Good Evening Gentlemen,
I have read your thread and feel that is is appropriate to post a reply. The last thing we want to do is cause animosity with any members.
I don't want to bore you but to give you a bit of history about BBQ in the UK. If you mention BBQ or Smoking food to 99 out of a 100 people in the UK they will mention cremated burgers, raw under-cooked chicken and sausages that are inedible, that's it, they have never heard of pulled pork or ribs, and are not aware that you can cook on a BBQ/Smoker for 5, 8, or 15 hours. it is a totally alien concept to them.
It is only the past couple of years that things are starting to change. We now have the odd BBQ restaurants, pop up restaurants, and even the main supermarkets are selling pulled pork brisket & ribs. I spoke to a man last week and he is importing container loads of BBQ Sauce & Rubs into the UK, so basically we are undergoing a food revolution in the UK, that has not been seen in this country since the microwave oven was invented !
Our options are to join a US forum which is fantastic, but we cannot get products that you take for granted in the US. For example we cannot get hold of brisket (ours is rolled and then simmered for hours in water), pulled pork and kosher salt just to name a few. Equipment is another huge problem, you try finding a 50 gallon drum in the UK to make a UDS, it is near impossible. But one of our members has made a couple, and posted the photo's on the UK forum (complete with parts list) and this has encouraged a couple of new members to try. This would not have been possible if he had posted on the main forum, as we do not have the same stores as you. Therefore there is a huge void, and because of this there was a void that needed to be filled, and we just happened to have a Texan who was more than happy to take on this huge challenge and therefore the UK Forum was born.
Our members are increasing weekly so we are really making a difference. We held our second annual smoking weekend a couple of weeks ago and the turnout was amazing, and we fed most of the campsite, which helped to spread the word.
I understand where you are coming from that we are not posting on the main forums, and we mean no disrespect but we feel we would lose some of our members because we would not be able to give the members the support they need,and if we missed their post, they would go elsewhere. The only way to ensure that we do not miss a post or a reply is to keep it in the UK forum, not ideal but it works. Since the numbers are growing, and more time is needed to support our members Smoking Monkey, Wade & myself have joined Danny as group leads.
We feel passionate about BBQ & Food Smoking and want to spread the word, and feel honoured (spelt the UK way) that some of our fellow smokers from across the pond have posted on the UK forum. We are certainly open to suggestions how we can contribute to the main forums, and also give the valuable service that is needed by our UK members, the last thing we want is a them and us culture and cause a divide.
Regards & Best Wishes
Smokewood