Ugly Drum Smoker

That's where I bought mine, bring cash. Brand new because I didn't have the patience to wait to find a used one. FYI the diameter is 23" or 23.5"....just big enough to not be able to fit the weber kettle lid without modification.


Lag the lurker

Here is my UDS





The pork shoulder was great it fell apart on one side the other side was good but not quite pullable.

It's alive! Just finished my first UDS to give to Dad for Father's Day. Lucky guy gets his before I've even started mine! All it needs now is to be seasoned. Coming soon...pics of a bared naked fatty! :mrgreen:

Fire basket w/ ashpan ($20):



after paint:





Can't thank everyone on here enough for their contributions! I've got a lot of fun ideas for when I build mine...

enasnidx said:

It's alive! Just finished my first UDS to give to Dad for Father's Day. Lucky guy gets his before I've even started mine! All it needs now is to be seasoned. Coming soon...pics of a bared naked fatty! :mrgreen:

Fire basket w/ ashpan ($20):

after paint:

Can't thank everyone on here enough for their contributions! I've got a lot of fun ideas for when I build mine...

Click to expand...

Your father is a very lucky man indeed:-D

Ok I have read this entire thread and built my UDS. What do I do now?

Keith

season it by smoking a fatty...

enasnidx said:

It's alive! Just finished my first UDS to give to Dad for Father's Day. Lucky guy gets his before I've even started mine! All it needs now is to be seasoned. Coming soon...pics of a bared naked fatty! :mrgreen:

Fire basket w/ ashpan ($20):

after paint:

Can't thank everyone on here enough for their contributions! I've got a lot of fun ideas for when I build mine...

Click to expand...

Firebasket with ashpan for $20. Nice basket, u selling them?


Lag the lurker

Building my first UDS. Got a couple of sealed drums and was able to remove the lid and re-use it. took my time grinding under the lip and head came right off. will post some pics soon

Thanks to all. More than 8000 posts! Didn't read them all. Built my first UDS yesterday. Breaking it in with a fatty and moink balls.

Pics to follow!

THANKS TO ALL!

Finished my first UDS this morning. Broke her in with a few wings.

I decided it was time for my Pop to learn how to BBQ sooooo a friend and I built a KISS UDS

We got ALL the info from this ridiculously massive thread so THANKS!!!

Here are a few photo and the inaugural smoke is yet to come:












































Our plans went well except for the 100* weather! and the TEXAS SUN!!!!!!! oh and the Weber lid was an issue. We discovered the drum was 1/2" wider than the lid so we used a SPARE beat up kettle lid to try and test fit with some *moderate* hammering. AKA: we smashed the lip completely flat then were planing on bending it back down to fit BUT with the lid completely FLAT it just matches the drum. So we had a few options, find a bigger lid, cut out the flat lid and weld the ring to the Weber lid OR plasma cut the top of the drum off. We chose the fastest. Hence the plasma cutter and the top of the drum on the concrete as a sign of submission.

We used the 12" turkey thermometers but that was only because I wanted to get my drum complete in time for fathers day

I will PROBABLY end up swapping it for a Teltru, or just buying him a stoker :razz:

Nonetheless I hope you enjoy the photos and thanks for the help everyone!!!

Also I have NOOOOOO idea how you guys spent 4 hours of your life in a drum grinding out that food liner. SERIOUS RESPECT!

mikeTRON said:

Also I have NOOOOOO idea how you guys spent 4 hours of your life in a drum grinding out that food liner. SERIOUS RESPECT!

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No way I'd have done it with the heat outside here today. It was bad enough without the heat. That would really be crazy. :crazy:

Two very nice uds. I smoked my first beef brisket on my UDS yesterday. It was the best brisket I've ever made. Sorry no pron. You will just have to take my word for it. 11 hours on the UDS and a temp of 185 WOW WOW gotta go and get a sample of what was left.
Happy Fathers Day
John

biglag said:

Firebasket with ashpan for $20. Nice basket, u selling them?


Lag the lurker

Click to expand...

Thanks! I'd be willing to if someone is interested, but I would guess after shipping it would be just as cheap to make it yourself or have a weld shop do it. I'm not sure I would get the expanded metal as cheap again. I found a nice piece of scrap from a local weld shop, but it was all he had.

Too much smoke?

Hi all,

This thread has grown alot since I was last here!!!

Anyways, quick question, how much smoke flavor do you normally get? The reason I ask is last time we did some ribs and fatties, it literally tasted like I was eating cigarettes :doh: ribs were good, just very smoky. More than I would have imagined?

i'm wondering if the conditions had something to do with it:

- outside temp was -20C (-4F). yea it was middle of the winter but we could'nt wait!

- smoke was pouring out. Pretty sure I read somewhere that you should only see a thin blue whisp of smoke

- to keep the temp at 225, i had the ball valve wide open, and one nipple completely removed.

-bottom vent holes aren't quite properly sealed, as in if you shine a light on the outside, you can see small gaps where the nipples are.

I'm trying again now that its finally nice. I'm wondering if I shoudl seal the gaps with high temp silicon.

TIA

Newb with first build UDS questions

1. I understand why you don't want galvanized anything inside the drum, but could I use galvanized 3/4" pipe for air vent risers up the side on the exterior of the drum? I used black nipples but but the risers are a change order. Will the temps outside the drum get high enough to lead to zinc fumes? I have lots of 3/4" galvanized pipe and elbows, but no black)

2. Another a temp question. Would like to put wheels on the drum. My wood skills far exceed my very meager metal skills. I have @ 1 1/2 " of air from drum bottom to ash pan bottom and @ 3 1/2" above that to the basket's bottom. Can I safely use wood 2x4 to mount casters to the drum's bottom? or is the bottom going to be too hot during use?

3. The drum burn out went great but after getting the top 1/3 done, I'm thinking there's very few things in life I want to do less than stick my upper body inside that drum again for another wire wheel session......:tsk:

lrh said:

1. I understand why you don't want galvanized anything inside the drum, but could I use galvanized 3/4" pipe for air vent risers up the side on the exterior of the drum? I used black nipples but but the risers are a change order. Will the temps outside the drum get high enough to lead to zinc fumes? I have lots of 3/4" galvanized pipe and elbows, but no black)

Click to expand...

I used black pipe on the outside. It doesn't get hot at all so galvanized would likely be fine.

2. Another a temp question. Would like to put wheels on the drum. My wood skills far exceed my very meager metal skills. I have @ 1 1/2 " of air from drum bottom to ash pan bottom and @ 3 1/2" above that to the basket's bottom. Can I safely use wood 2x4 to mount casters to the drum's bottom? or is the bottom going to be too hot during use?

Click to expand...

I bought casters that have a bolt instead of a flat piece of metal for mounting. Drill a hole in the bottom of the drum, put the bolt through the hole with a nut and washer inside the drum and tighten. No wood needed. Works perfect!

3. The drum burn out went great but after getting the top 1/3 done, I'm thinking there's very few things in life I want to do less than stick my upper body inside that drum again for another wire wheel session......:tsk:

Click to expand...

I went with unlined! :thumb: Some say Easy Off oven cleaner works pretty good. Maybe give that a shot.

After having most of the parts in my garage for the last 2+ years, I'm finally getting around to working on my UDS. I've been using a propane GOSM Big Block and have been pleased (for the most part) with the results from it, but now I'm looking for something better and to say that I built it.

The biggest reason I haven't worked on it for the last 2 years was because of the liner. The drum had a tan liner in it, and I didn't really want to drag home some pallets from work to burn it out. Then recently I saw on here someone said Easy Off worked on the liner. For about $5 I figured that was worth a shot.

I sprayed the inside with the Easy Off in the morning and let it sit for a while. I checked on it every couple hours and nothing. The temperature was still pretty cool so I let it sit until the afternoon when the sun would finally hit the backyard. A couple hours after the sun was hitting the barrel heating it up I took a look inside and the paint was pealing! I let it sit a little longer, rotating the barrel about once an hour so different sides of the barrel would get direct sun. As the sun was starting to go down I grabbed the wire wheel in my hand and started scraping the liner. Within about 30 minutes 95% of the liner was gone. :clap2: No power tools, just the wire wheel in my hand. So Easy Off works with the tan liner that was in my drum - don't know about the red liners. I sprayed the remaining liner with the rest of the Easy Off, put the lid back on and let it sit. It sat overnight and all of yesterday and this is what it looked like when I got home:



The rest of the liner came off super easy - although I have a spot the size of the palm of my hand at the top that didn't come all the way off. I assume I put my hand there and wiped the oven cleaner off the night before. I spent about an hour last night cleaning up the drum - about 5 minutes with the wire wheel, then the rest of the time was spent cleaning out the bottom seam and going over the inside with paper towels and steal wool to make sure all the liner was out. I could have spent a lot less time had I used a pressure washer - but my fire basket isn't made yet and I didn't want to speed up the rusting by putting water in there. I'm borrowing a propane torch and plan on putting some heat to it to try and burn any remaining funk out of it. Tonight should be fire basket construction and drill the holes in the barrel.

After the fire basket is made I'll use the propane torch, then wash and season. I will hopefully be finished by this weekend.

When heated to temperatures nearing boiling point, zinc oxide
fumes are produced. Boiling Point: 1663° F (907° C)

That would be one HOT smoker........you might get there with a bolt or galvanized part laying against some blazing coals, but I doubt it. I can stick my hand down inside the smoker and lift the charcoal basket with just a garden glove on, when it has been cooking for 10-12 hours. Smoker temp was around 300 F. Nothing with Zinc oxide or zinc plating will even be affected at these temps. Stainless steel is nice, but not necessary IN MY OPINION.

As far as the wood, I have two sets of wheels I have made, one of plywood, and one that was just a 1x4 frame of pine with 4 wheels on the bottom. Is has survived dozens of cooks without a trace of any problem. Keep in mind that heat rises, and the hottest your smoker ever gets at the grates is maybe 350F. Nothing will burn at that temp.......especially with the metal drum itself absorbing most of that heat.

lrh said:

1. I understand why you don't want galvanized anything inside the drum, but could I use galvanized 3/4" pipe for air vent risers up the side on the exterior of the drum? I used black nipples but but the risers are a change order. Will the temps outside the drum get high enough to lead to zinc fumes? I have lots of 3/4" galvanized pipe and elbows, but no black)

2. Another a temp question. Would like to put wheels on the drum. My wood skills far exceed my very meager metal skills. I have @ 1 1/2 " of air from drum bottom to ash pan bottom and @ 3 1/2" above that to the basket's bottom. Can I safely use wood 2x4 to mount casters to the drum's bottom? or is the bottom going to be too hot during use?

3. The drum burn out went great but after getting the top 1/3 done, I'm thinking there's very few things in life I want to do less than stick my upper body inside that drum again for another wire wheel session......:tsk:

Click to expand...