New member, no smoke.

[Mantis]

Hi, everyone!

I’m new to this forum, and a new UDS user. I have lots of questions about this UDS, but I’ll start with this one for now.

Saturday, I smoked my second Brisket on my new UDS. The Brisket itself turned out great, moist and tender, good flavor. But I didn’t get any smoke ring and I’m a bit puzzled as to why not.

I had a mostly full basket of lump charcoal from a red bag, and five, roughly fist sized chunks of birch mixed in. The birch had been air dried for about 18 months and the bark removed. Two of the chunks were about level with the top of the coals and the other three were buried down a little deeper.

Why birch? You wonder. It’s because at my cabin I have predominantly pines, and I can’t cook with that. I also have a small percentage of poplar, and birch scattered around. I cook over a birch fire often in my Schwenker Grill, and I find the flavor mild but acceptable.

I cooked real slow, my side mounted temperature gauge read about 210-F. It’s mounted about two inches below the grate. It took about 7 hours for my 12 lb. brisket to reach 165-F. At that point I wrapped it and cooked it to 205-F.

Also, I noticed that there was almost no smoke at all emitted from the stack, less smoke than my Traeger produces. I was of the impression that a UDS produces more smoke than a pellet grill.

What, if anything, should I change to get a better smoke ring?

Thanks!

[Rockinar]

Smoke ring is a chemical reaction and not from actual smoke penetration. I bet if you changed your rub or seasoning you would get one. If you want one really bad, rub some Morton Tender Quick on the meat and leave it for about 5 minutes then wash it all off really good. Make sure you wash it all off or you will end up with pastrami. Season as normal and cook.....you will get the biggest, brightest smoke ring you seen in your life.

[SmittyJonz]

....... https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/more-cooking-science/mythbusting-smoke-ring-no-smoke-necessary

[Mantis]

....... https://amazingribs.com/more-technique-and-science/more-cooking-science/mythbusting-smoke-ring-no-smoke-necessary

Interesting article. Thanks for the link!
I'll have to reconsider, perhaps I don't have an issue after all.

[LYU370]

But how did it taste??? That's the question! Did you have the amount of smoke flavor you were expecting?

[Leftwngr]

I had the same issue with my cabinet cooker. For what it's worth, I noticed that it came down to air flow. Steady, low heat with smoldering wood was giving me a good smoke flavor, but not much in the ring. A little higher heat (275) with more air flow gave me back the ring.

[KevinJ]

I had the same issue with my cabinet cooker. For what it's worth, I noticed that it came down to air flow. Steady, low heat with smoldering wood was giving me a good smoke flavor, but not much in the ring. A little higher heat (275) with more air flow gave me back the ring.I agree with cooking hotter/higher airflow will give you a good smoke ring, usually cook Briskets and Butts on the drum at 300-325 and have no problem with getting a smoke ring.

[PnkPanther]

But how did it taste??? That's the question! Did you have the amount of smoke flavor you were expecting?


What he said, that's the important part.


Lack of smoke ring doesn't mean you did anything wrong, nor does it have an impact on flavor


Never heard of smoking with birch before, but if it works for you and is easily available, smoke on!

[Mantis]

The taste was great! The birch flavor seems pretty mild.
I personally have not been able to taste a lot of difference between the various species of wood, when I cook on my pellet grills. It's hard to compare though because to my knowledge there are no birch pellets. I cook a lot of brats, burgers and fish over a birch fire on my Schwenker, and I am fine with the taste of that. Birch bark burns with a black oily smoke, which would ruin anything you cook on it, so the bark has to be removed first.

I will try turning up the heat a little in my UDS. Not too much though, because my first attempt at a UDS brisket, on the fourth of July turned out pretty dry. I attempted to run that one at 275-F, but I had other issues that day.
I had two bands of thunder storms blow through on the fourth, dropped a lot of rain, filled the lid with water both times. This cooled the UDS down, off the dial, and I had to open the air back up, causing the temperature to spike, twice.

Since then I installed another rack to put a difuser plate on. The better weather on Saturday allowed me to hold the temperature easier. Not sure if I will make it back up north this weekend, but when I do, I will try another one at a higher temp, and see how it goes.

Thanks to everyone who responded to my query!

[Joe Black]

For comps, I keep a purple magic marker and add color to the smoke ring. The judges love it.

[el luchador]

For comps, I keep a purple magic marker and add color to the smoke ring. The judges love it.

This is neither helpful nor funny.

[pitbossJB]

This is neither helpful nor funny.


Wow! That had me laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes, I'm glad I hadn't just taken a big slug of coffee.

[LYU370]

This is neither helpful nor funny.

Had me laughing.