First Cook!!!!

[andrewj]

Hi
Had my first cook in my new Big Poppa UDS yesterday and it turned out to be one of the most stressful days I've had for a long time!!! Before I start I have to say how chuffed I am with how the smoker turned out, full marks to guys at Big Poppa's their drum kits are the real deal, had to pay a little over the odds to get it shipped from the states but it was well worth it, in fact I'm reluctant to call it an ugly drum smoker as it's a real thing of beauty.

Anyway back to yesterday.
1. It pi**ed down just as I was about to start so had to move the smoker to the lean-to at the side of the house where I store all the usual family crap.
2. Opened up the back of locally sourced lump-wood charcoal to find that is was mostly very small and dusty chunks
3. Filled and lit the chimney starter and nipped in-side for a cuppa, came out ten mins later to find that the charcoal had totally burned away!
4.After fishing out all the big chunks I finally got the smoker fired up and going but the temp rocketed and couldn't get the temp down below 300
5. Just as I was getting things under control and about to put my ribs on I realised that I hadn't put the oak chunks in the basket so had to take out the grills and diffuser (using a 40cm iron paella pan i bought for a tenner in a local discount store)
6. Ribs are on but still can't get a steady temp, going from 300 to 200 so have to check every 15mins
7. After 2 and bit hours I checked ready to give it a good sprits to find that my nearly full basket of charcoal had burned out so had to empty drum to re-fill the basket with the crap that was left in the bag from earlier. The result of which was lots and lots of smoke and lots and lots of swearing
8. 3 1/2 hrs in I finally get around to mopping and foiling (temp now won't go below 275) but put the ribs back in the smoker seal side down so all the moisture dripped out!!
9. 5 and a bit hours in and it's now dark outside and the wife and kids are getting restless with hunger, so I bring the ribs in to rest.
10. Let the ribs rest a bit too long by the time we eat the ribs are going cold and a bit tough and dry but had a nice smoke ring and had a good taste.

By 9pm I was knackered had 2 large JD's and was in bed by 10pm

Pulled pork next week, can't wait !

[ConorD]

Good luck with next week. Perfecting this Q'ing thing is a long but tasty process.

[BRUN]

what a nightmare

[robgunby]

Oof sounds like a really nasty first cook! Don't let it put you off. There are loads of variables to play with to fine tune the way your UDS cooks. I hope that some other UDS owners will chime in here, but here are a few thoughts to chew on and consider in the meantime.

First off, check all your seals. Make sure the only air getting in is the air you let in via the vents. Assuming that is all good, it sounds to me like your charcoal / fire build could well be a weak link. I only use restaurant grade charcoal in my UDS. The pieces are sometimes as big as a small cat. A full basket (my UDS firebasket is huge) burns for more than 30 hours. If yours is burning out in 3, something is wrong. I tend to put (rough guess here) about 5 or 6 chimney-fulls of unlit coals in my basket with 2-3 fist size lumps of wood mixed in among the top half (don't need woodsmoke in the final hours of the cook), then dump a full chimney of lit coals over the top, making sure it is fairly evenly distributed over the unlit coals. Top it off with a log or a few more chunks of wood.

The fact that your chimney starter burnt out in 10 mins is almost certainly due to the poor grade of charcoal you are using. It sounds like it lacks density, so is burning too fast.

However, the one thing that makes me think there is more than your charcoal to blame is the fight you had to keep temps down and stable. My UDS is solid as can be so long as there aren't winds blowing into it. Now, the charcoal may have something to do with this, but you really do need to make sure it is as airtight as can be.

Hope this helps, and hopefully Simon or Stretchie or someone will lob in their 2c too. Best of luck for the next cook! Perhaps consider doing a couple of small pieces rather than a big un - a full pork shoulder will require an overnight cook, not something you should attempt until you have some more control over the smoker.