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BBQGeekess's 30 Gallon UDS Build Thread

bbqgeekess said:
I've decided that I am going to design this drum to do four functions.

1. Smoker (non-diffused and diffused) using 1 or 2 cooking grates and 3rd grate for optional diffuser medium.
2. Grill (adjustable fire basket can sit up higher right under grate for grilling)
3. PBC-Like (hanging meat from rebar & hooks--will stop holes for the rebar with stainless steel bolts, washers & nuts when not using this feature.)
4. Rotisserie -- again I'll stop all the holes with bolts, washers & nuts when this feature isn't being used.

If this works well, I might get rid of my mini wsm, hasty bake and weber kettle.
Click to expand...
When i was going to build a 30 gallon i was going to do the same exact things..including the sliding vent, diffuser/no diffuser. I was gonna make it similar to a 55 gallon Big Poppa to grill/sear. This was right up until i got a Jumbo Joe on sale for 19 dollars and made a mini out of it and can smoke, hang, grill/sear all with it. Still would NEVER get rid of my little mini or Big Poppa. Keep all the sizes because it's nice having the versatility.

bbq- out of the small, med and large i use the medium (30 gallon size) the most....keep the versatility though!

 
bbqgeekess said:
I am afraid to attach them because I don't know how they will hold up, lol. I wonder if they will warp bad after some use making leaks? They are pretty thin (aluminum roof flashing). (I made them with a paper cutter, a clamp, block of wood, edge of a wooden workbench--so simple like origami lol).
Click to expand...


They'll be fine.Just attach AFTER the burn out if you do one.
 
I personally would take a different approach with smaller drums by creating a 2" diameter hole in the middle of the closed bottom end and installing a sliding vent controller over it like I did on my ECB mod:

P1060018.jpg
 
Use high heat clear silicone for the sliding vent around the perimeter...maybe attach it at 4 corners with rivets if you have room. Also Look on youtube, there's a video on installation of the Big Poppa kit and you'll see how they put on their sliding vents, the slider opens and closes over drilled holes.
 
Those sliding vents are pretty neat! They should hold up decently I think. The drum won't get that hot at the very bottom.
 
bbqgeekess said:
I am afraid to attach them because I don't know how they will hold up, lol. I wonder if they will warp bad after some use making leaks? They are pretty thin (aluminum roof flashing). (I made them with a paper cutter, a clamp, block of wood, edge of a wooden workbench--so simple like origami lol).
Click to expand...

Maybe you can redo it from stainless sheet flashing? The BGE ones are stainless.
 
Consider making your basket deeper - it looks like it is 6"deep from your diagram. More charcoal= longer cooks in case you like to cook overnight.

For my charcoal basket, I bought the expando from HD 2'x2'. Cut it in half, made a circle around a grate, to make a 12" high cylinder. The grate was attached about 4" from one end, making the basket 8" deep for holding charcoal, and the charcoal had 4" from the bottom of the drum, so I didn't have to attach any feet to the basket.

The 3rd rack for a diffuser works well for me. You can put a clay saucer or water/sand pan there and still have 2 racks to cook on.
 
Fwismoker said:
When i was going to build a 30 gallon i was going to do the same exact things..including the sliding vent, diffuser/no diffuser. I was gonna make it similar to a 55 gallon Big Poppa to grill/sear. This was right up until i got a Jumbo Joe on sale for 19 dollars and made a mini out of it and can smoke, hang, grill/sear all with it. Still would NEVER get rid of my little mini or Big Poppa. Keep all the sizes because it's nice having the versatility.

bbq- out of the small, med and large i use the medium (30 gallon size) the most....keep the versatility though!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. You know what would look really cute? If you took a weber kettle and made a smoker out of it to match your mini and jumbo :) TOO CUTE :)
 
Carbon said:
I personally would take a different approach with smaller drums by creating a 2" diameter hole in the middle of the closed bottom end and installing a sliding vent controller over it like I did on my ECB mod:

P1060018.jpg
Click to expand...

Now THAT is pretty darn slick--I'm impressed!
 
Looks like a great design, i'd be happy to measure how high my diffuser is and grates are to compare....all i know is that it's working out perfect. When i'm off i'll take some measurements.

You want it done for Thanks Giving?
 
Fwismoker said:
Looks like a great design, i'd be happy to measure how high my diffuser is and grates are to compare....all i know is that it's working out perfect. When i'm off i'll take some measurements.

You want it done for Thanks Giving?
Click to expand...

That'd be great if you could measure your's for me--I'd really appreciate it. I guess having it done by Thanksgiving would be nice, but not totally necessary. I can do smoke a turkey on the Weber Kettle or Hasty Bake for now.
 
I can buy 18.5" charcoal grates for my UDS from Amazon for like $10 a piece--Which I could use for cooking grates and perhaps charcoal grate too.

What if I used one of these 18.5" charcoal grates having it sit 2" from bottom of barrel, and then just sit a footless charcoal basket on it? I could then easily just sit it up higher at another level for grilling.
 
I went ahead and screwed one of my hand folded aluminum flashing sliding vents on--slides really smooth and tight:

72bm6b.jpg


Now I need to decide if I want to drill one big 1 1/8" hole through the slider vent/drum or a bunch of smaller holes in a grid.

Btw, that's a pencil line down along the side of the drum through the middle of the slider vent rectangle, not a seam :)
 
I went ahead and drilled out a hole with stepped drill bit--with a little olive oil rubbed all over it, thanks for the tip. It's at 7/8 now and I'll probably make it 1 1/8" later on. But for now I'll just start with 7/8 holes. I need to add one more slider vent towards the front, and then a capped nipple in the rear.

2hqaxao.png
 
Nice work on the vent!

I installed a single, longer sliding vent and drilled 4 one-inch holes across for my 55 gal UDS.
 
One large rectangular hole will allow you to use it for an ash clean out port should that ever become useful. This is how the BGE one is designed.
 
HeSmellsLikeSmoke said:
One large rectangular hole will allow you to use it for an ash clean out port should that ever become useful. This is how the BGE one is designed.
Click to expand...

Fortunately the 30 gallon UDS is light enough to lift up and pour out the ash into my galvanized ash can.
 
bbqgeekess said:
That'd be great if you could measure your's for me--I'd really appreciate it. I guess having it done by Thanksgiving would be nice, but not totally necessary. I can do smoke a turkey on the Weber Kettle or Hasty Bake for now.
Click to expand...
Your design is really close to what i did... I have the diffuser about 6" above the basket. The top grate is 1.5" down from the top and the send is 7" from the top.
 
Fwismoker said:
Your design is really close to what i did... I have the diffuser about 6" above the basket. The top grate is 1.5" down from the top and the send is 7" from the top.
Click to expand...

Thanks I might bring up the diffuser grate to 6" above basket instead of 4", like you did.

So 1.5" down from the top for the first grate instead of 2" .. Hrm.. that'd probably be better since the 30 gallon drum is shorter than the 55.
 
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