Ugly Drum Smoker

Finally got my butt in gear and made one a couple months ago, AWESOME, unbelieveable how they hold temps.
 
I've been using magnets on the intakes, little or no cost and they work great. I have three 3/4 holes for intakes, one and a half open 230 degrees if I open all three I run about 300
 
This is a basket I made from a Brinkman charcoal pan.
 

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What About The Lid

I am about to start my first UDS. Because I am lazy and in a remote area I opted for the kit from Big Poppa's. I have my drum. On the side it says it was used to transport ethanol so I am planning to burn it out good but here is the question. I've read a lot about how and why to burn out the drum but I don't recall any mention of what to do about the lid. Doesn't it also need to be baptized with fire? If so, how?

Anyone have an opinion about using a drum that transported ethanol?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

Don
 
After three weeks of reading and gathering materials I finished my first build two nights ago. I couldn't wait to see somek rising from her so I fired her up at midnight under a rare blue moon. She held 250 degrees for a solid 11 1/2 hours on 8lbs of kings ford. All I need to do now is decide what to cook first
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I should probably paint the thing before all my grinding work is erased by the fine rust patina I read about here so may times! Thanks to all who contributed to my education!
 
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Build pron......
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Lots of fun to build, but I learned my lesson. Next time I buy a new unlined drum... That is after I finish the four barrels I have on hand......l grinding the paint off, inside and out is not a fun thing to do. Face shield, ear muffs, respirator gloves and lots of soap when youre done!!!
 
danielfethers said:
I have a problem. I have now finished my first build. I have followed the basic dimensions detailed in norecore's build but am having trouble getting up to temp. I think it might be poor quality charcoal as I have read a few reviews on the brand and some people were complaining. No wonder is was on 'special'! Just wondered what else could affect poor start up temps? I have three 3/4 inlets. One with ball valve and 8 1/2 holes in the lid. The charcoal basket is on legs that are 2" tall. I have a virtually flat pizza pan on the bottom. The intakes are between 2 and 3" from the base, so should be well placed to get air to the base of the fire, without any restriction.

I lit 15 briquettes in the chimney until ashed and dumped them on top of some other unlit bricks. I the put in the grate and clamped on the lit with the aluminium strap that came with the drum.

I guess it could be the thermo but I would have thought it would be consistently wrong, rather that anything else. I guess I should test in boiling water, to eliminate accuracy.

Any ideas?

UPDATE

Temps are at 210. Just closed two caps and left the ball valve fully open. Will check in half hour.

That took over an hour with everything open, to reach that temp.
Click to expand...

Mostly likely poor charcoal.
 
I tried to do a pork butt last night with my new UDS...... I started it at midnight and walked away from it with the temp reading 225*and set an alarm for 3:am so I could wake up and check it real quick. To my surprise at 3AM the temp was over 400* and the meat was already at 202* internal....... I had one 3/4" pipe and the 3/4 ball valve open.... And I have a nice tight seal on my lid which has eight 3/4" holes... Any idea why it took off like that and burned the pork?
 
Looking back at Norcoredneck's build instructions from 2006, (thanks for that amazing tutorial by the way Norcoredneck!!) it seems that I should have used 1/2" exhausts on the top..... A little math tells me that a 1/2" hole has an area of .196" Sq, and a 3/4" hole has an area of .422" Sq....... I have to believe that makes quite a difference, as it's more than double the spec'd amount.... I guess I can cover up half of them and try again..
Another question about the use of the charcoal briquettes... I have cooked twice on my UDs so far bot times using Kingsford. Both times I got this acrid bitter taste which I would guess is the creosote I've rad about here so many times. Does anyone know if that bad taste happens with too much heat? I'm thinking that lump charcoal might not have the same problem...... Thanks in advance.
 
I always let my UDS settle in for at least an hour before I walk off and leave it for any length of time.

I use a Weber kettle lid and that only has 4 holes and that provides plenty of draft.

I use kingsford almost exlusively with about 2 cups of wood chips scattered throughout the charcoal.
 
I remember when this thread was approaching 1000 posts. I thought that was incredible then but now as it approaches 10K, it is just amazing the information and fellowship through out the thread. I have not read the whole thing in a quite awhile.
 
Just trying to think about all the cooks I have done on my UDS since the beginning. I think my favorites have been the shoulder clods I did last year. It is about as close to true Texas pit bbq you can get without the bricks.
 
jgh1204 said:
ADMIN NOTE:

This is the mother of all UDS threads. All information you will need to build a UDS is in this thread. use this, and a search of the forum for UDS and you will find a wealth of information.

**************************

I recently scored a free food grade 55 gallon drum. I bought a weber replacement grill and some misc. hardware. I need to go buy a handle and some hardware to make an access door.

Any advice on air flow hole placement. Size of hole? I was thinkin about getting some roofing caps to use as closures for the holes in the lid.

With my minimal metal working skills, this is not going to be pretty, but hopefully it will be effective.
Click to expand...
And this is how it all started. I think I explained at one time the name Ugly Drum Smoker. It was a take off on the Big Drum Smokers that were/maybe still are being made back then. When I tell friends and family about this thread they all say I should patent/trade mark the name. Way too late for that and if anything, the name belongs to the brethren for without them, there never would have been a UDS built in the first place.
 
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