Ugly Drum Smoker

I ran a test today to see how much intake my drum needs.

I was cooking direct over the coals. just one rack of spareribs.
using a weber kettle lid with vents fully open,
about 30% full of lump coals and 3 chunks of apple wood
. basket size 12hx17diameter
ambient temp was approx 60 degrees.

with only one 3/4" diameter opening and everything else tightly plugged, temp slowly climbed to 276° and may have gone higher if I hadnt put a stop to it.

so I plugged that opening tightly and drilled 2 3/8" diameter holes. two of these have half the area of one 3/4" opening.

temp slowly dropped to 235° and maintained for approx one hour. I opened the smoker to look at the ribs and temp shot up to 251° and seemed to stay there until I decided to pull the meat.

just my experience. your mileage will vary.
 
el luchador said:
I ran a test today to see how much intake my drum needs.

I was cooking direct over the coals. just one rack of spareribs.
using a weber kettle lid with vents fully open,
about 30% full of lump coals and 3 chunks of apple wood
. basket size 12hx17diameter
ambient temp was approx 60 degrees.

with only one 3/4" diameter opening and everything else tightly plugged, temp slowly climbed to 276° and may have gone higher if I hadnt put a stop to it.

so I plugged that opening tightly and drilled 2 3/8" diameter holes. two of these have half the area of one 3/4" opening.

temp slowly dropped to 235° and maintained for approx one hour. I opened the smoker to look at the ribs and temp shot up to 251° and seemed to stay there until I decided to pull the meat.

just my experience. your mileage will vary.
Click to expand...

Thanks for testing, good info right there....
 
Just note about how much intake air is required.
A lot of factors go into answering that question. Where you are located. Type of wind/weather/elevation.
Are you using any left over coals or only fresh coals.
Less air if using lump, more air if using briquettes. A lot more air if using used coals.
Winter time/cold weather, typically you need more intake than summer.
How much meat is loaded into said UDS. More meat, a bit more air.
More air when using drip pan.

You also need to look at how much exh for how much intake.
 
ebijack said:
Just note about how much intake air is required.
A lot of factors go into answering that question. Where you are located. Type of wind/weather/elevation.
Are you using any left over coals or only fresh coals.
Less air if using lump, more air if using briquettes. A lot more air if using used coals.
Winter time/cold weather, typically you need more intake than summer.
How much meat is loaded into said UDS. More meat, a bit more air.
More air when using drip pan.

You also need to look at how much exh for how much intake.
Click to expand...

In other words, your mileage may vary? :biggrin1:

all those things and more will make a difference that why its important to have a system that lets a large amount of air in to get to temp, but can be adjusted in small steps to get to a set temp. its also important to know your drum.

I know that using a deflector will use more fuel, more air, and heat up the drum more.

going direct, using hardly any fuel, very little air, and does not heat up the drum very much.
 
Okay, so say you are stuck with a "food grade" barrel with the liner as your best purchase option (outside of exorbitant prices [$101] or driving several hours). How hard is that to actually get out. I've seen conflicting stories online. Some say one good fire and some wire brush is sufficient. Others say you might have to burn, brush, burn, brush, repeatedly to get it all. Anyone have any anecdotal evidence one way or another on this?
 
I did it once - on my first UDS. I believed that "food grade" was the only way to go. I was wrong- won't do it again.

Mine had the yellow epoxy /phenolic(?) liner. 1 good burn out with pallets, another partial burn out with tree branches and cuttings (ran out of pallets). Then had to partially climb inside it on my driveway (not a pretty picture) with a grinder/wheels, mask and hearing protection to get it to bare metal.

It was a character building exercise...not to be repeated. I never regretted doing it- I fully enjoyed my UDS. But it was way more involved than "drill a few holes, make a basket and Bob's your uncle"

Your experience may be better.
 
Nuco59 said:
I did it once - on my first UDS. I believed that "food grade" was the only way to go. I was wrong- won't do it again.

Mine had the yellow epoxy /phenolic(?) liner. 1 good burn out with pallets, another partial burn out with tree branches and cuttings (ran out of pallets). Then had to partially climb inside it on my driveway (not a pretty picture) with a grinder/wheels, mask and hearing protection to get it to bare metal.

It was a character building exercise...not to be repeated. I never regretted doing it- I fully enjoyed my UDS. But it was way more involved than "drill a few holes, make a basket and Bob's your uncle"

Your experience may be better.
Click to expand...

Since you ended up having to grind it from the inside anyway do you think that if you had done that from the beginning the burn would have been more effective? Or, were the fires necessary to make the grinding easier? If I could literally just grind I might actually prefer that to screwing with a toxic plastic fire in the backyard.
 
Blue Kettle said:
Okay, so say you are stuck with a "food grade" barrel with the liner as your best purchase option (outside of exorbitant prices [$101] or driving several hours). How hard is that to actually get out. I've seen conflicting stories online. Some say one good fire and some wire brush is sufficient. Others say you might have to burn, brush, burn, brush, repeatedly to get it all. Anyone have any anecdotal evidence one way or another on this?
Click to expand...

lets say you had to drive a couple of hours to get a barrel, and a couple of hours back.

so, say 4 hours total.

you'll probably spend 2x that much time getting a lined drum ready. remove liner, grind outside paint off, repaint, etc.

So, would you rather spend 8 hours grinding out liner, or 4 hours driving listening to music?

I know what my choice would be.
 
el luchador said:
lets say you had to drive a couple of hours to get a barrel, and a couple of hours back.

so, say 4 hours total.

you'll probably spend 2x that much time getting a lined drum ready. remove liner, grind outside paint off, repaint, etc.

So, would you rather spend 8 hours grinding out liner, or 4 hours driving listening to music?

I know what my choice would be.
Click to expand...

HAHA. Good point. Still, my cheapness of not wanting to spend money on gas if I don't have to might still win out. Also this place that's a couple hours away is only open Monday through Friday so there's the matter of getting off work which is potentially problematic.
 
Blue Kettle said:
HAHA. Good point. Still, my cheapness of not wanting to spend money on gas if I don't have to might still win out. Also this place that's a couple hours away is only open Monday through Friday so there's the matter of getting off work which is potentially problematic.
Click to expand...


Cough, sick day, cough.
 
I don't know if anyone tried this but it worked for me pretty well. After a big fire to blister the paint inside and out, I put a few shovels of rock and a little sand with 5 or 10 gallons of water in my drum. Put the lid on with the clamp and rolled it around for a few minutes. Must be done before adding nipples of course.
It scrubbed it out pretty good. Made shinning it up wih a coarse scotch pad easy.
 
Blue Kettle said:
HAHA. Good point. Still, my cheapness of not wanting to spend money on gas if I don't have to might still win out. Also this place that's a couple hours away is only open Monday through Friday so there's the matter of getting off work which is potentially problematic.
Click to expand...

prepping a lined drum is not free either.
 
"Since you ended up having to grind it from the inside anyway do you think that if you had done that from the beginning the burn would have been more effective? Or, were the fires necessary to make the grinding easier? If I could literally just grind I might actually prefer that to screwing with a toxic plastic fire in the backyard."

That liner (thin as it is) is pretty rugged- you "need" the fire to break it down. Even after a good burn, the liner removal is still tedious. IF you just wanted to tackle it with grinder/brush wheels/ flap wheels- I guess you could give it a go. Set it up horizontally on some saw horses and a "comfortable" height (it won't be comfortable for long) and get after it.
 
Nuco59 said:
"Since you ended up having to grind it from the inside anyway do you think that if you had done that from the beginning the burn would have been more effective? Or, were the fires necessary to make the grinding easier? If I could literally just grind I might actually prefer that to screwing with a toxic plastic fire in the backyard."

That liner (thin as it is) is pretty rugged- you "need" the fire to break it down. Even after a good burn, the liner removal is still tedious. IF you just wanted to tackle it with grinder/brush wheels/ flap wheels- I guess you could give it a go. Set it up horizontally on some saw horses and a "comfortable" height (it won't be comfortable for long) and get after it.
Click to expand...

Okay. I think you all have me convinced. If I do this, new drum it is. Frankly at this point the pit barrel cooker or something similar with a porcelain enamel coating is starting to sound pretty attractive.
 
Blue Kettle said:
Okay. I think you all have me convinced. If I do this, new drum it is. Frankly at this point the pit barrel cooker or something similar with a porcelain enamel coating is starting to sound pretty attractive.
Click to expand...

lol blue kettle you crack me up.

you say you are cheap and dont want to order a new drum for $101 but not so cheap that you dont mind spending $300 on a premade kit?


the pbc is a good UDS - you'll enjoy it.

remind me again why are you not just sticking to your kettle?
 
el luchador said:
lol blue kettle you crack me up.

you say you are cheap and dont want to order a new drum for $101 but not so cheap that you dont mind spending $300 on a premade kit?


the pbc is a good UDS - you'll enjoy it.

remind me again why are you not just sticking to your kettle?
Click to expand...

You know, I've been asking myself that also. The initial idea was I wanted something closer to set it and forget it and with longer burn times. An initial inquiry on my very first post on here had multiple people tell me a UDS was the way to go. I'm a do it yourselfer type so the idea of building my own smoker is cool to me. But I've also got some white elephants around the house where I've never finished projects. So for me, its a balance between how cool building a really functional smoker sounds, and the reality of possibly ending up with a bucket of bolts taking up space in the garage that I never get done the way I want to. In which case the spending some additional cash and getting a PBC or Barrel House Cooker or Smokey Mountain sounds pretty good.

I know, it's sort of nutty.
 
el luchador said:
lol blue kettle you crack me up.

you say you are cheap and dont want to order a new drum for $101 but not so cheap that you dont mind spending $300 on a premade kit?


the pbc is a good UDS - you'll enjoy it.

remind me again why are you not just sticking to your kettle?
Click to expand...
YLzJLJl.jpg
 
Blue Kettle said:
You know, I've been asking myself that also. The initial idea was I wanted something closer to set it and forget it and with longer burn times. An initial inquiry on my very first post on here had multiple people tell me a UDS was the way to go. I'm a do it yourselfer type so the idea of building my own smoker is cool to me. But I've also got some white elephants around the house where I've never finished projects. So for me, its a balance between how cool building a really functional smoker sounds, and the reality of possibly ending up with a bucket of bolts taking up space in the garage that I never get done the way I want to. In which case the spending some additional cash and getting a PBC or Barrel House Cooker or Smokey Mountain sounds pretty good.

I know, it's sort of nutty.
Click to expand...

I wont try to convince you either way as only you know your personal situation but building a uds from an unlined drum and metal bucket is something that will take you two hours if you take an hour long break while building it.

good luck with whatever decision you take.

while contemplating your choice you should work on the temp management of your kettle - for starters, the bottom adjustment are too big for fine control of air. I would try closing that off and controlling the "pit" with just the top vents. put as much charcoal as you can pile on one side.

if you cant get it with just the top vents, then drill a new intake hole/s that have fine adjustability.

you might be able to solve your issue without spending more than 5 bucks.
 
el luchador said:
I wont try to convince you either way as only you know your personal situation but building a uds from an unlined drum and metal bucket is something that will take you two hours if you take an hour long break while building it.

good luck with whatever decision you take.

while contemplating your choice you should work on the temp management of your kettle - for starters, the bottom adjustment are too big for fine control of air. I would try closing that off and controlling the "pit" with just the top vents. put as much charcoal as you can pile on one side.

if you cant get it with just the top vents, then drill a new intake hole/s that have fine adjustability.

you might be able to solve your issue without spending more than 5 bucks.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I was THIS close to ordering a BBQ guru party Q one day to get the set it and forget it thing, but I'm a bit unsure of drilling a hole in the kettle. It has sentimental value to me even if that sounds sort of nuts also.
 
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