# A few cedar twigs as kindling made it into my UDS. 90% oak and hickory for the rest. Am I OK?



## 777funk (Oct 29, 2015)

I think can faintly smell it in the smoke unfortunately. I didn't use any actual solid splits but I believe some of my kindling was cedar. Am I ok for flavor?

I will be more careful with the brush I scrape up for kindling in the future.


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## jcollins (Oct 29, 2015)

I cant see a few twigs hurting anything. Personally i would still smoke away.


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## 777funk (Oct 29, 2015)

I could smell it in the smoke for a little while but I don't think it hurt too bad. I'll definitely be careful next time. This was my first smoke on the freshly built UDS and it turned out pretty good! It cooked the chicken to 190-210F internal depending on the location in about 2 hours and 15 minutes. So the heat was higher than I thought it was. The drum measured 160F most of the time at the height of the rack/meat but it must have been more like 325F with the smoke and steam inside the barrel and the metal was averaging the inside with the outside temps. I need to get a thermometer I guess. But it was tender and most which counts for a lot!

Anyways, thanks for the guidance. Not much detectable Cedar in the end.

And most important! I was coming from a smoker box in a gas grill. That is NOT a real smoker. The difference between what that thing gave and what this gives is night and day. The skin gets dark brown like a real smoked chicken. Never did that with the gas grill.

Next time I will get the temp down lower and smoke longer.


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## jcollins (Oct 30, 2015)

777funk said:


> I could smell it in the smoke for a little while but I don't think it hurt too bad. I'll definitely be careful next time. This was my first smoke on the freshly built UDS and it turned out pretty good! It cooked the chicken to 190-210F internal depending on the location in about 2 hours and 15 minutes. So the heat was higher than I thought it was. The drum measured 160F most of the time at the height of the rack/meat but it must have been more like 325F with the smoke and steam inside the barrel and the metal was averaging the inside with the outside temps. I need to get a thermometer I guess. But it was tender and most which counts for a lot!
> 
> Anyways, thanks for the guidance. Not much detectable Cedar in the end.
> 
> ...


First off personally i never cook chicken over 170[sup]o [/sup]F in the thigh and 165[sup]o [/sup]in the breast. Was it a whole chicken or pieces? and as far as knowing the smoker temp a maverick thermometer has the best reviews for the price 


the one i linked is the one i hear the most about and what i hear is mostly good... with a dual probe setup you could have one probe at the grate where your food is to monitor the smoker temp to see if you need to make adjustments to the air intake and the other can be used to monitor the foods Internal temp so that you dont overcook or undercook your food.

i too started with a gas grill and a wood chip box it was a nightmare so i bought my wsm now im looking to expand my arsenal  and build a UDS


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## 777funk (Oct 30, 2015)

Yes, I was a little shocked to see the internal temp that high. I was thinking that it was cooking below 200F most of the time by my barrel IR thermometer measurements so I was counting on around 4h+. I figured I'd just check it for the sake of checking and when it was at 210F in a few places in just 2h 15m I was shocked. Now I know that the barrel temp is the average of inner and outer plus some factoring for wind etc. I figure that next time I'll use 125F as the barrel temp so the cooking temp is closer to 250F.

I need to order some real temp monitoring equipment! What you linked to looks nice. Very convenient. Won't have to wonder. Also would come in handy for the grill.

Surprisingly it was still moist! Don't know how!


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## jcollins (Oct 30, 2015)

Im glad it turned out good for ya. i have a weber dual probe wireless thermo i dont believe its the best but for now it works im hoping to get the thermo i linked above for christmas


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