my uds is a pile of s***

[bigiron2]

hey guys Ive done 2 cooks on my uds and the temp allways jumps super high like 400 and i close all the intakes and i dosent go down what the hell did i do wrong or what am i doing wrong im useing the minion smoking method and im just lost

[Johnny_Crunch]

How many coals you lighting? Are you leaving the lid off?

[bigiron2]

i have to to keep the temp down, like 1/2 a bag of kingford

[grantw]

you don't mention a lid?

[Bluesman]

Were are you checking the temp? Here's how I do mine. If I'm shooting for 275* and a long cook, I use 1/2 bag of K Blue and about 10 lit in the chimney, minion style. I let the temps start to rise and then close it down at 240 or so. Now my UDS uses the vent from a Large BGE and two 2" exhaust stacks. I close the intakes all but about 1/4" and the exhausts are wide open. I climb to 275*, throw on the meat and she cruises for hours. I take my temps right under the top grate.

[bigiron2]

Originally Posted by Bluesman

Were are you checking the temp? Here's how I do mine. If I'm shooting for 275* and a long cook, I use 1/2 bag of K Blue and about 10 lit in the chimney, minion style. I let the temps start to rise and then close it down at 240 or so. Now my UDS uses the vent from a Large BGE and two 2" exhaust stacks. I close the intakes all but about 1/4" and the exhausts are wide open. I climb to 275*, throw on the meat and she cruises for hours. I take my temps right under the top grate.

i did all the and i put the meat on and boom 400-450 and i cant get it back down

[Smokin' D]

If you are putting in a half bag of lit charcoal, that is WAY too much. 8 to 10 lit briquettes on top of your fuel in the charcoal basket will be perfect. Leave all vents open until the temp hits 200° and the start closing them down. It is much easier to bring the temp up than it is too cool it down. Sometimes I will just use a plumbers torch on the charcoal in the basket, 90 seconds works well, and then just follow the above procedure.

[BruceKWHP]

I light robot with a weed burner' using k blue, cowboy, or ,mesquite. I light about a 5x5" area leave the two intakes open (1" pipe and 1" ball valve), put the flat lid on that fits tight with the 2 1/2" exhaust wide open.

I wait for it to hit 200 or so, brush the grill and install food.

Wait again for 200/225 and close the ball valve or cap the pipe nipple depending on what is cooking.

Beef needs ball 1/2 open, pipe capped to hold 225.

Chicken /turkey without skin can need cap off plus 1/2 open ball valve.

Closing exhaust and both intakes will put out the fire in no time.

Air control is the key to holding temp. Cooking is just time / temp balancing.

Check for leaks?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

[Nations best barbeque]

We use 1/2 a chimney of charcoal for 250 and a full chimney for 300. We have 5 intake holes on the bottom. I'll leave two open and if it starts to climb I will take it down to one. Once it jumps up, its doesn't come back down so I just leave it and adjust my time to the new temp.

[bigiron2]

my lid dose not fit tight i think i got it figured out i might be using to much charcoal in mt starter chimney you guy gust through 8-10 lit bricks on a full to half full basket

[BruceKWHP]

Bingo. 10 lit max on top of basket.

Air tight = easy temp control.

[Bluesman]

Originally Posted by bigiron2

my lid dose not fit tight i think i got it figured out i might be using to much charcoal in mt starter chimney you guy gust through 8-10 lit bricks on a full to half full basket

Post a pic of your drum so we can see the lid issues

[bo_b_q]

Catching temps on the way up is key.

Making sure you only light a few briquettes is also important...I've done 12-15 before (usually do 7-10) to try to speed up the process of getting the drum to temp and all it did was make it difficult to manage temps the whole cook. Now if you want to get 300-350 it's not bad to do a few extra, but even that can be achieved with only a few coals to start. Doesn't seem to make much sense that 5 or 6 more coals would change much but in my experience it does.

Also checking for leaks could solve some problems. I didn't squeeze my lid down tight one time (it was on...just not pressed down and sealed all the way) and the temps started rising real quick. Thankfully I have my digital thermometer and caught it before it got too bad...doesn't take much to mess things up.

[Captain Dave]

Minion schminion. If your temps are too high you're getting too much air into the fuel. Period !!! I hope you understand that if the temps get high it'll take a while to get them back down when you shut your valves... it's not like a gas stove.

[jrn]

Half a bag? I use 10-12 lit briquettes. If its cold out, I'll use a few more. But I've never used more than 20, regardless of what temp I'm going to be cooking at!