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Well I have a 9lb butt and a nice LiL chuckie on my new uds. Both rubbed with magic dust and injected with creole butter, smoking with cherry and hickory.....will post pics when I get the laptop from my wife.....
It helps to slow the temp while it is on the initial rise. Once you get the coals going, watch the temp rise. When it starts getting into the 200's, start dampening the air and slowly stop the temp rise. You can now raise the temp a little at a time by alllowing just a smidge of air in or lower the temp by snuffing it a bit. It's gonna vary with your drum so practice makes perfect. The temp will take a while to change so make adjustments very slowy and be patient. Look for a temp spike when you open the lid to load or mop or whatever. I like to close my damper before I open the lids so as to avoid a large blast of air to the coals.. Good luck..
Yes that is the first tricjk that you/we learn is to control the temp. Next is how to smoke it right and then we learn how to eat alot and not feel like taking a nap right away. FOOD COMA is a bad thing. It will make you a fat kid. We haven't quite mastered the last part yet.
Drums are pretty stable but not very responsive. Give it 20 or 30 minutes to respond to a change in intake air.
Also a quick reading digital will tempt you to chase temps all day. Let the drum run in a range like 230° to 260°. A little bit of up and down fluctuaction is normal. Don't try to keep a drum at precisely 237.548953° or it will drive you crazy.