First on the list was building the fire basket. I had removed the expanded metal floor from my trailer (to replace with tongue/groove treated wood) and salvaged it for the fire baskets. After cutting into useful sizes and grinding off the finger-slicing edges, I cut one of the pieces into the following shape. Rolling around an 18" metal grate, folding up the 'tabs' and adding some bolts and fender washers and I fashioned a respectable fire basket!
My drums turned out pretty nicely. Because they were food-grade barrels, they came with a red epoxy liner which, although probably benign, I decided to try and remove. I love my $15 investment in an angle grinder from Harbor Freight and a couple packs of cutoff wheels and grinding wheels. Without these I'd never have been able to pull off the metalwork. After grinding out the liner and adding some vents to the bottom with galvanized plumbing parts, I gave the barrel(s) a nice burn-out:
I had a few barrels to work with so I cut off the top/bottom 1/3 of the closed barrel I had, did the same grinding and capped my barrel during the subsequent 'smoke-in'. Before loading the fire basket a 2nd time with some nice hardwood, I wiped the inside of the barrels with crisco which allowed for a nice sooty lining to form:
I did the same work for the 2nd basket and 2nd barrel and then started the paint job. The barrels don't really get above 300° so high-temp paint wasn't really necessary but I used it anyhow. I wanted to be a little creative so I decided to do flames. they turned out pretty decent!
The week before competition I was busy finishing the barrels and doing test cooks. My family was subject to my almost daily cooking experiments. I discovered I'm surprisingly good at cooking chicken! However, my first attempt on the UDS had some wild fluctuations in temperature resulting in really dark chicken thighs. Despite their color, I learned about cooking time and they tasted phenomenal.
I decided to pull the trigger on an automated air control system. I purchased the PitmasterIQ 120. This comes with a control unit that has a built in fan with a hose that connects to one of my air inlets. There are also 2x probes; one for the pit and one for the meat. After a minor learning curve, the UDS was holding whatever temp I set. Added quite a bit to peace of mind.
The days before competition my confidence with my new smokers was growing and the meat was cooking up really nice but I was still missing a sauce. My Uncle Tate was well known for his BBQ and sauce and I was fortunate to inherit a recipe through my Aunt Boni. So I collected all the ingredients and carefully followed the directions. Unfortunately, I must have missed something serious because the result wasn't what I was expecting. Another attempt at BBQ sauce with fresh cooked tomatoes and current jelly from last year didn't produce stellar results either. In desperation on the last day I googled AllRecipes.com for a 5 star BBQ sauce and slightly modified that search result. The BBQ sauce I created was EXACTLY what I was hoping for and everyone has loved it. +1 google!
The night before the competition I had my time/temp script spreadsheet all worked out and tested:
It was time to begin...
[To Be Continued...]
