Ugly Drum Smoker

motley que · Aug 15, 2007

i agree about the pellets, just get some chunks in there and let her rip. if you get a real big chunk, just place it in the center of the basket and place your lump around it, then it constantly gives off that nice blue smoke

Norcoredneck · Aug 15, 2007

Bentley said:
Started the charcoal at 10:15 , we see how easy it is to stabilizes at 230*!

Edit: 11:45, 1 hour in. Grate temp 235*. Probably would not have believed it if I was not doing it! .

Bentley said:
Well 3 hours into the cook. The drum has held temps between 225* and 240* for the last 3 hours! Cant believe I have nothing on the pit! Couple of pictures. temp guage and the amount of charcoal that had burnt!

It does amaze me! Maybe its because I built it, but these little bad boys really work! The only thing I will say is I am not sure about the pellets in foil for smoke, just does not appear to generate a lot of smoke, !

Perhaps you have found your road back to Grand Champion quality food Grasshopper.:biggrin:

Bentley · Aug 15, 2007

Well it is 3:15, the drum has stayed at between 230-245*, 5 hours and maybe half the chacoal burned! Maybe! I dont even care about how long it could burn on 5#'s anymore! Fugetaboutit! I want to see if it can grill a tri-tip. I have opened all the 3/4 inch nipples and opened up the ball valve, want to see how high I can get the temps now! Just put a small tri-tip on, maybe 1 1/2 lbs, well have some photos when it is done. I am sure this will ruffel a few feathers, but why would you ever buy a WSM when you could have one of these babies for 1/4 the price!

How high a temp have some have you all gotten it to?

Bentley · Aug 15, 2007

Norcoredneck said:
Perhaps you have found your road back to Grand Champion quality food Grasshopper.:biggrin:

I already got two GC there Master! I will always be a pellethead! I am just amazed these things do what they do for 1/4 the price of a WSM and 1/20 the price of a Traeger! Will see how the tri-tip comes out, been a long, long time since I cooked anything on charcoal!

Bigmista · Aug 15, 2007

If you leave the lid off, you can get well in excess of 450.

jgh1204 · Aug 15, 2007

Welcome to the club. BTW, I find that I have to cook at lower temps on my UDS.

swamprb · Aug 15, 2007

Bentley said:
I already got two GC there Master! I will always be a pellethead! I am just amazed these things do what they do for 1/4 the price of a WSM and 1/20 the price of a Traeger! Will see how the tri-tip comes out, been a long, long time since I cooked anything on charcoal!

Lifted from the BDS site:
http://bigdrumsmokers.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=2614

Bentley · Aug 15, 2007

Well...6:11 and it is still 225*. I shut it down cuz I am tired of it! At 3pm I put the tri-tip in and raised the temp, did not have an chunks of hardwood, so I added a few chunks of 2x8 I cut into small pieces. It was probably doug fir or pine, I would probably not reccomened this to people who do not like an earthy, construction like flavor! Hey, I wanted it up to grilling temps! It cooks deceptively well, it was a small tri-tip, but as you can see by the pictures, way over cooked for me! No pink, no good! Still was able to force it down with some garlic mashed potatoes!

Folks, these thinks work, make no mistake about that! I could see putting 10#'s of charcoal in this thing and it cooking within a 15* range for 16 hours easy! And there is nothing I can think of in the competition BBQ world that should take more than 16 hours!

Kristin says it has to go so it is on the sales block! I will put it in the CBBQA for sale thread with price.

Reduced: 80% of original size [ 800 x 600 ] - Click to view full image

Heck of a nice smoke ring for 90 minutes!

Reduced: 80% of original size [ 800 x 600 ] - Click to view full image

N8man · Aug 16, 2007

Good Job!!

Bentley, It looks like you did a Real Fine Job!!!! Good Job!!!
Do you really have to get rid of it? Be nice to have it around....

Bentley · Aug 16, 2007

N8man said:
Bentley, It looks like you did a Real Fine Job!!!! Good Job!!!
Do you really have to get rid of it? Be nice to have it around....

Its already sold! I have had 3 more people contact me about them off Craigs list, maybe $50 is to cheap!

Told them I would build each one of them one if they wanted, will be curious to see if any respond!

motley que · Aug 16, 2007

sell for $150 minimum or you are wasting your time

N8man · Aug 16, 2007

Selling Short!!!

I think you're selling it short!!!! You could probably sell it for four times that with no problem!!!

Bentley · Aug 16, 2007

Figured I put this here...

Any future UDS people out there?

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/for/398725188.html

hawgjaws · Aug 19, 2007

Future UDS People - Me

After reading this thread, I just gotta build one.In the past week (after brushing up on welding/cutting skills) I added a firebox baffle and tuning plates to my offset. Got it cooking good finally. Now I will gather parts for a UDS. Looking for a barrel on Fort Worth Freecycle now.Hope someone helps me out. Can't wait.

ipls3355 · Aug 25, 2007

I relented and bought a weed burner to burn the paint out of the inside of my drums. This thing has a high cool factor but I'm concerned about doing this in town because of the noise and the smell. I hit the outside of the drum in one spot for 30 seconds or so and it didn't touch the paint on the inside. How long does it take to burn a drum with a weed burner? How much propane does it take?

brdbbq · Aug 25, 2007

Found a drum today actaully found a bunch. $12 Each. The quest has begun

Meat Burner · Aug 25, 2007

Here's one of my UDS smokers in action today. Great smoker thanks to this forum and all the help building. Juicy chicken tonight!!!!

Norcoredneck · Aug 25, 2007

How did she control?

swamprb · Aug 25, 2007

Very nice MB!
It looks like you cut the rolled lip off the top of the drum so the Weber lid fits tight, correct? All my Red Webers have a dent in them like yours!!
I sold my NB Silver Smoker last week, no sense keeping it around when the Drums can do it all!

Brian

Meat Burner · Aug 25, 2007

Norcoredneck said:
How did she control?

The controls are sooooo easy. Mine all have 4 1/2" ball valves. Get the temp up initially and close all half way down and it will cruise for hours and hours at 225-235.

Brian, I cut the lip off with a 4" grinder cutting blade and needed very little sanding with a grinding blade. The weber lids fit great. I did fab a couple tabs to rund the thermometer probes thru so the lid wouldn't pinch the cables. Works great. I used engine gasket material under the metal and drilled some small holes. Easy mod and works great.

Like you, I haven't used any of my other smokers since I built these. They are so cool. All of this was a result of this great forum and so many people so freely willing to help. What a great bunch.:mrgreen:

Ugly Drum Smoker

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