UDS and Indirect Heat

[ExOnMS]

Okay everyone, I have a bit of a newbie question here...

I see a lot of recipes/instructions that call for "indirect heat" cooking. When I see that, I always assume that when cooking that recipe I should use a difuser plate in my UDS (I have a 16 inch pizza pan that rests about 8-10 inches above my coals).

By using the difuser plate though, I lose the wonderful taste that's created when the fat drips down onto the coals. So, my question is...if a recipe says to "set it up for cooking at about 250°F with indirect heat", would I be okay to run my UDS at 250 without the difuser? Or would I want to drop the temp down a bit, since there would be nothing between the coals and the meat?


Apologies for the long winded question...hope this makes sense and I appreciate the help!

 

[JC in GB]

From my understanding, indirect heat is used to knock down the temps from direct heat. If your smoker is running at 250, you should be golden.

 

[ExOnMS]

From my understanding, indirect heat is used to knock down the temps from direct heat. If your smoker is running at 250, you should be golden.

Sounds good, thanks for the info! I'm always worried that without the diffuser I'm using more of a "direct heat" method. Don't want to burn or dry out any of my grub!

 

[JC in GB]

Sounds good, thanks for the info! I'm always worried that without the diffuser I'm using more of a "direct heat" method. Don't want to burn or dry out any of my grub!

You may get a bit more bark from low direct heat but it is the overall temp that dictates how long the cook goes. If you are getting a bit too much bark, you can always add the diffuser...