So I finished my UDS on Saturday, and Sunday I sprayed it down with an entire can of PAM and loaded the Charcoal basket with approx. 12 lbs of charcoal and some chunks of hickory, then using the minion method I started about 15-18 bricks and loaded them in the basket, put the lid on and let er roll. I was told during the seasoning process to get the temps pretty high so I placed the thermomoter on the highest grate and left all three intakes wide open. I watched the thermo raise to about 275* then all of the sudden teh temps skipped to 165* and stayed there, WTF! So I thought it was the thermo, I tested it in boiling water and it read around 210-212 so now I have no idea. The outside temp was around 45* and windy, but I wouldn't think that would affect the UDS (much). The drum stayed at 145-165 for the rest of the afternoon. I cooked some ABTs on it, they took about one hour and the bacon was crispy so it had to be hotter than what the thermo said. I never closed any of the intakes. I was so dissapointed, do any of you have any suggestions?