UDS - first cook.

[essexsmoker]

Hi all,

Bit of a random order but some pics of my new UDS.

Did some ribs on it which turned out really good. moist and very tasty.

Pics seem a little blurred after upload but you get the idea.

http://s44.photobucket.com/user/essexsmoker/library/

[JEC]

Looks good, hope you are happy with your first cook.

[smokeyBandit]

Looks very nice - nice UDS too - did you make the fire basket?

[essexsmoker]

The ribs were lovely! Totally different taste to just doing them in the oven. The ribs look wet because I forgot to take a pic before I put the sauce over them. Used baby ray's with the foil juices. That was really good.

Yes, I did make the fire basket. It's 35 x 35cm so fairly big. Should last a while as I used 3mm angle. Got loads of mesh left too so can always replace it when that dies.

Got a few mods to make, like an extra port at the top since the airflow wasn't enough. Also just general tidying up which I'm hoping to do today!

[gingerchris]

Looks good! Where did you get your mesh from?

[essexsmoker]

Looks good! Where did you get your mesh from?

Hiya, just from a local metal supplier. FH Brundle in Rainham, Essex. I'm sure there will a supplier near you. I got a 2x1m sheet for about 30quid. I have other jobs for it though.

[gingerchris]

Nice one, thanks. I'll keep an eye out for a supplier as I've just bought a mig welder and am keen to play with it

[essexsmoker]

Hi chris, mig welders are great. I have a cheapo one but no gas at the mo so had to stick my basket. That was fine for the frame, but hell for the mesh. I found my 1mm sticks after I finished. Grrrrr.

Id love to get a decent mig welder but not got the money at the mo. Was a fag paper away from getting a murex 180amp. mmm.

In the end I weighed up the cost of gas and convenience and how much I'd use it and got the stick welder. It's got 100% duty cycle at 100amp!
Bummer is I'm used to an old shunt welder at work and struggle with my new one. Its an inverter type and sooo quiet and smooth that I can't get used to having no feedback.
Lets just say my basket won't fall apart, but it ain't as pretty as it should be!

What did you get?

There should be a supplier near you somewhere. Just do a search. I looked in b&q and there is no comparison in price. You might think you don't want 6m of angle, but I found it was virtually the same price at 1m in b&q!:o

I used nearly that length anyhow, got about 1.5-2m left maybe? I might make a frame to stand it on too yet but that's not essential for now.

[essexsmoker]

Hi all,

Bit of a random order but some pics of my new UDS.

Did some ribs on it which turned out really good. moist and very tasty.

Pics seem a little blurred after upload but you get the idea.

http://s44.photobucket.com/user/essexsmoker/library/

Thought I'd add some commentary to the post. I had done quite a long post but it died and wouldn't submit and then couldn't bring myself to type it all again!

Anyhoo I've calmed down since then.

To be honest it was a bit of a rush job as I had to put the bolts and vents in after the spray job before starting the cook. I then made the school boy error of prepping the meat before starting the smoker.

I didn't have any rub so had to make that up too. Just threw something together and didn't write it down. I'm kicking myself now as it was probably the best rub I've made! Grrr. I've lost count of how many times I've promised myself I'll write everything down!

I packed the fire basket using a snake style set up as in the picture. I then worried this wouldn't work (someone in another thread said their's did catch and burn) and I panicked as I didn't have a lot of time and did the minion instead.

I finally started the smoker and at 15.00 it was 77C, with all the vents open.
The temp really struggled to rise and at 16.00 it was still only 112C.
By 16.30 it was just at 120C and I cut my losses and put the ribs on.

I couldn't work out what was going on at first, I had 3 x 3/4 inch inlets all wide open! It then clicked that air might be coming in at the bottom, but might not be able to get out and create enough flow! I only had 1 damper vent at the top, so I cracked the lid open a bit.
By 17.00 the temp was 130C and rising! So a lesson learnt there. I now have another vent in the top and plan to do another foodless test burn.

Once the thing got going the temp swung about a fair bit, from 115C up to about 138C.
I left it alone for the first 2 hours and sprayed it with mop after that.

It was quite gusty and windy, so used a sunbed as a wind break at about 18.00. This did seem to help and it stabilised at about 136 to 138C.
I thought that the higher temp would be ok as it was getting late and it had had some low temps at the start. I foiled it for an hour or so to help it along too.

I opened them up and added some sauce and the drippings to finish them for about 30 mins as I couldn't wait any longer!

All in all it was a hellish first cook, but I did learn a lot! Mainly don't even think about starting a cook if you haven't got the time!
I have to say I was very surprised at how little coal it used! Pretty much used the half a chimney or so that I put in at the start!
I plan to dust the rest off and use it again.

I'd be interested to know how other peoples temp stability fairs and what it's like in gusty wind.

I think I'll get cracking with my temp controller!

[gingerchris]

I picked up a nearly new Clarke 151 for £140 which I thought was a decent price. I'm pretty new to welding, did an evening course a couple of months ago so hopefully I'll remember how it all works. It's currently set up for gasless mig but I think I'll change that as soon as I can afford some gas.

Your basket looks a hell of a lot better than my bolted together one! The B&Q mesh is really fine and a bit of a pain in the arse to work with.

I bought a cheapo Argos BBQ to use as a donor for my UFOUDS and have still got the legs from that, I think I might try shortening them and welding them to the bottom of my drum cos right now I'm using some teracotta flowerpot feet and it doesn't look as shiny as it could!