HELP UDS not staying hot enough

Kickback BBQ on Guam

Kickback BBQ on Guam

Knows what a fatty is.
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I finally finished the first of many UDS builds and did a test run last night. I'm not getting the consistent temperatures that everyone raves about. I closed the first hole at 200 and the second at 220. The temp went up to 235 and stayed there for about 45 min. Then it started to drop and would not maintain heat. I built the drum using the KISS instructions that were posted. The basket is pictured below. The lid is a removable drum lid with the large bung removed.DSC00016.jpgDSC00017.jpg
 
Open the intakes. Drums soetimes have a mind of their own. You will try in futility (Mrs tx's word of the day) to maintain a perfect 235*, when the drum insists on 242*. Dial it in close, when it settles in, let it roll. The weorst thing you can do is keep farking with it. You'll spend all night chasing your tail.
 
Sure they are. Looks like agreat basket to me. Lump or charcoal?
 
Open 1 intake, and the others about 1/3. Use the 1/3 open intakes to make temp go up or down. Give about twenty minutes after moving intakes for a decent result.
 
Kickback, you only need about three fist sized chunks of wood at the most. The rest needs to be lump or briqs if you want to maintain long consistant temps. Are you using quite a bit more wood than that?
 
txschutte said:
Open 1 intake, and the others about 1/3. Use the 1/3 open intakes to make temp go up or down. Give about twenty minutes after moving intakes for a decent result.
Click to expand...
On my first one I copied the three 1" hole/ 2 caps one valve and it doesn't seem to work for me. The next one will be 1 cap and 2 1/2" ball valves for adjustments. We got it finished and the food was good but it was far from easy. We like to poke the fire any way so it really wasn't that big of a deal. We cooked a beef roast for the meat filler in our trial run for the chili cook off next weekend. It turned out really good and fell apart in slivers in the chili. The ribs were glazed with a beer and apple sauce glaze that tasted great but the texture left something to be desired. As always the ABT's rocked.DSC00018.jpg

DSC00019.jpg

DSC00022.jpg

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txschutte said:
Give about twenty minutes after moving intakes for a decent result.
Click to expand...

Words of wisdom right there! My drum likes 20 to 30 minutes (about one beer's worth of time :-D ) to get settled in after an adjustment.
 
I had trouble getting temps up at first. Then I doubled my intake and exhaust. Now that's done, I see I only needed to increase the exhaust.
 
I just don't understand how the tried and true design could be so far off on this drum. We're not building rocket ships for the moon. Maybe this drum was used to hide someones stash Tuba and is therefore intoxicated for life.
How far away from Mt. Vernon is Mattoon?
 
Maybe it's just me, but I think a good part of the problem might be the coal basket and the fine mesh. I just used the drum last night and had to keep the vents choked down to keep it from going over 300. I have the opposite problem. I struggle to keep it under 275. Any way you could try a basket with a different kinda mesh to allow for more air flow? Also, was there a good bit of humidity in the air? Rainy, damp, humid weather gives me and my cookers all sorts of fits.
 
BobBrisket said:
Maybe it's just me, but I think a good part of the problem might be the coal basket and the fine mesh. I just used the drum last night and had to keep the vents choked down to keep it from going over 300. I have the opposite problem. I struggle to keep it under 275. Any way you could try a basket with a different kinda mesh to allow for more air flow? Also, was there a good bit of humidity in the air? Rainy, damp, humid weather gives me and my cookers all sorts of fits.
Click to expand...
I had the same concern about the mesh but unfortunately this is the only non galvenized material we can get here. As far as humidity (this could be the problem), i live on a tropical island and we're in the rainy season now.
Removing Humidity isnt an option, any ideas how to lessen the effects of it?
I cook in a covered outside kitchen so I don't get the rain, just the moisture.
 
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