Ugly Drum Smoker

UDS drum lining research

I have been researching possible options for building a UDS. I have acquired two different drums....one is food-grade and has the phenolic epoxy coating that a few of you have commented on as being hard to burn out. I encountered the same problem and gave up. The smoke off of that while I was trying to burn it out seemed to be very toxic. Plus I cannot build a roaring drum fire in my neighborhood.

I also acquired a motor oil drum which is unlined, which seemed scary at first, but after chiseling the top out (much easier than I thought) and power washing it and scrubbing it out a little with some sand paper and steel wool, and re-rinsing, I cannot detect any residue of the oil at all. Although, I do suspect that there maybe a little down in the cracks at the bottom of the drum where the seam is.

So, I thought I better look into the potential hazards, and I looked up the MSDS (material safety data sheet) on various motor oils. This stuff is not that bad for you.......I don't have a link handy, but you can search on google, etc for "motor oil MSDS" and get a few hits. Most of them say that ingestion and inhalation are not a huge problem.......especially in small amounts. Not carcinogenic.

So, I think I will do a couple small burnouts with wood and hot coals directly in the bottom of the barrel, and then wash it out again with some hot water, season it with vegetable oil, and give it a go. I think it is probably safer than a food grade drum, just because there is NO lining at all....just raw steel.

Just my $.02

Paul B said:

Line 54 has an error.

Paul B
SS UDS
SS Auspit
SS ROL

Click to expand...

Ya I don't know, when I first tried it it didn't multiply it times 2. I did notice that in the formula line that is wasn't written as it is now. Who knows??? Gremlins??? It is working right now.

Paul B

michaelp said:

If the metal is rusting on the inside, Id say they are good to go. Just give'em a good burn so if there was any dioxin or agent orange in there you'd at least burn most of it off.:thumb:

Click to expand...

Missed a spot:

Did the first burn in my UDS with no food on the grates just to see how it would react. Used about 8lbs of stubbs charcoal. Started with a chimney full of burned briqs and added it to some unburned briqs in the basket. Put my Maverick chamber thermometer below the lower cooking grate directly in the middle of the barrell and a Taylor 4'' thermometer in the side of the barrell where the upper grate is. Immediately started out at 360* on the maverick and 320* on the taylor. Had all three vent closed off and my 1'' ball valve vent choked down to about 1/2 open. The maverick finally came down to around 260* after about an hour and a half and the taylor down to 230*. Now they've both finally leveled off at around 245-250* after about 4 hrs with the ball valve wide open. Had to keep adjusting the ball valve to stay around 240-260*. Seemed like a long time to get it dialed in. wasn't sure if I should close the ball valve any further to get down to 225-230* in fear of choking out the fire.

fbody396 said:

I did my burn today and the "red" liner is still there. The fire was HOT and it didn't do a thing to remove it. What do I have to do to get it out of there? This is my first post and my first UDS. Any help is appreciated.

Click to expand...

Same here. I sanded it down a bit with a hand sander and a wire brush attached to a drill. I didn't get all of it. I decided, "**** it...if it ain't burning off and it ain't sanding off...it ain't cooking off." Besides, after a few cooks, it resides under a thick coating of seasoning. There are quite a few other things in my life that would kill me before some liner on my brisket.

fbody396 said:

I did my burn today and the "red" liner is still there. The fire was HOT and it didn't do a thing to remove it. What do I have to do to get it out of there? This is my first post and my first UDS. Any help is appreciated.

Click to expand...

You could check the cost for having it sand blasted out.

i done that and the sand blasters wanted $80 per drum. "f" that. so i took 2 days and wire wheeled it out. what a pain in the a**. good luck.

After a massive good burn, we sand the inside with 80 grid and then 220 sandpaper, wash it out, season with oil and it's ready to go. Worked out just fine so far. Like Doc said, at some point it isn't going to do any harm and will be covered with seasoning anyway. Good luck all!

Doc Robinson said:

Same here. I sanded it down a bit with a hand sander and a wire brush attached to a drill. I didn't get all of it. I decided, "**** it...if it ain't burning off and it ain't sanding off...it ain't cooking off." Besides, after a few cooks, it resides under a thick coating of seasoning. There are quite a few other things in my life that would kill me before some liner on my brisket.

Click to expand...

What do drums cost in your area that this risk would be worth it? God knows what toxins a paint will put off. I know I felt like crap after breathing some of the smoke during my burnout. I would wait and find another drum.

I don’t have the time to read all 400 pages of post and the search turns up to many results to help, so I will just ask…

I am looking for an unlined 55G drum with lid near Harpers Ferry, WV (25425). I have found only lined so far and they are about 1.5 hr away.

I did exactly what you guys said to do and had a very successfull first cook. The slab of ribs, rib tips and the whole butterflied chicken all turned out FANTASTIC. I burned the barrel twice and then got inside with an air sander with 80 grit whick did an ok job. Then I took my grinder with a wire brush and knocked almost all the rest of that "red liner from Hell" out of there. Did the heavy duty detergent wash, rinse, etc. and then seasoned it with some left over peanut oil from my turkey fryer. I am thrilled with my new UDS and this website. I'm having a ball with it. Thanks again!!! Oh......i'll post pictures when I figure out how. Any help with that would be appreciated too.

pAT_13 said:

I don’t have the time to read all 400 pages of post and the search turns up to many results to help, so I will just ask…

I am looking for an unlined 55G drum with lid near Harpers Ferry, WV (25425). I have found only lined so far and they are about 1.5 hr away.

Click to expand...

No disrespect Pat, but you might want to take the time to go through the thread as there are many different ideas and ways to build a UDS. "I want it and I want it now" may not serve you well. Don't get discouraged, just do some research and you will be fine. Good luck bro!

The Twins

just wanted to post a few picke of my UDS's

That is a sweeeeet setup there bro



set set s

What the h I hate my blackberry sometimes!

With that much capacity you going to do comps.

more pics and details about the hinges please!

Kool Smokers

why are you breathing the smoke from your burnout? What's the point then?

Johnny_Crunch said:

What do drums cost in your area that this risk would be worth it? God knows what toxins a paint will put off. I know I felt like crap after breathing some of the smoke during my burnout. I would wait and find another drum.

Click to expand...