Nathan Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 Hi Guys, Im sure you guys get lots of these types of questions but i'm hopeful you kind and knowledgeable folk may be willing to assist. I'm a newbie to smoking/proper BBQ and have been looking into the minefield that is getting my first smoker. I'd like to try it out without investing the crazy sums some of these devices cost so have limited my choices to sub £350 smokers. This selection has been further whittled to a choice between the Cook4All (which looks a bargain) or a Big Poppas UDS kit. Does any one have any experiences of these items (Favourable or negative)? I'd like to give most meats a go so will be doing a brisket and large pork butt at some point so need to understand if my selections would be big enough. Thanks in advance Nathan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 Hi Nathan and welcome to the forum. If you are looking to cook low and slow BBQ you are looking along the right lines with going for a bullet smoker. The options that you are considering are very similar in what you will be able to produce but a long way apart with regards to the quantity that you will be able to cook at one time and the price. The Cook4All is an entry level bullet smoker that has a relatively small diameter and therefore a small cooking area. For the average family/friends BBQ then the Cook4All will be fine as you will be able to cook your ribs, pork, brisket etc. in sufficient quantities, however if cooking for larger numbers then you may find the cooking space limiting. The UDS Kit on the other hand is dependent on the barrel size you buy (the barrel is not included in the price of the kit) and it will give you larger cooking areas on the top and bottom grills. You will need some simple engineering skills and patience to build the UDS using the kit - but for a lot of people the challenge is all part of the fun. The capabilities of the UDS and Cook4All are very similar however UDS will have the larger cooking capacity and the prices are very different. £85 for the Cook4All compared with £300+ (including the barrel) for the UDS kit. There are other UDS kits available in the UK though that you should look at as well. If you are buying the Cook4All then I would advise you to wait until mid July. I have been working with Callow over the past 6 months to fine tune the Cook4All smoker and the latest models are due to land in the UK the first week of July. Wade 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted June 25, 2018 Author Share Posted June 25, 2018 Hi Wade, many thanks for the reply and kind welcome. I've been looking at a 45 gallon drum(new and unlined/unpainted) which with the BP kit is going to set me back £225 plus paint, I figured £250 total. I haven't managed to find any other kits available in the UK, if you could advise of kit names i'll check them out. I'd prefer to have a bigger smoker if possible as I enjoy getting the whole family round for BBQ's (13 in total) and cooking for everyone on a smoker would be ideal. I also looked at the Bristol Drum Smokers but these appear to be big poppa kits that someone builds up. Im thinking the 14 inch grill may be a little small for big joints. Nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Monkey Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 Hi Nathan, looks like you are answering your own question, with the amount of people you want to cook for. I have built a UDS, UDS Build. but not from a kit. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Monkey Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 ProSmoke BBQ Kit Big Poppa Kit 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted June 25, 2018 Author Share Posted June 25, 2018 Thanks Smokin. Your home made UDS looks good, nice job. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Monkey Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 I would not worry going for High Temp paint. The graphic on my UDS is Vinyl, and has not been affected by the heat. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 From what you say I think the Cook4All will be too small. As you are looking at the ~£250 then also take a look at the ProQ Frontiers. These are very similar to the Weber Smoky Mountains (WSMs) and come in at about £290. I have used both these and the WSMs and I prefer the ProQ because they give better access to the bottom smoking grill. I use these for my BBQ classes. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted June 25, 2018 Author Share Posted June 25, 2018 I looked at the ProQ Range but saw several comments regarding not getting burns longer than 6-8 hours. If thats the case, will i need to refill to do larger peices of meat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 As with all bullet smokers, the length of burn is down to a combination of the the temperature that you are cooking at, the outside air conditions, the and the quality of the fuel being used. The smaller smokers will tend to lose heat faster than the larger ones due to their surface area to volume ratio being greater but this is not usually a major issue. The main reason people have problems is down to the quality of the fuel. Use good quality briquettes and you will get long burns, use cheap briquettes or standard grade charcoal and the burns will be shorter. I would usually expect to get a good 8-10 hours cooking time from my Frontier at ~110 C. Place the smoker in a windy position and the coals have to work harder and the cook will be shorter. Also, if you keep opening the lid or the doors the smoker will burn a lot less MORE fuel - "if you are looking you are not cooking". The most effective way to give good temperature control with long burn times is to use a Minion charcoal configuration. Below is one I use for demonstration purposes in the ProQ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 There are not many pieces of meat that you will need to cook over 8 hours. Even most briskets are done in the smoker within that time and are then followed by a resting period. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokin Monkey Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted June 25, 2018 Author Share Posted June 25, 2018 Great info thanks Wade, I'll keep the ProQ's in mind. Following the previous comments re size of the Cook4All i was kind of made up on a UDS but the ProQ's look really versatile. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted June 25, 2018 Share Posted June 25, 2018 If you go along to any of the BBQ competitions you will see that the teams use a wide range of smokers - however the WSM, ProQ and UDS are all about as equally popular with the teams. If you go with any of them you will be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted June 25, 2018 Author Share Posted June 25, 2018 Sounds good Wade, are there any mods I need to consider with the ProQ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 None that are required. A couple of things you should consider though with whichever smoker you go with... From the start, also invest in a dual probe digital thermometer. This is because you need greater accuracy than the lid thermometers will usually provide. Later on you could look at adding an automatic temperature controller. These really make the smokers light and forget. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted June 26, 2018 Author Share Posted June 26, 2018 That's great, thanks for all the help Wade. Very much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan Posted June 26, 2018 Author Share Posted June 26, 2018 Just ordered the ProQ Frontier Elite! £302 including a cover, hanging rack, wood chips and delivery. I got it from Forfoodsmokers.co.uk who have been very helpful(and fast) answering questions and have confirmed delivery for Thursday, a great experience so far. Just need a kettle starter (they were out of stock), coals, and to suss out a dual probe. I’m thinking about the Thermopro TP17 which is very cheap (£18) on Amazon and appears to be reasonable quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sotv Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 (edited) I have had this ProQ Elite for 2 years now and it is still going strong. Occasionally think about upgrading, but it still produces good quality food every time for me, so still happy to stick with it. Never needed to mod it. Lost a nut to one of the legs that fell in the ash a few weeks ago, and managed to get a spare from Screwfix. Otherwise as reliable and sturdy as it was when I first bought it. As Wade said a meat and heat temperature thermometer is well worth it, as the gauge on the ProQ is the biggest letdown. Temperature control via the vents is easy enough (although they get a little hot) so have a tea towel by it, if you need to open or close them. Also worth purchasing the Proq Cold smoker kit for this, you can produce some nice cold smoked salmon, cheese and bacon with the Elite and kit. Weather needs to cool down quite a bit at night time for best results though. Type of charcoal that is best is trial and error, I have settled on restaurant lumpwood, a shorter burn time but maintains 225 really well, and when temp drops easy to get if fired back up again as there is enough lumps of hot charcoal left to heat a fresh load up quite quickly. Briquettes burn longer, but I find they have turned to ash once temp drops and not so easy to get it back up to temp if a new load is needed. If that makes sense. Sure you will find your own best method, pretty quickly though. Only other tip, I can give you is use small wood chunks, rather than wood chips, it produces a much better finished smoke flavour to your meat. Cetainly with this machine anyway Cooked some pork fatties a couple of days ago and a 32oz Tomahawk Steak (just seasoned) with stuffed peppers last night and we (and the neighbours) have enjoyed the finished results on both occasions.. Edited June 26, 2018 by sotv 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 2 hours ago, sotv said: Also worth purchasing the Proq Cold smoker kit for this, you can produce some nice cold smoked salmon, cheese and bacon with the Elite and kit. Weather needs to cool down quite a bit at night time for best results though. Type of charcoal that is best is trial and error, I have settled on restaurant lumpwood, a shorter burn time but maintains 225 really well, and when temp drops easy to get if fired back up again as there is enough lumps of hot charcoal left to heat a fresh load up quite quickly. Briquettes burn longer, but I find they have turned to ash once temp drops and not so easy to get it back up to temp if a new load is needed. If that makes sense. Sure you will find your own best method, pretty quickly though. For traditional cold smoked salmon temperatures of ~20 C are ideal but I agree, for others foods it is a bit warm - cheese for example. Things like nuts, oil, garlic, salt are fine to smoke in the warm temperatures too. The briquettes I use most in the ProQ are Heat Beads. They burn forever and produce almost no ash. As you say, Other types of briquettes can produce very high volumes of ash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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