Aluminum UDS diffuser

E

el_matt

Babbling Farker
Joined
Dec 8, 2009
Location
Turlock...
I was just given a 15" diameter, 1/8" thick aluminum candle holder. It's smooth on the bottom, and has a hammered top. Any reason I can't drill a few holes and have a heat diffuser for my UDS?

Matt
 
Should a diffuser plate be drilled? How many holes and what size for a 10" to 12" aluminum plate that is .250 thick?
 
IMHO a diffuser plate needs some holes. Reasons for that are to let some heat hit the meat directly and also to let some of the fat and juices fall through to the coals. I have been using a thin metal piece on my drums and it works well. A friend made me a couple of 1/4" thick plates with various cutouts in them and used them for the first time yesterday. Drum worked the best it ever has. Sorry no pics of those,but I'll get some up in the next few days. Here is a pic of the thin plate. I just drilled some holes, used it, then drilled some more and used it again. Repeat. It is still a work in progress.

P1130261.jpg


I think the key is to have more air space, holes, toward the outer edge. But what do I know?
 
Ok, I'm almost done sanding my disc, and gonna start drilling holes today. How far above my basket does the diffuser need to sit?

Matt
 
Be careful with the distance. Aluminums melting point is only 1220 degrees F. I once used 1/8th inch thick dividers in my offsets firebox charcoal basket then went to check the charcoal a while later and guess what no plates. They were in a pool puddled up on the bottom of the firebox.
 
Thanks Skidder. It would suck to have the fire snuffed by molten metal!! What do you think, half way between the top of the basket and the grate?

Matt
 
This is what I use. It's spring steel strapping woven through an old cooking grate. It stops the direct heat but still lets some dripping through.
thanksgiving026.jpg
 
Skidder said:
This is what I use. It's spring steel strapping woven through an old cooking grate. It stops the direct heat but still lets some dripping through.
thanksgiving026.jpg
Click to expand...

nice! someone had a bacon weave epiphany
 
Skidder said:
This is what I use. It's spring steel strapping woven through an old cooking grate. It stops the direct heat but still lets some dripping through.
Click to expand...

Skidder.... that is pretty interesting indeed! Have you checked different spots on your cooking surface to see how much variation there is? I can see how that would let smoke through over the entire surface, so I would hope it could dissipate the heat more evenly over the cooking surface too...
 
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