Whats your method for starting coals

wneill20

New member
Well the UDS should be ready for this weekend what method do you use for starting your coals an how many to you use for how long of a smoke?

Wes
 

cowgirl

New member
That's great Wes, looking forward to seeing what you cook first. :)

I fill the basket, use a weed burner or chimney....just light a few on the top of the heap. Then use the air intakes for heat/temp control and close the air intakes when I am fininshed with the cook.
The extinguished coals in the basket are used for the next cook.

Hope you have great luck with it! They really are set it and forget it cookers. :)
 

jimsbarbecue

Moderator
Staff member
Like cowgirl I light few with either a torch, loft lighter or weber cube or just enough in the bottom of a chimney.
 

scooter

Moderator
Staff member
A propane fueled turkey deep fat fryer base! Truly the Cadillac of chimney starters, IMO! It allows you to start cooking with charcoal in approx the same time as a gas grill takes to come up to cooking temp. About 12 mins
I start with 10-20 briquets depending on the ambient temp. Put the lit briquets on top of unlit in the coal basket pop open the bottom vents to one hole on each side open when the pit temp gets around 220 I close the vents to one half open on each side. Gives me about 250-275 in the middle.

Since I have it on my redwood deck I wrapped it with aluminum flashing to contain the sparks from hardwood briquets or lump. As a base I use a thick masonry paver to insulate the deck wood from lit briquets falling through the chimney and almost setting the deck on fire. Don't ask... :)
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Takes about 5 minutes of propane to get the briquets blazing
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This is 12 minutes after lighting, 7 minutes after turning the gas off.
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backbay2

New member
I start with twenty in the chimney or coal basket and use a Sterno to light the briquettes so I do not have the ash from newspaper. My advice is light the UDS about an hour before you are ready to cook, because as a newbie to your drum (as am I) I ruined the first two cooks by throwing the meat on too soon and I could never line out my drum on temps..... So line out your temps, hold for a period of time and then cook, So plan ahead to take a little extra time to do it right the first time.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&...A&biw=1680&bih=839&sei=XC_HUIPvKcrLqAHMqoGIDw



Once your a seasoned UDS'er you'll have a set up like scooters....... As you can tell, I'm not seasoned!
 
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backbay2

New member
key thing to remember is that as you get your drum more seasoned the temp issue sort of disappears

Interesting. First I heard of it and the kind of advice a beginner is always looking for.... What's the theory or reasoning behind this Big Poppa? Is it like cooking in a cast iron skillet, because I could understand that.... I do know a well seasoned skillet cooks better :)
 

sheepdad

New member
key thing to remember is that as you get your drum more seasoned the temp issue sort of disappears

I don't know if it's "the more seasoned the drum" is? or " the more seasoned the cook is" !! :)....BUT I do know that temp spikes that I used to get just don't happen anymore. The drum seems to "maintain" much better with age.

Big Poppa, Does the creosote build up create sort of a insulation/heat sink effect?
 

southga

New member
I put about 10-12 briquettes in a chimney use either my fish cooker base or the side burner on the gas grill to get them burning. I use lump in the drum basket for cooking. The main reason I use briqs in the chimney is avoid having those small pieces of hot lump falling out the bottom as I'm dumping into the drum. I leave my lid open just 2-3 after dumping the starter coals. Then close the lid & have all three intakes open. If I'm planning on cooking between 250-275*, when the internal temp passes 200*, I cap off one intake. At about 230* I cap off the second. At 250*, I turn the ball valve back about 50% & it usually settles in between 260 & 275. I may have to make small adjustments on the valve depending on air temp & wind. From dumping the coals until I have stable temp generally takes about 30-40 mins
 

Motay

New member
I may be one of the newest members here, and I've done 4 smokes so far. I'm now using the Weber wax cubes sitting on a brick (cubes are very cheap and very effective) which I light with a disposable butane long handled lighter (you know, they're about $3 bucks and about 10" long?) with 15 coals and they light up in about 15 minutes. The brick is because the cubes leave a burn mark on whatever they're started on. I've been using Cowboy lump so far (it's all that's available right now) and make a nest in the middle of the lump (think about the coffee can method with no top, no bottom to form a ring to hold up the lump) and then pour the lit coals into the middle. Obviously if you're using the coffee can it's got to be pulled when the briqs are poured in. I have been using some advice written by BP himself which was to leave the lid opening wide open and leave the bottom sliders open at 1/2 notch on each side. So far it's done me well, and my temps are staying rock solid at 180. After reading this thread, I may start with the 3-2-1 step down method mentioned above next time.
 

BigDummy

New member
On my drum build I have a side door. This allows not only for easy lighting but also adding chunk wood or lump without having to take everything out of Aretha to get at the basket. I usually start mine with a weed burner for a minute or so and let her get her thing going with the heat deflector on.
 
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