Newbie from Scotland

deano

Fire Starter

Original poster

Oct 2, 2014

34

11

Falkirk, Scotland

• Oct 2, 2014

• #1

Hi guys,

Dean here all the way from "sunny" Scotland.

Just found out about homemade smokers a few weeks ago and have been fuelling my new found addiction with YouTube videos and different forums ever since, much to the joy of my other half:icon_wink:. My initial plan was to build a wooden smoker with the little camp hotplate in the bottom for smoking a pot of wood chips but after all of the great info and pictures you guys share on here my expectations are growing by the day for what I could build! A little wooden smoker seemed the best option to start with that would be cheap and easy enough to build but looking at a few of the UDS I'm thinking I might be able to handle one of those to start with?

Any advice is more than welcome but I've read many of the other newbie posts also so can just pick up the info from there to save you experts repeating yourself haha

 

crazymoon

Legendary Pitmaster

OTBS Member

SMF Premier Member

★ Lifetime Premier ★

Aug 24, 2014

7,832

3,182

Great North Woods, NH

• Oct 2, 2014

• #2

Deano, welcome and you've come to the right site. These folks are  awesome and are quite knowledgeable, always willing to share good advice with us newbies !

 

gary s

Gone but not forgotten. RIP

OTBS Member

Jan 6, 2011

26,255

4,705

• Oct 2, 2014

• #3

  Good evening and welcome to the forum, from a rainy and stormy East Texas. Lots of great people with tons of information on                  just about  everything

             Gary  

 

kc5tpy

Master of the Pit

May 12, 2013

4,352

188

Newark on Trent, United Kingdom.

• Oct 3, 2014

• #4

Hello and Welcome to our addiction.  Many good folks here with a load of experience that they are more than willing to share.  If you have specific questions just start a thread and someone with experience will be along soon to offer advice.  All info you can provide us with such as smoker type, location and so on will help us answer any questions you may have, and pictures help a bunch.  Spend some time doing some research on the forums, tons of advice and recipes already available there.  Check out Jeff’s 5 day smoking E-Course ( link below ) that will help you get started.  We look forward to your contributions.  Have fun.  Good luck.  Keep Smokin!

Danny

http://www.smoking-meat.com/smoking-basics-ecourse

 

wolfman1955

Master of the Pit

Nov 17, 2013

1,054

47

Chillicothe, Ohio

• Oct 3, 2014

• #5

Welcome to the forum DeanO from southern Ohio. Joining here means that that BBQ bug has bitten and you may now begin the long treck to great food, Hope you enjoy the journey as much as I have so far!

 

themule69

Epic Pitmaster

Oct 7, 2012

12,884

350

live north of fort smith arkansas between alma and

• Oct 3, 2014

• #6

Glad you joined the group. The search bar at the top of any page is your best friend.
About anything you wanna know about smoking/grilling/curing/brining/cutting or slicing
and the list goes on has probably been posted. Remember to post a QVIEW of your smokes.
We are all smoke junkies here and we have to get our fix. If you have questions
Post it and you will probably get 10 replies with 11 different answers. That is
because their are so many different ways to make great Q...

Build a UDS you will love it.
Happy smoken.
David

 

GaryHibbert

Epic Pitmaster

OTBS Member

★ Lifetime Premier ★

Jun 20, 2013

10,099

3,751

Drayton Valley, AB, Canada (Heavy Duty Oilpatch co

• Oct 4, 2014

• #7

Hey Dean

Welcome to the Smoking forum. You’ll find great , friendly people here, all more than willing to answer any question you may have. Just ask and you’ll get about 10 different answers—all right. LOL. Don’t forget to post qviews.

Gary

 

wade

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

SMF Premier Member

Apr 12, 2013

3,863

279

Kent, UK

• Oct 4, 2014

• #8

Welcome Deano. There are a growing number of us from the UK who chat regularly on here. Whether you are a die-hard smoking fanatic or someone just starting out you will find a lot of great people on here ready to help out or just to bounce ideas off.

 

deano

Fire Starter

Original poster

Thread starter

Oct 2, 2014

34

11

Falkirk, Scotland

• Oct 4, 2014

• #9

Thanks guys , I subscribed to the e-course and been trying to source a drum. I think I've found one for cheap already so hopefully picking it up next week and get to cleaning it out and starting the build!

I have a few queries about the type of vents used like if there are any advantages of having the ball valves over some type of sheet metal sliding vent but I'll probably start another thread if I don't find the answer on here first.

 

dirtsailor2003

Epic Pitmaster

OTBS Member

Oct 4, 2012

21,947

4,224

Bend Oregon

• Oct 4, 2014

• #10

You won't be disappointed with a UDS. it's an all around smoker. You can cold smoke in it, or you can do super hot smokes. It holds temps rock solid so you don't have to babysit the thing all day. Once you get the temp set it's pretty good to go for a long time. I'd keep it simple, three valved intakes. If your drum comes with a lid and locking band use those. If the lid has a 1" and 2" bung use those for your exhaust (leave open all time). Lots of good ways to make racks or hanging options in the UDS. I don't use mine as much since I found the Mini-WSM but still fire it up when we are Smokin for a crowd.

 

smokin monkey

Master of the Pit

OTBS Member

SMF Premier Member

Oct 27, 2013

2,357

278

Sutton In Ashfield, UK

• Oct 5, 2014

• #11

Hi Dean, welcome to the forum. If you have any questions, you are sure to get at least several options!

Smokin Monkey

 

wolfman1955

Master of the Pit

Nov 17, 2013

1,054

47

Chillicothe, Ohio

• Oct 5, 2014

• #12

DeanO the advantage to the ball valves is two fold 1) They are easy to install 2) Tey provide very good control of intake air.

 

dirtsailor2003

Epic Pitmaster

OTBS Member

Oct 4, 2012

21,947

4,224

Bend Oregon

• Oct 5, 2014

• #13

On my first UDS I used ball valves. My current UDS I used gate valves. The work just as good and all three of them cost less than one ball valve!

 

wolfman1955

Master of the Pit

Nov 17, 2013

1,054

47

Chillicothe, Ohio

• Oct 5, 2014

• #14

dirtsailor2003 said:

On my first UDS I used ball valves. My current UDS I used gate valves. The work just as good and all three of them cost less than one ball valve!

Click to expand...

Yeah, The gates are way cheaper than the balls, but it is easier to duplicate the valve setting for different temps. using quarter turn balls.

 

dirtsailor2003

Epic Pitmaster

OTBS Member

Oct 4, 2012

21,947

4,224

Bend Oregon

• Oct 5, 2014

• #15

Wolfman1955 said:

dirtsailor2003 said:

On my first UDS I used ball valves. My current UDS I used gate valves. The work just as good and all three of them cost less than one ball valve!

Click to expand...

Yeah, The gates are way cheaper than the balls, but it is easier to duplicate the valve setting for different temps. using quarter turn balls.

Click to expand...

I'd disagree, just a matter of remembering the number of turns open to closed and doing the math.

 

wolfman1955

Master of the Pit

Nov 17, 2013

1,054

47

Chillicothe, Ohio

• Oct 5, 2014

• #16

dirtsailor2003 said:

Wolfman1955 said:

dirtsailor2003 said:

On my first UDS I used ball valves. My current UDS I used gate valves. The work just as good and all three of them cost less than one ball valve!

Click to expand...

Yeah, The gates are way cheaper than the balls, but it is easier to duplicate the valve setting for different temps. using quarter turn balls.

Click to expand...

I'd disagree, just a matter of remembering the number of turns open to closed and doing the math.

Click to expand...

I never was real good at math. I am more of a visual guy. 225 deg. = this sharpie mark. 250 deg. + this sharpie mark. LOL