My new UDS is to hot

[mobuckbuster]

Used my UDS for the first time last Sunday. I couldn't get the temp below 300 degrees. I had all air ports on top and bottom shut and it held steady at 305. The only thing I can think of letting air in is the lid does not fit super good cause i suck at using a grinding wheel when I cut the lid off the oil barrel. Any other suggestions? The ribs were AWESOME but they only took an hour and a half to reach 190. Im concerned for longer cooks and cooks that need lower temps (like a pork butt or a brisket) that it will not work.

brad

 

[SmokinAl]

Sounds like you started too hot a fire to begin with.

Did you use the minion method?

Fill the basket with unlit charcoal & wood.

Then put 10-12 lit briquettes in the center.

Al

 

[mobuckbuster]

about how much charcoal do I need total. I had 2/3 of a bag of coals. To much?

brad

 

[daveomak]

 
Used my UDS for the first time last Sunday. I couldn't get the temp below 300 degrees. I had all air ports on top and bottom shut and it held steady at 305. The only thing I can think of letting air in is the lid does not fit super good cause i suck at using a grinding wheel when I cut the lid off the oil barrel. Any other suggestions? The ribs were AWESOME but they only took an hour and a half to reach 190. Im concerned for longer cooks and cooks that need lower temps (like a pork butt or a brisket) that it will not work.

brad

Pictures of the lid might help to come up with a remedy......    when the bottom ports are closed, the fire should go out.....

 

[daveomak]

If you have extra material on the flange.....   try this....  You may have to use "CAM" clamps to pull the lid down..

UDS sealed top.jpg

• daveomak
• Feb 10, 2016

 

[southern swine]

It sounds like you had to much charcoal to start. I usually only run about 6 lbs of coal in mine, 8 for long cooks. Also if your using wood chips they tend to try to keep a small fire when you open the lid. Like Smokin Al said use the minion method to start it.

 

[burgerbob]

 
about how much charcoal do I need total. I had 2/3 of a bag of coals. To much?

brad

I recommend using lump charcoal instead of your standard briquettes (Kingsford, etc.).  In my experience that charcoal burns at a much higher temp than lump charcoal.  It depends on how long I'm trying to use my smoker, I have used about 12#s of lump charcoal and had it burn for 12+ hours.  I also use wood chunks instead of chips.  Chips seem to burn up too fast and will cause the temp to rise.  I usually soak the chunks in water for 24 hours to cut back on the flare ups.  Also also keep the lid vent open, only close your bottom vents as they are providing in input of air while the top is output.  I had a similar issue when I closed my top vent.

 

[burgerbob]

 

 
about how much charcoal do I need total. I had 2/3 of a bag of coals. To much?

brad

I recommend using lump charcoal instead of your standard briquettes (Kingsford, etc.).  In my experience that charcoal burns at a much higher temp than lump charcoal.  It depends on how long I'm trying to use my smoker, I have used about 12#s of lump charcoal and had it burn for 12+ hours.  I also use wood chunks instead of chips.  Chips seem to burn up too fast and will cause the temp to rise.  I usually soak the chunks in water for 24 hours to cut back on the flare ups.  Also also keep the lid vent open, only close your bottom vents as they are providing in input of air while the top is output.  I had a similar issue when I closed my top vent.

@Mobuckbuster  also I only keep all 3 of my bottoms vent open until it starts getting close to the proper temp.  Then I close all but the ball valve and keep an eye on it.  Usually I will need to close the ball valve about half way in order to make it maintain temperature.  Unfortunately every UDS is different and part of the fun (to me anyways) was figuring out my UDS and how it operated. One other suggestion is keep an eye on any wind and it's direction.  I had the wind blowing directly into the only open vent on my UDS which caused quite a large temp spike.  Turned the smoker and was just fine.