Somapop' UDS Build

[YetiDave]

I had to tease the lid out with pliers. It did screw up the finish on the lip but I resprayed it

[somapop]

Yes - same with my lid: Was an almost perfect fit but with a small gap around one side. Pair of pliers over a tea towel and a gentle ease up should see you right. Finish is a bit knackered now, but will repaint/spray this (possibly with that Halfords gloss paint so it matches better). After a bit of tapping with a hammer, the fit is pretty good now. However, I've also added stove rope so it should be spot on.

BTW = picked the 22.5" Landmann up from Norfolk this weekend. I even ran it through to grill cooks at the in laws as a final send off before dismantling it. Pretty efficient kettle to be honest. The lid thermo actually ran off the scale towards the end of the cooks (600F +!!) so it's possible I might do pizza's in the future...not on that though as it's now been taken apart and added to the UDS.

More pics to come.

[YetiDave]

Where are these pictures then!?

[somapop]

Where are these pictures then!?

Sorry folks...just back from Cornwall!
I will post some pics up over the next couple of days.
Seasoning carried out last week and, from what I've seen so far, this thing is indeed incredibly efficient.

Playing around with valves I managed to secure a pretty stable 250f and 320f at different times. Was up at four to travel to Cornwall but the thing was still cooking away at that time (8 hour burn at that stage).
Just doing a quickish spatchcock chicken tonight (320f ish with cherry wood) - 3 hours sound about ok? Will keep checking up on temps etc but I'm just 'playing' at the moment.

So far so very good however

[YetiDave]

For a spatchcock at that temp I'd say you're looking at 90 minutes tops. I'd cook skin side up for the first half of the cook, then flip and finish skin side down. Glad to hear she's working well!

[somapop]

For a spatchcock at that temp I'd say you're looking at 90 minutes tops. I'd cook skin side up for the first half of the cook, then flip and finish skin side down. Glad to hear she's working well!

90 mins...I better go and check then !

Aye, I thought about flipping skin down 'second half'. I took the diffuser out in this instance as probably not required .


Cheers!

[YetiDave]

Let us know how it turned out!

[essexsmoker]

Glad you got it going!

Are you just using the valves for temp regulation or a PID?

How did the chicken go?

[somapop]

Glad you got it going!

Are you just using the valves for temp regulation or a PID?

How did the chicken go?

Hi folks - been away again...will post those pics up over the next day or two!
Chicken turned out great by the way. Approx 300f for just over 100 mins (as mentioned by yetidave). Lovely smoky flavour, but skin not quite how I'd like it. Might be a case of ramping the temp up a little more or perhaps adding a bit of a glaze...of which I'll come to in a second.

Valves only for temp regulation. Work almost flawlessly...once I get a temperature I can pretty much keep it set for hours...really impressed with the stability. I ran out of penny washers (just picked up a new packet) so some of the upper screws (for a top grate if I need one) are letting in/seeping out a little air. The ball valve is also a little loose (managed to grind the end of the nut down meaning I could tighten but such is the size, I don't currently have a big enough wrench to fully tighten. Small issue however.

Might look into a Maverick PID next year.

I did another cook last night. Took my eye off the ball a little here and let the temperature fire up to 400f...real pain to bring back down so had to close all vents to stave of oxygen. Again, left a little too long and the coals had all but extinguished. Fortunately a bit of a poke around (and vents all open again) brought it back to life and I was able to continue the cook.
Another issue seems to be the coals tending to burn more on one side (everything is pretty level) - something I'll have to look into fixing. I merely make a centre in the washing drum (surrounded by lump wood) then pour the chimney (red hot) coals into this...again, possibly a minor detail I'll sort out.
Still finding my feet with it really, but hugely impressed.

So...yeah...last nights cook. I had a tub of chicken drumsticks I picked up discounted in the supermarket. I don't usually purchase these, but price was too good to leave on the shelf

This is the recipe I used:

http://howtobbqright.com/blog/?p=2000

And there were belters! Didn't have the exact glaze but mocked up something pretty similar from stuff I had in the cupboards. I'll work on the recipe properly next time - few different ingredients and measures off, but very good all the same. Perhaps left them of for 5-10 mins too long at the end (the final 30 mins with the glaze) and didn't quite get the 'crunchy' glaze I was after (was hoping they would turn out with a similar bite to toffee apples?)

Best drumsticks I've ever eaten however. What let them down was having a suitable side dish really...quite tempted to add them into an Indian masala type dish as the flavours weren't that far apart. Had them with a homemade pilau, but definitely lacked a sauce (any suggestions welcome!!).

Oh - picked up some more discounted meat tonight (must be the time I enter supermarkets). Grabbed a gammon joint from Sainsbury's - anybody smoked one before? I'm guessing a honey glaze/apple would work well? Couple of hours at 300f again? Oak?

Cheers!

[essexsmoker]

Glad it's going well. I too have had a few issues with mine but that's because I'm using a PID contoller and am adamant I'll get it working even if it kills me!

I have found mine has got rusty patches already, just surface and they wipe off but a bit gutted. Thinking of just coating with hammerite.