British BBQ Society Forums

I have spent Saturday and Sunday morning spraying with Plastikote BBQ paint.
It's now had five coats, two yesterday, which were ruined by a severe rainstorm. Hence the tarp to protect me from the British summer weather!
So today, I flatted it back with a nylon scourer to get all the bits off that were thrown up by the rain.
It's now had a further three coats and has been at 250 degrees C cure the paint and harden it.

Looks the biz, good pics throughout, don't forget to tempt us with pics of the cooks

Well folks, the rest of the day has been spent putting it all together, and finishing it off. You can't stop mid flight for something this important, you don't want to lose concentration!

Here she is all finished and ready for fire.



It has had to have a name as well, so I have named it after the monster drag line excavator, Big Musky, because it was an amazing bit of engineering, and is no longer with us. The name sounds cool too.



I also made a Rib rack while the paint dried. This was made out of old dishwasher curtain hangers, I knew they would come in handy one day.



So Iam ready for a cook now,which all things being equal will be next weekend. The wife has kindly bought me a maverick ET 732 thermometer for my birthday, so all I need now is some tasty animal to happen along.

Looks amazing - have to say, i don't think it deserves the UDS label. Just too good looking!

Very nice mate hope she cooks well

BBQBAZ: How do you deal with the resulting ash from the burn? Just tip it out afterwards?

Just thinking about my own build - I wonder if it would be good to put an ashtray underneath the basket. Also i'm thinking one needs to keep in mind the vent holes at the bottom - if there is alot of ash, it could well block the vents.

Also - how hot does the barrel itself get during a burn - particularly near the bottom?

Putting in an ash catcher is a good idea as getting the ash out of the drum is a pain!
If you attach the ash pan to the legs of the fire basket this makes for easy rerieval.

Cheers
Simon

I've got a rectangular ash pan (borrowed the Mrs turkey pan) under my uds basket attached to two long wire loops/handles to lift it out and save my back
bottom holes shouldn't ever get blocked. Dead easy to lift it out after every cook. Fab UDS by the way, excellent quality build.



G

I regularly cook at 250F - 300F but my UDS never really gets hot hot, I can put my hand on it for a few seconds anywhere from top to bottom. A lot of people just use standard car paints on the outside as it never gets hot enough to blister it.

aris wrote:BBQBAZ: How do you deal with the resulting ash from the burn? Just tip it out afterwards?

Just thinking about my own build - I wonder if it would be good to put an ashtray underneath the basket. Also i'm thinking one needs to keep in mind the vent holes at the bottom - if there is alot of ash, it could well block the vents.

Also - how hot does the barrel itself get during a burn - particularly near the bottom?

Thanks for the info BigG. My concern was for any fittings I might attach to it - also child safety. Sounds like they will not come to any harm if they touch it. I like your charcola basket design by the way - no welding needed! I might just steal that idea