I know that UDS are extremely efficient when cooking DOTC (direct over the coals). I would cook with a full basket of LUMP charcoal and the volume would hardly change, so I finally decided to test how efficient the uds is.
I wanted to see how much lump charcoal by weight and volume a uds cooking DOTC would use for a typical cook. I used a bone in pork shoulder for the test. I wrapped it after 6 hours and then took it to 202 degrees. I cooked at 250 degrees using the heatermeter to keep temp, and total cook time was 10 hours.
ambient temp started around 97 degrees and it cooled to probably 90 degrees after dark.
I measured the full chimney before cooking and then after cooking I shook off the ash and measured again.I did not use any wood chunks as I wanted to test only the charcoal efficiency
I used the chimney as my charcoal basket and just stuck it in the uds. only mods were to remove the plastic handle, and turn the bottom upside down for more space.
Results. wow!!! I wasnt surprised but it was impressive none the less.
not only are UDS super cheap to build, they are also super cheap to use.:rockon:
cooking at 250 for 10 hours dotc, the uds only used 2.5 lbs of lump charcoal,
or 0.25 lbs of lump per hour of cook time .
therefore a 20lb bag in theory should give 80 hours of cooking time.
and at $16/bag my charcoal cost for a 10 hour cook comes out to only $2.00 per cook :rockon::rockon::rockon:
chimney base installed upside down for more space in chimney
full chimney weight 7lb 9 oz
full chimney lit and in place for cook. notice the plastic handle grip has been removed.
volume after the cook before ash shaken out. looks like used about half volume
ash shaken out, finish weight 5lbs 0.9 oz
heatermeter burn log
Delicous pulled pork