Ugly Drum Smoker

Building mine upside down too...

jaimehelm said:
Other question is about my 55 gallon drum. It was an open top, but my kettle lid non weber would only fit perfectly on the bottom end. I had read earlier in this thread someone had opened the bottom used it as the top and used the now bottom with removable lid as kinda an easy access to clean out the bottom and such. So I proceeded to remove my base and a few more hundred or so pages later I read one guy didn't like this approach because it made his intake air hard to control, and another guy liked it and said after awhile the seasoned drum will plug up any cracks or leaks. I believe what the guy said about a seasoned drum but that kind of defeats the purpose of having an easy access clean out base if you never open it. I guess my question is if anyone still uses this approach or has tried it and their opinions or suggestions on it.
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I have the same exact issue as "jaimehelm" My lid fits perfectly around the bottom and I am going to build it upside down. I'm curious if "jaimehelm" ever found an issue with the seal at the bottom. I have a ring clamp that it came with to keep it tight and I think cleaning should be much easier too. I'm also curious if "jaimehelm" put casters on the bottom lid. I've got three and have gone back and forth on installing them or not... Thanks for all the posts and pics. I've spent weeks reading!
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It begins...

#1 The pick up. $20 Food grade that used to have Cranberry juice in it.

#2 the boyz ready to get to work!

#3 $40 of sand blasting (best $ I ever spent!)
 

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The upside down one I've seen in person had a slider vent and he said it was easy and he had many cooks on it. If I build another it will be upside down with slider vent. :heh:
 
Getting ready for my first smoke.

Built last weekend and did a season / test burn on Wednesday. Looking forward to my first real smoke this weekend. Going to attempt a butt and a few racks of baby back ribs.
 

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I did an all nighter on a pork butt and my lump burned off to side and real hot checked on it every hour firest 3 hrs 230 to 230 then 310 then fough it to bring it down and maintaine 225-250 range burned on side away from intakes I have 4 used front valve and back un capped
any Ideal what happened
I am thinking didn`t load bascket properly but still turned out mouth wateriing and sorry for no pron
 
also I scored 10 barels for $5 each and can get more with just a call
going to make some more
 
wdpope1 said:
I did an all nighter on a pork butt and my lump burned off to side and real hot checked on it every hour firest 3 hrs 230 to 230 then 310 then fough it to bring it down and maintaine 225-250 range burned on side away from intakes I have 4 used front valve and back un capped any Ideal what happened
I am thinking didn`t load bascket properly but still turned out mouth wateriing and sorry for no pron
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Did you lite coals only on that one side or dump in hot coals and did not spread them over the top of the unlit coals. That is probably your cause. As to the higher temp after 3 hrs, that is when your meat came up close to the drum temp. If you don't have any leaks or the wind could have been blowing into one of your intakes cause higher flow which equals higher temps.
Just a thought.
 
Going to cook my first Fatty tonight. I've done a bit of searching and can't seem to fine what the cooking temps and times should be. Can someone please enlighten me?
 
65BAJA said:
Going to cook my first Fatty tonight. I've done a bit of searching and can't seem to fine what the cooking temps and times should be. Can someone please enlighten me?
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250, 275, 300 degrees, it's all good. 160-165 internal and pull it to rest. Yummmm Any where from 45 mins to 1 hr typically depending on temp/brand/size/stuffed/unstuffed.
Hope that helps
 
Stuffed with just cheese. Wrapped with bacon. Memphis rub.

Coals are starting now.
 
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Voila! I smoked a Fatty!

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Pulled it off at 161* internal temp. Let it rest for 2-3 minutes then got hungry looking at it and started eating. YUM!
 
Those are some great builds. Wish i could read them; probably some solid info
 
Sorry I didn't post the translation link. Dadsr4 got it. My german is a little weak, but I can get by, so I didn't use it.
 
ok, one of the reasons i joined this fine site , was to eventually build my own UDS.....

my question.....can these UDS's be thermally insulated, say with a layer of fiberglass insulation on the OUTSIDE of the UDS, and then wrap that in something, like a canvas wrap or something?

would a thermally insulated UDS perform better?
 
Bushman5 said:
ok, one of the reasons i joined this fine site , was to eventually build my own UDS.....

my question.....can these UDS's be thermally insulated, say with a layer of fiberglass insulation on the OUTSIDE of the UDS, and then wrap that in something, like a canvas wrap or something?

would a thermally insulated UDS perform better?
Click to expand...

Yes they can, some on here do it but I don't see why you would need to insulate. I got 425F out of my first UDS a couple weeks ago in -27C temps. It has three 3/4" intakes and a 2" exhaust. And I just got 550F with three 1 1/4" intakes on my new one today at -24C. The colder it is the more charcoal you light on start up and you won't have any problems. At least thats what I have found.
 
Bushman5 said:
my question.....can these UDS's be thermally insulated, say with a layer of fiberglass insulation on the OUTSIDE of the UDS, and then wrap that in something, like a canvas wrap or something? would a thermally insulated UDS perform better?
Click to expand...

Like mentioned, Yes it can be done. Does it perform better? I can not say I have seen any "better" performance from one of my UDS's that I wrapped with a double layer of welding blanket VS the unwrapped one. Both burn real dang close to the same amount of coals. I smoke/cook year round on my cookers.
Somewhere on here a guy has built a wooden box around his, filled with insulation and stated it used less coal.
You have to decide if that is what you want. Be inventive and let us know! I built my UDS's to get the same temps as my Acorn, 750 deg +. Just because I wanted to get those temps for searing meat and cooking pizza's. Beside being able to smoke for 17+ hrs without having to touch the drum when required. ( Doing one smoke right after the other). As you can see from this thread there in no end in options to building UDS's.
 
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