Ugly Drum Smoker

Hoosier1960 said:

@Vulcanus
I was just thinking of the working height. My 55 gal drum is around 39" tall and I have it on a barrel dolly which adds another 3 or 4". I am 6'2", and I would not want that section any higher. You have to decide what is best for yourself. I would just keep in mind what height you will need to load it at and also getting the "lid" section on and off.
Just some things to think about.

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Hi Hoosier1960

Thank you for the advice

I have another question:
I would create a unique big lower air intake, but the intake tube must be put directly under the centre of the fire basket (not laterally).
I would create a simple air diffuser to prevent the ash clogging the air intake tube and also for better air distribution like a chimney cowl



also a cheap Ikea frying pan upside down like this




Do you have any advice, photos or anything else?


Thanks to all,
Have a nice day.

Time to paint

:becky:Well today I will be sanding the surface rust and paint remnants off the Smokewagon UDS. It shall get a nice coat of Crimson and White. A big red "A" on the front and a Crimson Tide Logo on the top. Will post completed PRON when done.

ROLL TIDE!!
Lawdog

BTW I've finally read all 602 pages and 9021 posts. Man now thats Epic!:clap2:

Vulcan it's really best not to mess with what works. I understand it's human nature to tweak things but when someone usually does then comes the I don't understand why this doesn't work correctly. But then again if you don't mess with it you or we will never know what works and what doesn't. I usually advise all to make a simple k.i.s.s. UDS then experiment on another barrel to use as a guinea pig

@Vulcanus,
I agree with Skidder's thoughts. I am note sure what size intake you are thinking of, but remember on a UDS style smoker/cooker that the fire is controlled by the air intake. Bringing the air in from the sides has worked very well throughout this thread. The bottom of the charcoal basket being 2 1/2 to 3" off the floor takes care of ashing when the air comes in from the sides.

Vulcanus said:

I would create a unique big lower air intake, but the intake tube must be put directly under the centre of the fire basket (not laterally).
I would create a simple air diffuser to prevent the ash clogging the air intake tube and also for better air distribution like a chimney cowl

Click to expand...

I personally think there's no difference where and the direction the intake air is coming from. I have seen UDS's like you described with intake beneath the fire basket. Different, but no benefit. I've modified my ECB in this manner.
Also an elevated ash pan attached to your charcoal basket will make cleanup a lot easier instead of attaching a cowl or barrier over the intake to keep ash away.

Carbon said:

I personally think there's no difference where and the direction the intake air is coming from. I have seen UDS's like you described with intake beneath the fire basket. Different, but no benefit. I've modified my ECB in this manner.
Also an elevated ash pan attached to your charcoal basket will make cleanup a lot easier instead of attaching a cowl or barrier over the intake to keep ash away.

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When I did the ash pan attached to bottom of the legs of my basket, and even though I drilled 1" holes all around the edge of the pan (a Weber portable grill) it prevented me from getting enough air flow to get the higher temps I wanted.

When I removed the ash pan, and just laid large piece of tin foil on the floor of the drum, it was good to go on high temps. I'll attempt a better pan design later, but for now, cold weather doesn't make me want to be out in the weather and low temps.

hankll said:

When I did the ash pan attached to bottom of the legs of my basket, and even though I drilled 1" holes all around the edge of the pan (a Weber portable grill) it prevented me from getting enough air flow to get the higher temps I wanted.

When I removed the ash pan, and just laid large piece of tin foil on the floor of the drum, it was good to go on high temps. I'll attempt a better pan design later, but for now, cold weather doesn't make me want to be out in the weather and low temps.

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Like they say, every UDS operates differently.
I made 2 charcoal baskets for my UDS, one with a shallow ash pan attached, and the other with no ash pan. My UDS behaves identically using either charcoal basket. Actually, the ash pan is so shallow it makes no difference whether it's there or not as far as interfering or restricting air flow to the basket. It shouldn't, in any way, anyway.

But I bet that that ashpan makes for easier ash cleanup

Skidder said:

But I bet that that ashpan makes for easier ash cleanup

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Most definitely, but on the other hand, scooping ash from the bottom of the drum is not too difficult or tedious, especially if you use low ash producing fuel it does not have to be done every time you use the UDS.

I agree with you but not all use low ash. Only most do because it is cheaper. Better is up for discussion but definitely cheaper.

JuanMoore said:

I read over half of this monstrous thread, and then built a UDS for myself using mostly materials I had on hand. Took it for its virgin run today, with a pork butt and some ABTs.

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What is "ABT"?

Atomic Buffalo Turd. Basically a Jap pepper stuffed with an assortment of different things as in sausage Little Smokies etc. that have been added to cream cheese then wrapped in bacon,dry rubbed and smoked

Vulcanus said:

I would create a unique big lower air intake, but the intake tube must be put directly under the centre of the fire basket (not laterally).

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I suggest against that. You may turn your smoker into an incinerator. For intake circular area, you only need equivalent of three 3/4 inch holes.
It's just slightly smaller than 2centimeter diameter, and that would be fine too if you only have metric measurements. Here is a little table I made for you to see. For intake, that's all you need. With these 3 holes, to get the best hot smoke cooking temp, you'll only run all 3 holes half way, or 1 fully open, 1 half way and 1 closed.

inches
diameter radius area # of holes total area
0.75 0.375 0.44 3 1.33
2 1 3.14 1 3.14
1 0.5 0.79 4 3.14
0.79 0.395 0.49 3 1.47
1.5 0.75 1.77 2 3.53

centimeters
diameter radius area # of holes total area
1.905 0.9525 2.85 3 8.55
5.08 2.54 20.27 1 20.27
2.54 1.27 5.07 4 20.27
2.0066 1.0033 3.16 3 9.49
3.81 1.905 11.40 2 22.80

Vulcanus said:

also a cheap Ikea frying pan upside down like this



Thanks to all,
Have a nice day.

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I was laughing when I saw this! I love how the frying pan is on a roof on top of smoke stack.

For your exhaust (if you can read that table I made for you) you should strive for the 2inch diameter which calculates to 1 pi for the area. So essentially, your intake should be HALF of your exhaust, and if you stick to these measurements as most everyone does, you'll have the best results.

If you are trying to do COLD SMOKING (which is different!!) then I suggest something else.
I would cut one 3 inch hole (or something comparable) in either the bottom of the barrel or low on the side, and run duct work into it to allow the smoke to travel some distance to cool down. Your exhaust however, probably should still be about the amount of 1 pi area.

But wait, that's not all. If you create a little chimney with your exhaust, you will have a strong air flow and it will maintain temps well however it will tend to burn a bit more and be eager to get hot. I have found that it's easier to deal with and you get more moisture inside if you don't make the exhaust so "easy" to get out. So I make two 1.5 inch holes on the SIDE of the barrel and then that's it, or assemble elbows to point the exhaust up.

OR.. make four 1 inch holes either on the sides of the barrel or in the lid.

OR.. make eight 1/2 inch holes.. again either on the side or in the lid.

I made a few upgrades to my UDS, and then took it for another spin today. I touched up the paint, added a small side table, put a handle on the lid (old slag hammer), and put in a thermometer bulkhead. It started raining pretty hard ~1hr into the smoke today, so I wired a small patio umbrella ($7 at harbor freight) to the exhaust. I think I'll weld a pipe on somewhere to mount the umbrella for shade and rain protection when needed. The second pork attempt came out even better than the first, and I tried some wings that came out great too. Thanks again for everyone who posted in this thread!

Im using a weber lid on the bottom of an open topped drum. The past few cooks have left the exterior covered in dripping streaks from moisture collecting up top and drizzling out of the side. Whats the best way to mod the drum so i dont have to keep cleaning the outside each time?

GlobalTJB said:

Im using a weber lid on the bottom of an open topped drum. The past few cooks have left the exterior covered in dripping streaks from moisture collecting up top and drizzling out of the side. Whats the best way to mod the drum so i dont have to keep cleaning the outside each time?

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My UDS was getting a lot of moisture inside when I would smoke butts at 225. I went up to 250 and that reduced a lot it.

I smoke at 250 myself and have alot of it..So not sure what is answer.Probably have to do with top not fitting perfect, even though I use clamps on lid..

brickie

Vulcanus said:

Hi Hoosier1960

I would create a unique big lower air intake, but the intake tube must be put directly under the centre of the fire basket (not laterally).
I would create a simple air diffuser to prevent the ash clogging the air intake tube and also for better air distribution like a chimney cowl

Click to expand...

Here is a link to my build http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1420250&postcount=6890 It has a very effective bottom diffuser, and a simple ash pan made out of a pizza pan (I had way too many issues with high rimmed ash pans and honestly they don't do anything that the pizza pan and fire basket do not already do.

The diffuser was made by cutting tabs on a piece of metal, and bending every other one down. I suspect a cut out drum top would make a perfect piece of doner metal. I went with the diffuser to even the burn with blower based system.

brickie said:

I smoke at 250 myself and have alot of it..So not sure what is answer.Probably have to do with top not fitting perfect, even though I use clamps on lid..

brickie

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What are you guys complaining about? The moisture is great for the cooking as it keeps the food moist. I never have a problem with drippings because #1 my fire basket wraps around my charcoal grate as opposed to sitting on top of it, so the diameter of the fire basket is maybe 2 inches larger. That catches a lot of drippings that would just burn up when they hit the coals.

The #2 thing is that I don't have an ash pan so the bottom of the barrel might be warm enough to evaporate anything that drips down. After like 2-3 cooks, I scoop out the ashes with a cut up milk gallon or small shovel. However I do want to put in an ash pan, but I'm thinking that if you let some ashes settle on the bottom, and then use ash pan it would keep it dry down there too.