Inaugural UDS Smoke. Pork Butts (with Q-View)

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sontavas

Newbie
Original poster
Jun 23, 2013
18
10
Monrovia, MD
Well, I completed my first smoke this weekend.  I finished my UDS (Big Pappa Smoker Kit) during the week and was chomping at the bit to try it out.  I was hoping to try a brisket, but found that acquiring a whole packer brisket in Maryland can be exceedingly difficult.  I called about eight different places to get the packer, almost everyone had heavily trimmed flat, but no packers.  I finally found a butcher who said they had packers in stock but when I drove there they said they were out.  I found a place that can get them but said they need about 2-3 days notice, so next time I will have to plan a bit further in advance. 

Anyhow, I ended up getting 13 pounds of boneless pork shoulder from Costco (two 6.5 pound butts).  I would have preferred bone-in but at this point I was just wanted to get meat on the bbq.  I dry rubbed the pork on Friday night and fired up the UDS on Saturday morning around 6am.  

A couple of observations about the UDS.  I was VERY impressed at its ability to hold a constant temperature.  I was worried I was going to have to be tweaking it every 15 minutes, but it was insanely easy.  The one problem that I did encounter was I ran out of charcoal about 8.5 hours into the cook.  I had filled the basket to the brim with lump and apple wood but had to pull everything out and refill the basket to complete the cook.  This was a bit of an issue because I ran out of charcoal the one time that I left the house to take my son to a parade so when I came home my BBQ temp had fallen to about 140 and the pork temp fell about 3 degrees.  Besides that mishap, I smoked for about 14 hours between 220-255 degrees.  I foiled at IT of 165 and removed from grill at IT 202.  Let the meat rest for an hour and I could shred it with a spoon!  Excited to have my first cook under my belt, thanks to this forum for all the great advice and tips.

Questions:  Is there any way to increase the cook time on a UDS without adding charcoal?  Seems that a lot of guys are getting about 12-14 hours off of a fukll basket and I only got about 8.  Perhaps the basket that came with the Big Pappa Smoker Kit is a bit smaller than most?  Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks!



 
That PP looks delicious...nicely done!  I don't use a UDS, but I'll bet if you posted your charcoal question over in the charcoal smoker forum you'd get some good feedback.

Red
 
Looks great!!!   I have a Big Poppa and i get 15 hours@ 250 with lump charcoal after that it piddles off.   With KB i'd get longer than 15 hours.   

I have no idea why you got less burn besides opening up the lid?   On a long smoke my lid stays shut, when you open the lid it introduces air to the basket and wastes fuel.  I also have a Pitmaster IQ hooked up, especially on long smokes.
In this picture the IQ is in my rain box.   Most times if the weather is good i just hang it on the handle.   Auto temp controllers stretch out your fuel because it's more efficient keeping the temp extremely stable. 
 
Sontavas, one more thing that's important is how you light your basket.    I've found the best results is by making a small pocket on the side of the basket to drop the few lit coals into... that way you get a long steady burn outward.

I'm not a fan of just dumping the coals on top.

One other thing i do now is instead of the pocket like i mentioned is filling the basket completely and then lighting a few coals on the edge with my warming torch for about 30 seconds...it does the same thing, just easier to light.
 
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