Another thing I just noticed. You mentioned using 8 lbs of lump, how are your starting your fire? I only drop 10-12 lit briquettes on top of a full fire basket of tightly packed lump with wood chunks buried within the pile of unlit lump. It's called the minion method. The fuel will slowly burn down, providing a very long and very clean cook.
May be a combination of both factors.
If you really want to use the side therm. you need a third grate about 2" above the coal basket. then set a 16" pizza pan on it. Then your heat will get deflected towards the outside of the barrel more. I use several digital therms. (3) I got from Bed, Bath and Beyond, (2 or 3) from Wal Mart and Target and I am going to buy atleast (1) from Ikea just to try it out...
most tend to use the maverick brands and a thermopen for probing for tender ness and temping...
10-12" turkey termo
all vents are closed... temperature is 313. Is it possible that the coals could get enough oxygen from a mildly leaky lid? I really thought that the temp would have gone down by now. Any thoughts?
all vents are closed... temperature is 313. Is it possible that the coals could get enough oxygen from a mildly leaky lid? I really thought that the temp would have gone down by now. Any thoughts?
+1
I actually use 2 of them, 1 directly under each cooking grate. They're cheap if I need to replace em and easy to use! I get real temps from the center of the drum!
Just a quick OT question. When you use the 12" thermos, how do you get the charcoal basket in and out of the UDS?
So what is holding the long cook probe parallel? Doesn't it sag and hang down or do you just push it in far enough to balance? Where can one find a rubber groomet that works well for this?