Sammy Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 Would appreciate any experience with the use of baffle plates in an UDS. Tried it for the first time without any success at the weekend. Last week I bought a piece of 5mm steel, rounded it off and drilled a few holes with the intention of using it as a baffle. Got the smoker up and running, stuck the plate in, it was almost touching the sides and kicked back to let it get up to temperature. After an hour and a half I was only getting a read out of about 212f so went outside for a look and nearly melted my legs off. The bottom third, roughly up to the level of the baffle was incredibly hot so opened the lid and out just see glowing red coals through the holes. Very carefully, and somewhat miraculously I managed to get the plate out without burning myself and closed the lid over, abandoning the use of a baffle for this cook. When I checked the temperature just after I was at 475f at the grate so would never have lasted through the night as intended. I let things cool down, proceeded with the cook as planned and can’t say I was disappointed with the results. I would however like to try a cook with a baffle to see the difference for myself. I’m partly thinking the sheet was too thick at 5mm and there might not have been enough holes in it but would welcome any input. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tabs Posted July 27, 2020 Share Posted July 27, 2020 Here's the baffle plate I use. Think it was 50mm steel pizza pan, with the sides whizzed off with a grinder and Swiss cheesed. It's about 1-2mm thick. Bought off eBay for about a tenner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sluggy Posted July 28, 2020 Share Posted July 28, 2020 (edited) Definitely too thick! I use a 3mm thick plate in my wsm but your main problem sounds like your plate is too wide/big you only need it big enough to actually cover the charcoal basket so it can prevent direct heat. Personally I wouldn’t have any holes either, just a disc at the same width as your charcoal basket leaving a good 1-2 inch gap around it to allow good flow. Edited July 28, 2020 by Sluggy Pics added Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy Posted July 29, 2020 Author Share Posted July 29, 2020 Thanks for the advice. I’ll need to look into getting another steel sheet this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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