New member from the Netherlands (aka Holland, or "Amsterdam")

[Dutch_Erik]

Hi all!

After having read through these forums for the past few weeks, I decided it was time to join and share my own (limited) experience.

I'm from the Old World, living in a cold flat piece of land commonly known as Holland, officially known as the Netherlands, and known abroad simply as 'Amsterdam'. Sadly, this is a place where BBQ usually means a tiny gas grill used to thoroughly char the outside of a chicken leg while keeping the inside raw... Meanwhile, the hungry guests eat bread and salad.

But, there is hope for us Dutchies yet... Recently, the Webers and BGEs have gained a lot in popularity, a proper low 'n slow BBQ cookbook has won the judges and public's prize and the words "2-zone setup" don't raise as many eyebrows as they once did.

I have always enjoyed home cooking, have a bit of feel for it (or so I think) and have been a bit ahead of the local BBQ curve for a while... I currently own a Weber Performer, which I really like, but I don't find it overly suitable for low 'n slow cooks, mainly due to the grate size.

While the logical and low(er) cost solution would be to get a WSM, I find its design has a few drawbacks. Being an Aviation Design Engineer by profession and a tinkerer by passion, I quickly formed the plan to design and build a UDS.

I scoured these amazing forums for info on them, one thing led to another, and now the design is underway on an 80 gallon reverse flow offset smoker :D

Thank you all for reading, and for sharing your experience on this great website :)

 

[SmokinAl]

Welcome to SMF!
Good luck on your project!
Al

 

[bluewhisper]

Welcome to the board! That smoker project sounds promising, please send pics.

We visited Amsterdam in 1975. It was quite an education for a young boy.

 

[Dutch_Erik]

Welcome to SMF!
Good luck on your project!
Al

Thanks a lot :)

Welcome to the board! That smoker project sounds promising, please send pics.

Thanks, I'll definitely start a build thread soon, making sure all the building guru's on here can tell me where I got it wrong :P

We visited Amsterdam in 1975. It was quite an education for a young boy.

I can imagine, haha. They cleaned it up a lot nowadays, trying to go for the comfy old town scene, moreso than the drugs and red lights...

 

[okie362]

Welcome to the board. Don't sell Holland short though, much more to it than Amsterdam and I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent there when Royal Ahold was my client.

 

[Dutch_Erik]

Welcome to the board. Don't sell Holland short though, much more to it than Amsterdam and I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent there when Royal Ahold was my client.

Thanks :) definitely a lot more to it than Amsterdam but very little of it will ring any bells, especially outside of Europe. That's why the easiest way to describe where I live is Amsterdam, because the country is so small you'll never be more than an hour off ;-)

 

[normanaj]

Welcome!

While the logical and low(er) cost solution would be to get a WSM, I find its design has a few drawbacks.

Curious as to what your thoughts are on the design flaws of the WSM.Almost anything can be modified.

 

[Dutch_Erik]

Curious as to what your thoughts are on the design flaws of the WSM.Almost anything can be modified.

For me personally, the lower rack being poorly accessible and the thin metal of which they are made.

Back yards over here are very very small, and having a spot that's sheltered from the wind isn't always possible. I've had issues with the Performer not holding a high enough temperature while burning through its fuel quickly on a windy day.

Also, I love designing and building stuff, gives me far more satisfaction than buying stuff :)

 

[okie362]

Thanks :) definitely a lot more to it than Amsterdam but very little of it will ring any bells, especially outside of Europe. That's why the easiest way to describe where I live is Amsterdam, because the country is so small you'll never be more than an hour off ;-)

One of my favorite places visited there was Delft. What a cool little town. It did cost me a small fortune though when I forgot to convert prices to USD when I thought it a good idea to buy a bunch of Blue China as Christmas gifts for ALL the women in my family :|

 

[THW]

Interesting reading Erik. And please do add some pictures when you start your build. Welcome to the forum from another newbie.

 

[RogCincy]

I used to live in the Netherlands for a couple years (en spreek Nederlands). I always found Makro one of the better places for finding big chunks of meat, and Hornbach a great place to find decently priced off-set smokers. PBC ships their product to the Netherlands too, if you're ever interested in buying a pre-made UDS.

 

[Dutch_Erik]

I thought it a good idea to buy a bunch of Blue China as Christmas gifts for ALL the women in my family

Ouch, that'll rack up quite an expense in a hurry ;)

Interesting reading Erik. And please do add some pictures when you start your build. Welcome to the forum from another newbie.

Thanks :) pics will definitely follow.

I used to live in the Netherlands for a couple years (en spreek Nederlands). I always found Makro one of the better places for finding big chunks of meat, and Hornbach a great place to find decently priced off-set smokers. PBC ships their product to the Netherlands too, if you're ever interested in buying a pre-made UDS.

Thanks for the tips :) I'll definitely visit Makro to see how the meat section is. The actual designing and builing of the smoker is half the fun for me, and I've read enough about low-price smokers to know I should stay away from them ;)

 

[Rings Я Us]

Good to have ya..
Hope to see your Windmill ...

I mean Smoker pics one day.
Be safe! :D

 

[gary s]

Good morning and welcome to the forum from a chilly, cloudy day here in East Texas, and the best site on the web. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about everything.

I'm a RF guy

Gary