Weight of fuel / hour of smoke in UDS??

[pit 4 brains]

Do you go by weight or amount in basket?

Has anyone taken the time to measure out thier fuel by weight and see how long of a smoke they get in thier drum?
I'm thinking of starting up a chart with the more common fuels like kingsford briqs, comp briqs, lump mesquite, hardwood, etc. and measuring the amount I use and how long of a burn i get. I hate to use too much charcoal to smoke some chicken thighs and then sweat out a cooling fire for a brisket..

 

[tom37]

My basket is 16" by 12" tall

So far 12lbs Reg old Kingsford gave me at least 22 hours.(no load burn time test)

And 10 lbs Kingsford charwood lump gave me 15 hours (this counts a 8 hour burn and a 7 hour burn two different days) I probably lost an hour or two in light up and shut down.

It really is a drag when you run out of fuel (i forgot to check and add fuel)

Been there done that last night around 1:00 I think. Boy I hope that wasn't a dream. LOL

 

[ddave]

My basket is 13.5" in diameter by 8" tall. I just fill my basket to a certain level. But then I use Kingsford Comp almost exclusively anymore.

I found that there is a HUGE weight difference in some brands of briquettes. An 18 pound bag of Royal Oak will fill the basket but so will a 12 pound bag of Kingsford Comp. And the Royal Oak probably put out 6 pounds of ash.

Well not really but it was a lot and I had to shake the hell out of the basket to relieve the ash choke. Never have to jostle the basket at all with the Kingsford Comp. I've got 18+ hours out of both.

I have only run out of fuel once. I was doing a brisket and only filled the basket 2/3 of the way full because that's usually plenty. Well the overnight temp got down to the 20s and I ran out with about 2 hours to go. It was already in foil so I just put it in the oven.

Dave

 

[meateater]

Thats a great poll. I just fill mine according to how much I'm gonna smoke. I've been using kingsford blue bag but gonna use Royal Oak today just to test the difference.

 

[pit 4 brains]

So you just have a good feel for how much to put in then?
I've been doing the same but I want to refine it down a little.

 

[meateater]

I would say I have a pretty good feel for it. I know if I'm gonna to do a large smoke like a couple of butts I'll fill my basket which is 14" x 3" (alot smaller than most use) and put a chimney full on top and I'm good to go with little waste. Smaller smokes I can get away with just a chimney full. I always like to go on the low side and can add more if needed since I have a door on my UDS. I'm gonna use the Royal Oak today for comparision since its almost half the price of blue bag kingsford unless I go to Sam's club for the double bag special.

 

[pit 4 brains]

So far i have been varying the amount of coals by adjusting a few roofing tiles in my basket. It has worked well so Now I'm gonna see how much my basket actually holds so I have a better idea of how much I use per smoke.

This is how i used to arrange my tiles, now I make a small or large circle (depending on load) with a small gap then I put my coals behind them and dump my chimney in front to start the minion...

 

[tom37]

I think I like the roof tile idea. In fact I like it alot.

I forgot to mention, using the K charwood I might have enough ash to fill 2 or 3 coke cans. I never had to shake down the basket.

With the reg K I did have to shake it once in 12 lbs tho.

 

[meateater]

I used the Royal Oak tonight in the same manner as all my smokes and it runs about 25* hotter than Kingsford Blue bag I noticed. I smoked 3 strami's and now have a second smoke job going and still going strong.