smoking up a picnic in surrey england my 1st ever !!!

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smokerpaul

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Jul 12, 2012
149
13
aldershot england
i thought i would show you the result of my first ever smoke (except a chicken leg when i seasoned my newly built uds)

i went to a local market and picked up a lower shoulder of pork(picnic) it weighed about 8 1/2 pounds still with the rind on 

 
after trimming off the rind and tidying it up


i ended up with a small rack of ribs ,a fatty bit of the neck end  and the shoulder all ending up in the saucepan with my spiced up brine with garlic ,red onion, sugar, salt, paprika and one or two other things in the cupboard that i cannot remember lol oh chinese five spice and it went in the fridge for 24 hours


i then put my rub on and at 11pm  into the uds it went already at 250f it was a cold night and i tried using a water bowl and i found the temperature was hard to keep stable, after an hour and a half i sprayed it with 3/4 apple juice and 1/4 southern comfort i was using a little bit of oak for the smoke and i did not want to over power it so i only used a little in  the basket i stayed up until 2.30 am but by then the water had gone and it had become more stable and i left it at 230f and off to bed i went, i got up at 6.30am and checked it again, the temperature of the smoker had dropped to 200f and meat was 158f so out it came and i wrapped it in foil and finished it in the oven at 220f until the internal temp was 207f  i then took it out the oven wrapped it in towels and put it back in the oven (electric ) at 165f to rest. this was the result


the meat fell off the bone cleanly and it had a nice bark and a smoke ring i served it up in rolls with a creamy coleslaw and sliced pickles and a vegetable rice


WOW  !!  it was like nothing i have ever tasted before smokey,sweet, spicy and very very juicy 

and i must say thanks to all the people on this website who gave up their secrets and and knowledge as this would not have been possible without you, you have converted this englishman to the american way of barbecueing 
 
Paul you're a good person to ask this question...  How many hours do you think a UDS can go in cold winter weather?   When i make one i want to insulate it somehow i think. 
 
That all looks great, Paul!  Very well done, and thanks for showing us your Qview...
bravo.png


Red
 
That looks great Paul - I could almost smell it from Kent MMMMmmmmm
 
thanks guys

FWIsmoker i think it would be best to insulate if you can and load it up as much as you can as it will have to burn more when it has to fight against the cold air but when you finish close it all down and choke the fire you can then save all the un-burnt charcoal 

hi wade

thanks i am well pleased with the outcome 
 
Hi wade hi paul chris here FWI smoker have u thought about putting a slightly smaller barrel into a bigger one forming a gap between.bolt them together at the bottom and some metal piping though for vents. Fire proof expanding phome between should be a grate insulator just a thought.
 
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hi chris how did the weekend go !!!!!! good one? really good idea but trying to find a drum that sits inside the other would be like looking for rocking horse manure!!!!! they seem to be all the same size here in the uk i dont know what they have in the states but if you could find suitable drums you could probably get away without the foam, the cavity would be enough or stuff rockwool in the gap . i am in the middle of building a temp controller for the uds i have a 12v pid temp control unit from china with a K type thermocouple, a solid state relay ,a small computer fan, some switches and 12v led's all going to go in a clip top food storage box with a fan inlet on one side of the box and a 6ft  hose on the other side going to the bottom of the drum and the thermocouple in the drum to monitor the temps fan will blow on the coals to heat up,when the fan shuts down  the length of hose will reduce the natural air flow so it will calm down the coals.i have designed the wiring diagram the switches will be, on- off,

manual fan overide and fan disable the led's will show what switches are on. BTW  how is your build going.??
 
Weekend was messy to say the least still getting over it I think but had a wicked time when u have two children under 2 it felt more a case of needing it rather then wanting it. Witch leads me on to your next question "how am I getting on with my smoker" slowly would be the answer to that im lucky if I get an hour a week in the workshop, at the weekend im in the garden trying to make it look less of a jungle since we moved in but its getting there got a proper little smoking area at the bottom of the garden. On the bright side I did get my log burner this week witch is getting incorporated into my design. Ill do a drawing of it tell me what u think. Your fan system seems complex should work a treet I recon reminds me or a cold smoker I saw on utube for drawing the smoke into the chamber. Let me know how you get on.
 
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your smoker looks cool chris 

if i get my controller working right i will give you details on how to make one yourself or you could make it electric or both !!! my controller is quite simple really it blows the coals which heats up the smoker when it gets to temp the fan stops and the fire dies down a bit,the controller is self learning and it will eventually get the air just right to keep the temps stable you can use this type of controller on electric smokers and with the right bits and pieces do the same on a gas fired one but that would mean contravening so many gas regulations here in the uk that you could be in court if it went belly up .i was a catering equipment engineer before my heart attacks so this is simple technology for me as i used to work on very complicated pieces of kit, but it gives my head something to do ,oh and i am at santa pod on the 23rd until 27th this month its the first FIA and FIM round of the european drag racing championships (cars and bikes all classes)  they start at the pod then they go around europe and come back to the pod in september to end the season(european finals) i am taking the smoker so if you want to pop down for a day and have a beer (if the misses drives LOL)
 
i am in the middle of building a temp controller for the uds i have a 12v pid temp control unit from china with a K type thermocouple, a solid state relay ...
Looks like we are both heading in the same direction. I am building these into a couple of my hot smokers. We probably should compare notes sometime.
 
by all means wade i will readily share info on my idea's .when i get it up and running i will give you my wiring diagram 
 
I brought a couple of Pitmaster IQ110s back from St Louis when I was over there a couple of years ago. They do a very similar job. I don't use mine that often but when I have it has done a great job of keeping the internal temperature stable to within a degree or two. It needs the coals to be lit in a very particular way and tinfoil laid internally to ensure the correct air flow within the cooking chamber.

http://pitmasteriq.com/
 
Paul - You are welcome to borrow the IQ110 if you want to compare their effectiveness.

Cheers

Wade
 
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