Ugly Drum Smoker

Carbon · Aug 19, 2011

Regarding exhaust vents, everytime I've done chicken I found my dome lid exhaust not large enough to run temps up around 350F. I had to prop the lid ajar to allow the drum to breathe more efficiently. Therefore, I'm thinking about adding another adjustable vent on the lid for high temp cooks.
I know this is one mod that some 22" WSM users make. They add a second daisy wheel on the lid.

Here's a shot from tonight's cook.

hankll · Aug 19, 2011

rondini said:
hankll
I found Stubbs in a Lowes. May be someone else will chime in on a location.

I'll check there, and if it is there, I'll pick up some for a trial. But if it is there here in TN, it is also one of the stores I don't frequent, and would be the reason I hadn't seen Stubbs there. I go to HD for my home needs, they are cheaper :wink:

Carbon · Aug 19, 2011

I buy Stubbs from Lowes and stock up when they're on sale. I picked up a dozen bags back in March when they were running the 2 for the price of one sale ($4.25/15 lb bag). The last sale they ran in mid July at $5 per bag wasn't bad either.
Keep your eyes open as they tend to run these sales at odd times (as opposed to during major holidays)

brewerjamie15 · Aug 19, 2011

For the time being my UDS is as far as I can take it. I'm done with the construction, there will be tweaks in the future so I won't say I'm done. I pulled all the masking tape and paper today, painted the intake caps, installed the upright pipe for an adjustable intake, put the stainless screws in the thing for the grates, etc.

Here is my newest addition to the family:

mike5150 · Aug 19, 2011

brewerjamie15 said:
For the time being my UDS is as far as I can take it. I'm done with the construction, there will be tweaks in the future so I won't say I'm done. I pulled all the masking tape and paper today, painted the intake caps, installed the upright pipe for an adjustable intake, put the stainless screws in the thing for the grates, etc.

Here is my newest addition to the family:

Nice Bro! Go Cowboys!

rondini · Aug 19, 2011

hankll I forgot 2 mention as for Stubbs. The last sale that I know of this past summer was not in their sales flyer. It was and in-store special that was across the U.S.. Somebody on here sayed to put Stubbs in the search box on Lowes web site and it would give you the sale price. By the way I gave my neighber 2 bags of BlueK because that sale came within days afer I bought the bluek. Well he just grills on a webber and he knows why I use Stubbs and he bought a bag and likes it better for grilling than BlueK:-D

Mettle Man · Aug 20, 2011

Carbon - Is that a heat deflector under the chicken? Could you post more images of your UDS, please?

Here is a stencil I did for mine.

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p300/readyreally/IMG_1247.jpg http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p300/readyreally/IMG_1244.jpg

Carbon · Aug 20, 2011

Mettle Man said:
Carbon - Is that a heat deflector under the chicken?

Hi, yes it is. It's a 16" pizza pan placed on the third grate which is mounted exactly half way up the drum.

Mettle Man · Aug 20, 2011

so you use that for pork, etc? doesn't that prevent getting a nice bark or color on the meat?

Carbon · Aug 20, 2011

Mettle Man said:
so you use that for pork, etc? doesn't that prevent getting a nice bark or color on the meat?

Since I'm still new to the UDS I've been experimenting with different ways. I've done several cooks with and without the pan or diffuser w/holes. I still got bark with the pan or diffuser on both beef and pork.

mike5150 · Aug 21, 2011

My first cook on UDS

Today was a great day on my UDS I fired it up with 10lb of kingsford just to see if i could get this temperature control down. I got a Instant Read Digital Thermometer from harbor fright tools Item 95381 kinda spur of the moment thing i was there getting some casters for my UDS and they had them at the checkout line. IT WORKED LIKE A CHAMP made it much easier to see my temp climb and drop. any way I got it up to 230 and it was holding well with ball-valve open all the way and both caps on with one cap unscrewed to the first thread. It would almost come off.so that went well. then I wanted to cook a Chicken so I put it on and pulled the one cap off and the temp started to go up hit 314 and i stared to jack with the ball valve closed it down half way and the temp started going down just like a oven after 2 hours and the Chicken temp hit 200 i pulled it off had a great color and juicy and TASTY bring on the BRISKET

Got them at harbor Freight tool

mantequiya · Aug 22, 2011

First cook

Here's mine about as simple as can be. Bolt together basket, magnets, flat lid, and single grate. Cooked some spares and my first fatty. Credit the wife for her mad bacon weaving skills. There was thunder storms called for the afternoon so I cooked a little on the hot side. Side temp with a short digital probe stayed nice and steady around 225-230.

The ribs were a little overcooked at 5 hours the fatty was perfect at 170.

Thanks for all the great info

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mike5150 · Aug 22, 2011

mantequiya said:
Here's mine about as simple as can be. Bolt together basket, magnets, flat lid, and single grate. Cooked some spares and my first fatty. Credit the wife for her mad bacon weaving skills. There was thunder storms called for the afternoon so I cooked a little on the hot side. Side temp with a short digital probe stayed nice and steady around 225-230.

The ribs were a little overcooked at 5 hours the fatty was perfect at 170.

Thanks for all the great info

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Nice work! What all did you put in that fatty? That's my next smoke! Did you cook the fatty for 5 hours @ 225-230?

mantequiya · Aug 23, 2011

Thanks mike5150! Forgot to get a green pepper so the fatty was a pound of Jimmy Dean, onion, frozen kale, and habanero jack cheese. It was done in about 3 hours. Based on what I read here the side temp is around 25 degrees cooler than the center so around 250. Still 3 hours was faster than I was expecting. Good luck with yours

Templar · Aug 23, 2011

Finaly finished my UDS and put it to the test.

I found a food grade mineral oil drum for $10.00 and a slightly damaged but easy to fix Weber 22.5 kettle grill for $35.00 new in box. It took me a couple of days to complete but man is this thing impressive. As usual the wife didn't like the money being spent or that it's another one of my "projects" but all was forgiven when she tasted the pork loin. I had to add a band of 2 inch flat steel bolted around the inside of the top so the the Weber kettle lid fits decently. It does leak some smoke around the lid in a couple of areas but I have no problem controlling the temp. For it's maiden voyage I smoked a dry rubbed pork loin for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours until the internal temp was 160. I then wrapped it in aluminum foil to rest off of the heat until dinner about an hour later. The UDS's temp maxed out at 250 while it was unattended. Regardless of the slightly higher than wanted temp the pork loin was juicy, fork tender, and very smokey. The best part were the sandwiches made with the leftovers the next day. The picture is only half of the pork loin.

lrbergin · Aug 24, 2011

You boys are making me jealous. Some of these smokers are anything but ugly. I’ve got some tweaking to do, but mine is about done. Still can’t get the perfect seal on my Weber lid on the top of the drum but it’s a work in progress. Pics to come soon hopefully.

dpeart · Aug 24, 2011

Here is my obligatory post stating I read the entire thread and am now working on gathering parts. I have been using an electric ECB for the last 4-5 years with a BBQ Guru successfully, but it is no longer big enough.

I also want to switch and try charcoal as a heat source as well, so UDS it it. I guess I could always use my heating element from the ECB if I run out of charcoal

I'll call it a dual-fuel UDS.

dave

4dueces · Aug 24, 2011

dpeart · Aug 24, 2011

Any feedback from people that have used the PVC valves? I've seen a lot of pictures in the thread, how do they work?

I'm thinking one 1-1/2" or 2" air hole with a PVC valve.

thanks,
dave

InTheRedZoneBBQ · Aug 24, 2011

Templar said:
I found a food grade mineral oil drum for $10.00 and a slightly damaged but easy to fix Weber 22.5 kettle grill for $35.00 new in box. It took me a couple of days to complete but man is this thing impressive. As usual the wife didn't like the money being spent or that it's another one of my "projects" but all was forgiven when she tasted the pork loin. I had to add a band of 2 inch flat steel bolted around the inside of the top so the the Weber kettle lid fits decently. It does leak some smoke around the lid in a couple of areas but I have no problem controlling the temp. For it's maiden voyage I smoked a dry rubbed pork loin for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours until the internal temp was 160. I then wrapped it in aluminum foil to rest off of the heat until dinner about an hour later. The UDS's temp maxed out at 250 while it was unattended. Regardless of the slightly higher than wanted temp the pork loin was juicy, fork tender, and very smokey. The best part were the sandwiches made with the leftovers the next day. The picture is only half of the pork loin.

That looks awesome! Definitely my next project (after reading all 500+ pages!)

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