English smoker

malesnail · Apr 5, 2013

Is there any smoking or grilling event's in England that any one knows about at all this summer. Thanks chris

DanMcG · Apr 5, 2013

Here ya go Chris.
http://ukbbqa.com/#home
click on the events icon at the right side of the page, Looks like May 25 in Leicestershire.

malesnail · Apr 8, 2013

Thanks very much dan will check it out now. Will u be going, have you ever been to one before?

smokerpaul · Apr 8, 2013

hi chris

i have found that there are comps run by the british barbecue society with ibqn (international barbecue network) and there is the french's pit master series also google up bbq teams like the royal Q pit crew etc. i have found out there is a comp in may just down the road from me in tongham surrey so i will be checking that out i am looking forward to some better weather soon as i have just finished my first ugly drum smoker and i am itching to fire it up i have built it to take to santa pod for the main event drag racing weekend (not too far from you)

hope this helps

paul

malesnail · Apr 9, 2013

Thanks paul thats a great help will defo be going to some of them over the next few months if the weather picks up. Iv been to santa pod plenty of times its great for events used to go bug jam and other similar weekenders in my camper van. I hope your first smoke with the ugly drums a success have you had any thoughts on what your going to smoke yet. Im in the process of building a part timbre, part brick, part pit smoker ill draw it out and post it tell me what you recon. Its a bit trial and error but im confident it might just work.

smokerpaul · Apr 9, 2013

hi chris

i need to season the smoker first, i have charcoal but i am going to my mates soon to grab some plum tree branches and some apple wood and i am off up the woods for some oak tomorrow with the dog but i dont know what to use first lol i intend to do some pulled pork and some chicken but not at the same time as the temps i will use will be low and slow 225 f -125 c for the pork and 350-400 f----175-200c for the chicken also in morrisons they sell turkey leg and thigh at very reasonable prices and i do a slow cook with it and treat it like pulled pork (very nice !!!!) i will upload some pics of the uds soon its just not the weather at the moment to get good photo's

i cant wait to get up the pod i have been going the best part of 30 years and there will be quite a few of us going hence the smoker!! it will be much more versatile than a normal bbq

also i have booked myself up for a course this saturday to be a bbq judge for the ibqn and as i live down the road from their HQ that may be a good start to getting into comps myself maybe or join an existing team WHO KNOWS!!!!!

anyway must go as dinner needs cooking, jerk pork has been marinating and smells great along with rice and pea's

speak soon

paul

malesnail · Apr 10, 2013

Got to to be a bit of apple with pork surly Lol. Look forward to seeing the picks. Are u doing beer can chichen. Maybe after sort good lessons u could form your own team but like u said who knows. Hope the weather's good for u and your friend's, if you like Caribbean food I have an absolutely exalent curried goad recipe or if struggle to get goat mtton must be on the bone though, shoulders a good cut for it and best thing about it big portions CHEAP!

smokerpaul · Apr 10, 2013

070.JPG

smokerpaul
Apr 10, 2013

MY UDS...... i had to use copper pipe and brass fittings as black iron pipe is hard to come by in the uk it is 22mm pipe but the internal diameter is bigger than 3/4 iron pipe i did not get enough paint so it still needs another coat or two the lid is from an old kettle bbq not a weber and i had to fit a steel ring inside the drum for the lid to sit on and my dog pickle just has to get in on the action lol

074.JPG

smokerpaul
Apr 10, 2013

a cut down shopping basket with an attached ash pan for a temporary charcoal basket(just dont tell my local supermarket) lol

077.JPG

smokerpaul
Apr 10, 2013

two cooking racks and an old rack above the basket to hold a pizza tray and a water bowl just need to give it a final clean then season it and AWAY WE GO!!!!! cant wait for the weekend

malesnail · Apr 10, 2013

Looks real good mate, top effort. Love the modified shopping basket idea got a shopping trolley in my work shop as we speak lol. Would love to see it with a slab of meat on the go. Remember the camera at pod. Been playing with some tandoori pork ribs at the moe would give your chicken some great colouring and flaver just find the rub iv been using a little to grainy.

smokerpaul · Apr 10, 2013

thanks chris

i am doing the course sat when i get back i will fire up the beast and give it a burn for a 2-3 hours and i think i will do some chicken on sunday but i will go to sleep and wake up and do something totally different but thats me!!!!!!!

smokerpaul · Apr 13, 2013

hi chris

i just got back from judging training

i am pleased to find out what is expected from teams when competing in bbq cook outs but to be honest i would rather do my own things as i loved the ribs and pulled pork but i think i would prefer to do chicken less sweet and sometimes use asian and jamaican flavours instead but that suits my taste better, but jerk or tandoori chicken would be frowned upon if it was entered into the comps i did however meet some nice people and chatted with a guy who has competed in the us ,he designs his own temp controllers and i think he may well be someone to get to know to be honest i didnt think much of the brisket it was in one case quite dry but the other was very nice but i dont think i will bother as it is as i am told it can be very hit and miss even for (pit masters). Teams sometimes cook 4-5 briskets just to turn in six slices to be judged and 95% is wasted they cook 20-30 thighs of chicken to choose six to hand in ,ribs, pork etc etc how can a meer mortal afford to compete with company backed teams i now realise that competing at that level is way out of my league.so i will gladly judge a local cook out and maybe get to know someone who needs a helping hand but that will be it for me

anyway catch you later

malesnail · Apr 17, 2013

Im glad u gained a lot from it. for me thats all its about cooking the things that YOU love, im with u on that one. I think it should be fun although I probably do take it far to serious. Its what comes with bbqing for me, good food, few beers, good weather, friends and family pretty much every thing u could ask for. Off on a stag do this weekend for 4 days may do a bbq up there but more likely to be spending it in the pub and living on fast food that tends to be how these things end up. is it this weekend your off to pod.

wade · Apr 17, 2013

I used to be very active in the British BBQ Society however it is really controlled as a one-man-show and the forum was heavily censored if anyone dared to mention non BBBQS events - as they were deemed to be "non-sanctioned". When some of the main posters on there had all of their posts suddenly deleted and their usernames removed completely for daring to suggest that BBQ was not all about competition I thought it was time to move on. It is unfortunate but both the BBBQS and the relatively new IBQN seem to be organised more as commercial enterprises and, unless it has changed recently, without any formal membership or committee. Don't get me wrong it is a great idea and Toby has done a fantastic job of trying to introduce the BBQ circuit into the UK however it could be so much better and possibly more widely accepted if it had a formal membership (not just the registered forum members) and it was managed more inclusively.

smokerpaul · Apr 18, 2013

hi chris

its the same for me good food, good friends and fun times thats what life is all about i am off to the pod for the main event at the end of may but i have been playing with my smoker ,i've seasoned it cooked a bit of jerk chicken(just one leg that was destined for the dog but i nabbed it and smoked it lol) and last night i fired it up and put in a 6 1/2 lb pork shoulder at about midnight temps were being a bit up and down but i was using a water bowl for the first time i got up at 7 took it out (internal temp was 150f ) wrapped it in foil and put it in the oven to finish ,i took it out at 11 (internal temp 207f) and i am currently resting it i will post all the photo's later, i will start a new thread for that, have a good time at the stag weekend just dont end up in a brawl or a drunken mess in the gutter lol

and hi wade

i got that feeling when i met up with them it seems a very clicky set up. but i enjoyed the day out and i will attend a couple of cookouts but purely for my own benefit as i want to pick up some tips and free food lol, where abouts in kent are you ,i am from erith and dartford area and now i live near aldershot

wade · Apr 18, 2013

Hi Paul

The regular competitors on the UK circuit are great and free food is always a bonus.

It sounds like you had a long night - It will be worth it though...

Until I was 20 I lived in Bexley (not far from you) and I was at school at Dartford Tech. I now live near Ashford in Kent.

smokerpaul · Apr 18, 2013

hi wade

you were very local to me i actually come from northumberland heath and when i got married i lived in dartford but that seems a lifetime ago. my brother still lives in bexleyheath i feel like a propper country bumpkin now i live in a village between guildford and aldershot at the bottom of the hill from the hogs back(A31) been here 10 years and i would never go back se london is a S hole!!! btw my pulled pork is smelling tasty and i cant wait to have it in rolls with coleslaw and pickles, pictures to follow!!

smokerpaul · Apr 18, 2013

hi guys i started a new thread called ,(smoking up a picnic in surrey england my 1st ever !!!), i'm well pleased!!!!!!!check it out

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