Experienced UDS guys - I need your input

[ChiliMacDaddy]

Brethren -
This is a question for the UDS brain trust.
I've got the typical single-grill UDS with three 3/4" holes near the bottom for air intake and eight 1/2" holes in the lid for exhaust.

Typically, I use a 10 lb bag of Sams Choice briquets (60% larger):wink:
After I get it up to cruising speed, with just 2 air holes open I can maintain a good solid 8 hour cook at a steady 250° with a grill full of meat. An occasional jiggle of the coal ashes keeps the temp up there.

So yesterday the local Menards had their Royal Oak lump charcoal for dirt cheap, to get rid of it for the season and make room for their Christmas clutter. So I bought several bags. I think they are 8.5 lb bags.

So my concern is, I'm having some family in town next weekend and the guys are all curious about this UDS thing. So we will probably be cooking up a couple of briskets and whatever else we can squeeze in there. Anyway, I've never burned lump in my UDS and I am not wanting to blow this gig (with temps being too hot or not enough burn time) by using an 'unknown quantity' for fuel, but the lump is now all I've got to burn for the rest of the season.

I've burned lump before in my old Bandera and know that it burns hotter and quicker than briquets, but what type of cooking time can I expect from an 8 lb bag of lump in my UDS, based on me getting a good 8 hours out of a 10 lb bag of briquets? And do you think an 8 lb bag of lump will last long enough to finish off a couple of packer briskets?

Sorry this got long-winded and convoluted, but it's still too early in the morning, even with the extra hour of snooze time. :icon_wink

 

[thirdeye]

I have only burned briquettes once in my BDS's, so I don't know about side-by-side burn times. My other cookers use lump, so I am comfortable with it. Here is what I can tell you.....

6# of lump will give me 6 to 7 hours of burn time around 250°. These are before and after pictures of the basket. Notice how much lump can be re-used.

This was 10# of lump and I get at least 11 hours of burn at 250°.

My longest burn was around 15# of lump and I did 2 cooks, back to back for about 16 hours. There was still some left. I do use a wiggle rod and sneak it into the lower vent holes to shake the basket. This is important with lump.

 

[Meat Burner]

Ditto with Thirdeye. I really don't notice much different other than maybe turning the air intakes down some. If you have a concern, mix some charcoal with the lump for a little added confort. It will be fine!!!! Good luck!

 

[ChiliMacDaddy]

Yeah, so it sounds like I may need to plan on adding an extra half bag more of lump. That would put me at around 12 lbs of lump, not counting wood. That should be plenty to do a couple of big briskets, I would think.

Hell, if worse comes to worse, I could toss in some more if it comes up short. Just hate the hassle of removing the food, etc to do that. Better off to have more than needed than not enough.
Thanks guys!

 

[swamprb]

I think it would be better to have more at the start of the cook than adding more later, the times I've done it the temps would shoot to @ *350 and hover for awhile, forcing me to plug all the vents and hassle with it. For long cooks I like to use briqs, but I prefer using Mesquite lump in the small ring for 4-6 hour cooks. This all may change since I found some Royal Oak lump in the 8# bags too!

 

[Norcoredneck]

I would load more and do your cook then shet it down. Lump will stay intact better than charcoal. Then on your next cook you can see how much is left and it will give you a feeling for next time. Has anyone explained about marking a plastic bucket yet?

 

[ChiliMacDaddy]

.......Has anyone explained about marking a plastic bucket yet?

I've got a bunch of the 5 gallon poly pails that I use for my aquarium hobby that I've marked in one gallon increments. Is there something I should know about marking a bucket as it relates to UDS cooking?

 

[ChiliMacDaddy]

Well, as luck would have it :wink: a buddy came by today, wanting me to cook him a slab of spares and several phatties. So that gave me an excuse to test the RO lump in the UDS. We made up a small batch of rub, tossed it all in the cooker, drank a few beers and smoked a couple of cigars. About an hour and a half into it we yanked the phatties, sliced one into nice 3/8" medallions, cut a matching chunk of extra-sharp Vermont cheddar cheese, piled it all on a cracker, topped it with a drop or two of Pickapeppa Sauce...and that made those beers taste miiiiighty fine!

So after about 4 hours the ribs were done. I wrapped them for him and sent him on his merry way. That was about 8PM. I just checked the temp awhile ago and it's still chugging along at 250° -- this after 10 hours on an 8.8 lb bag of lump! A very nice cook!

So it looks like a small bag of lump will do fine for my weekend brisket cook. I'd stay up and see when it actually burns out but I gotta hit the hay. Looked like there was enough coals left in there to go another hour or so. These UDSs are incredibly efficient cookers as long as you can control the air leaks.

One observation I did make was that when burning lump, I did not have to shake the ashes as much as I have to when using briquets. And it seems like the meats flavor is a bit more refined as well. But that just may be wishful thinking.

Anyway, thanks to all for the sage advice. I'll feel a lot better cooking on it with lump this weekend, while under the intense scrutiny of the family critics {he said with a smirk} :icon_wink

 

[Norcoredneck]

Put bucket on scale and get tare(zero). Add 10# of charcoal and make line in buchet at coal level. Gives a quick reference to work from every time tou load up the fire basket.

 

[ChiliMacDaddy]

OK.
Thanks for the tip.