.

Now I am hanging on to 220. I hate to go to bed right now.

This not the way may uds normaly acts but there is three times the amount of meat I normaly have in it.
Click to expand...
Give the can a good kick or 2 to shake ash loose.
 
When doing a big load like that on the UDS I found I needed to start with more lit charcoal than normal. I went to a heavy 3/4 instead of a heavy 1/2 of a chimney. Then I would let the temp go to about 250. When I put the meat on it would settle right in about 225-230. The extra moisture wasn't as much of a problem them... but I do have quite a few grease stains down the side to attest to the large cooks.
 
I did 8 butts (68 lbs.) a couple of weeks ago with outside temps in the teens. They were in the UDS for over 24 hours before they reached an internal temp of 200. I also flipped the grates every 6 hours to get an even cook. Be sure to work fast when the lid is off or you risk too much oxygen igniting a grease fire. Once I was done though I left the lid off and added a little kindling wood to get a good grease fire going and flames were shooting high into the cold winter night.:biggrin:
 
I've often wondered if you could get 4 butts on one grate. Now I know. How's the cook going?
 
Sure is a lot of butts on there ,but you will manage. Keep an eye out though.
 
I hope all that pork fat raining on your fire doesn't drown it out! That'll make lotsa grease!
 
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