British BBQ Society Forums

I was contemplating building a UDS but decided to just buy a weber Smokey mountain.

I can get the 57cm for £350 which is only £50 more than the 47cm...

Not sure if I would ever need the extra capacity of the 57cm but I guess it may come in handy one day. So really it's just the running cost that is my concern. So my question is 'Does the 57cm really use a lot more fuel over the 47cm?'

Rob

At a guess, I would say yeah - they're modular cookers so larger = more leaks. I have a Pro Q Excel that apparently eats a lot more fuel than its little cousin, the Frontier. On the other hand, a UDS would use less fuel than a WSM or a Pro Q...

I've got a 47 and a 57 and yes the 57 burns through fuel at a quicker rate. In general unless I need the space I stick with the 47. But there are occasions where the extra space on 57 is a god send, multiple racks of ribs are easier on the 57. My 57 used to leak more than the 47 but there are a number of mods that you can do to rectify this, though of course there's an argument to say if you're going to go down the modding route why not go the full hog with a UDS

You could always get the WSM or a ProQ (my recommendation) and then bulk-buy the charcoal from somewhere like Creative Garden Ideas. They do Supagrill charcoal and if you spend more than £30, delivery is free. I ordered 5 bags last year and they were very good. I didn't get a chance to use the restaurant grade lumpwood or the Wonder Briquettes, but I did use the lumpwood and briquettes and they had a long burn time. I will try the restaurant grade and Wonder Briquettes this summer, but in the meantime I'll be ordering another 7 bags of a mixture of the Supagrill charcoal.

Hi,I have a 47 cm and have never used it as yet to it's full capacity.I find this size big enough.