First UDS!
 

Alright guys here are some pics from my first UDS build. Read that UDS thread on here for days and figured out what I wanted to do. I used three 3/4 inch close black steel nipples for my air intakes, didnt have a welder so i used conduit nuts on the inside of the drum. mounded my grill grate 7 inches from the top and that makes it 24 inches from the bottom of the charcoal basket. there was no liner on the inside of the drum and that made it a whole lot easier. used a wire brush and got all the rust out and then burnt it out good. installed some handles on the sides as well. i rubbed it down with oil tonight and put about 3lbs of charcoal in it to season it.

I had to cut out the lid so i used the lid as an ash catcher. it barely fits past my bolts that hold the cooking grate though so it makes the basket kind of hard to get in and out. Is it necessary to have it? also any good ideas for putting wheels on this bad boy.

here are the pics!

I don't have an ash catcher - I just pull grates and basket and flip it upside down in the yard then water in the ashes into grass. :loco:

Looks Good but my hard to see sideways...LOL

I didnt think it was necessary but thought it might help. Ill get rid of it tomorrow. its just kind of a pain to get in and out. and idk why those pics posted like that

Looks good. I'd leave the ash pan, but get rid of the lip around the edge as it makes it harder do dump the ashes off it. Cut the catch pan so it's about 2" clearance around the inner diameter or the drum leaving no lip, then the ashes will slide right off when tilted.

I like it!

Want a couple of tips?

Is your lid from a 22 inch Weber grill? How did you get it to fit around the top of the drum? My lid doesn't fit over the lip....:/

I would love a few tips!

and i took my grinder to the outer edge of the lip so it would fit on it.

Nice lookin cooker. Now we need some food pron.

Nice cooker! Somehow I feel like I'm in a villians lair on an episode of Batman : )

The first tip would be the more air inlet the better! I like to cook chickens @ 325 -350 and like to take it up towards 400 at the end to further crisp the skin. To get those high temps when you need or want them you need more air.

At minimum I put (4) 3/4's in. 2 with caps and 2 with ball valves. If I make a new one now I actually put (2) 1" with caps and (2) 3/4 ball valves so I can get it screaming hot when I need it too. My logic is you can always cut back on air but you can't increase it if the hole size isn't there to begin with.


The second tip is with the ash catcher. I'll show you a pic later but basically you take a skillsaw with a metal blade and cut off the outside rim of the lid, then take some big pliers or channel locks and bend up the edges all the way around to form a pan with the lid. You'll end up with a 19" pan to catch all the ash along with any grease.

I also attached a u-bolt to the middle of the pan so I can grab it to bring it up and empty it.

You don't need a lip if the pan is a few inches larger in diameter than the basket. IMO it's counterproductive to have a lip on the pan because in order to dump it out you need to just about fully invert the pan and basket, and along with the ashes dumping out so does all your leftover unburned coals. Charcoal costs money!

My ash pan I am describing sits freely on the bottom of the drum and is NOT connected to the basket.... Hence the u bolt to grab the pan and pull it out when necessary

My ash pan is connected to the charcoal basket and it has a rim. I agree that it is a bit of a pain to empty, but better than letting the ashes fall on the bottom of the drum IMO.

I am thinking Fwismoker's is a good one. Maybe time to mod my UDS...

thanks for the tips. I got a pork shoulder in there today. its a 3 lb one just for the wife and I. also put two 1 inch chops in there. they were overdone at about an hour. they were tender but almost like ham. seems like its cookin a lot faster. have the heat at about 230 i would say a 3lbs shoulder would usually take about 4-5 hrs at 250. but the meat hit 165 after an hour and a half when i had it at 250 so i dialed it down some.

any thoughts on this?

heres the meat!