Saying Hi with a question on smoke.

[custardavenger]

Hi Everybody

After a few rounds of oven pulled pork I finally finished my UDS



Apologies for the image. I have no idea why between photobucket and this forum it gets rotated and cropped. It's very annoying.

This picture if from seasoning it, I also managed to get it to hold at 225 F for many hours In preparation for a Pulled pork recipe.

The question I have is, at that temperature I get almost no smoke at all. I have it running now with the meat in, this time I actually lit a couple of the wood chunks (Oak) but it has made no difference.

Any recommendations on what I might me doing wrong?

I am also a bit worried about the size of the smoker and not filling it with meat, Future plan is to add a water dish to help keep small batches moist.

[custardavenger]

Ah ha, turns out it was a preview issue with the picture.

[Toby]

can you describe what you are doing to the meat before putting it in the smoker? the charcoal setup, minion etc a coupleof chunks is all you need to get smoker penetration so would imagine there is an issue with the process.

[custardavenger]

Hi Toby

Pretty new to this, and it the first smoke with a UDS.

Pork shoulder joint, skin removed, injected (kind of) and rubbed. As for the briquettes, filled the smoker basket with unlit briquettes Lit some coals with three lime sized pieces of Oak and pit on top of the unlit briquettes.

The bottom vent is open about 20mm the top probably the same but harder to judge. Temp sat at 225 F or close for 6 hrs so far. Did one mop about an hour ago but because there is nothing between the coals and the grill it is hard not to put them out with mop sauce. Haven't turned the meat. Oh I also put in two small trays of hot water but they are on the grill next to the meat.

Any advice greatly received. I'm not much of a chef but I'm a trier.

[Tyrone1Wils]

Just a quick note, open that vent on the lid all the way, to let the smoke flow through the smoker, always leave the lid vent cracked all the way open

[custardavenger]

Right, cheers. so control the temp with just the bottom vents?

[Tiny]

Hi,,
Can I ask an dumb Q, are you saying you are getting no visible smoke or that your food is not developing an smoky flavour? Reason I ask is that over a longer smoke you are looking for the wood to smoulder and give off smoke very gradually so don't expect to see too much......

All else seems like an sensible set up so you should have no issue. May also be you are looking for an heavier smoke in which case move from Apple to Oak wood, hope this helps.
Cheers
Tiny

[custardavenger]

OK top vent seams to have sorted it.

Hi Tiny, This is my first cook so no comparison yet. I just expected to get a nice woody BBQ smell and wasn't getting that. I expect this cook may not be amazing but am learning lots for the next one.

[Tyrone1Wils]

Brilliant! and yes, just control the temps with the bottom vent, after a few cooks you'll be used to the cooker and smoking like a pro!

Remember to keep the food pics flowing to get us all salivating.

[custardavenger]

Ok All done with. (Sorry forgot to take pictures, was to busy pulling and serving).

Went much better than I hoped. Was by much better than my best oven attempt, smoke had worked (I forget what you call the pink colour but it had it and taste). Still room for improvement.

I will certainly be adding a water bowl. And I can now see why so many UDS have a tube from the base with a ball valve.

So the next challenge is ribs.

Would still like to get a Weber kettle for doing smaller cooks like this one. Pretty much used a whole bag of charcoal.

Thanks again for the advice chaps. There will be more to come from me.