My first UDS completed
I finally finished reading everything and got all my parts and supplies lined up and with the help of my son in law we finished our first UDS. Only took about 6 hours over the course of this weekend. We tend to think quite a bit to make sure we don't screw up lol.
Seasoned it and then smoked a fatty, the first of many to come. It was amazing! I checked and I have over half of my charcoal left!!!
I had an offset smoker that we refurbished so smoking wasn't new to me, but after using the uds I sold my offset. The uds is so much easier to use.
For the build I purchased a new closed head drum. We removed the lid with a saws all. I had bought the cheap Uniflame from kettle from Wally world, but the lid didnt fit. So after cutting the lid we used some #14 1 3/8 flat stock from Lowes the kind with the holes and welded that on and the lid fit great with just a little adjustment. Added some red rtv to get a good seal (need to add some more due to our haste).
We have 3 3/4 pipe, nipples one with a cap and 2 with a 90 with 24" black pipe with ball valves on the end. The grates are 2" and 8" from the top of the drum. We added a thermo that I had from my Charbroil smoke n grill along with a 1/2 flex type fitting for the digital probes to pass thru. We used the hinges with some modifications due to the lip of the drum from the uniflame. Put 3 4" casters on the bottom for ease of use. Used the old handles from the smoke n grill. Charcoal basket is #9 3/4 expanded 13" dia by 10" tall. Just need to add some more rtv, sand and paint and she is finished.
Can't wait to put some ribs, brisket, butts, chicken, turkey, smoked sausage and anything elset that doesn't move fast on this baby!
Thanks for all the valuable information from this site!