Ugly Drum Smoker

LT72884 · May 8, 2009

Meat Burner said:
LT, 6 3/4 inch intakes is waaaaaaaaaaaay tooooo much if I understand you post. Don't know what you researched to think that is appropriate. A second that would be more than enough for any temps you wanted to reach. JMHO, I would raise the grate to 3 inches above the bottom of the barrel to allow for ash accumulation. Do what you want but my suggestion is to go throught all the UDS pages and learn from everyone else's mistake and fixes.

Ill make my coal grate adjustable so i can lower it or higher it. My friends UDS's has 6 holes in it and he seems to do fine. Plus i can always plug them. Its so i can get a better and more even burn with the coal. the attached image shows how they will be placed on the base. Like i siad if i find my temps getting to high, then i will plug em up.

Norcoredneck · May 8, 2009

Make extra plugs, you will need them. Seems I have never went past 2, but I build in 3

Mattzilla · May 8, 2009

Norcoredneck said:
Make extra plugs, you will need them. Seems I have never went past 2, but I build in 3

Same here.

Phubar · May 8, 2009

Barbarian said:
Hey Phubar,
Here are the three lids I have.

The first one has a rod welded around the edge and a flat bar welded to the rod as a lip. It was only spot welded so I used high temp sealant to stop it from leaking. It turned out a bit heavy with the rod and the flat bar being added, but works fine and give me plenty of room on the top grate.

The second is a shorter one where I took a lid and cut the center out and welded it to a 6" bottom of a donor drum.

The third is just a lid. I use it only when cooking on the lower grate.

The fourth pic is a buddies drum where he cut the lip off to be able to use a weber lid. And you can see where the stuff runs. I am to anal to deal with that way of doing things, lol. I would be rubbing up against it and getting pissed.

Thanx for the pics and info Barbarian!
Yesterday I came up with a similar idea of your first picture.
I used the lid as sort of template and bended the rod on the inside of it.
Looks great allready,I think I won't be able to get it all the way round so maybe I'm gotta cut in in half.
I don't have the tools at home and skillz,you wil see that in the pictures later on when I get home.
Right now it looks real redneck-ish,it's hold together with some rope and ductape!:grin:
By the way....love the looks of your friends drum!
Funny to know that is your friend,the last couple of weeks I've been showing people this pic as an example for an UDS....and this qualifies definitly as an UDS!

BarberQue · May 8, 2009

Like Norco say's, I have three and rarely ever need more than 1 and a half valves open to get between 200* and 260*

timmy7649 · May 8, 2009

i have 4 3\4 inch holes and for me to cook at 200 to 225 i only open 1/2 of one. i like having the extra so i can crank up the heat and grill some outstanding burgers. :twisted:

DDave · May 8, 2009

LT72884 said:
Ill make my coal grate adjustable so i can lower it or higher it. My friends UDS's has 6 holes in it and he seems to do fine. Plus i can always plug them. Its so i can get a better and more even burn with the coal. the attached image shows how they will be placed on the base. Like i siad if i find my temps getting to high, then i will plug em up.

No offense, but I'll never understand why people insist on trying to reinvent the wheel or build the better mousetrap. I mean, I'm all for customization and individuality but the "basic" UDS design as explained in this thread and Norco's build thread is a pretty damn good smoker.

All the same, have fun with your build. :biggrin:

But trust these guys. They know what they are talking about.

Dave

Dr_KY · May 8, 2009

Norcoredneck said:
Make extra plugs, you will need them. Seems I have never went past 2, but I build in 3

Ditto. Get yourself some Kevlar gloves too.

Ill make my coal grate adjustable so i can lower it or higher it.

It's going to be very hot in there and while trying to raise and lower you are going to be exposing it to fresh air causing your temps to get out of control and perhaps never recover. Don't treat the UDS like a BBQ grill. It is built to be a set and forget cooker.

Its so i can get a better and more even burn with the coal.

Your fuel will burn near perfect with just two intakes. It's best to do it the pr oven way then decide if you want to look for the perfect burn rather than going back wards. Others smokers on the market do just fine without all the spacing and intakes.

Smokin' D · May 8, 2009

Yep, I knew better and put in six 3/4" holes. Put plugs in three of them and never take the cap off of one of the remaining intakes. My next drum will have one 1/2" nipple and one 1" ball valve. The current drum runs too hot with one 3/4" nipple open and too cool with the 3/4" ball valve full open. So I figure that a 1/2" nipple and a little ball valve will be perfect. I'll let you all know.

Mark · May 8, 2009

DDave said:
No offense, but I'll never understand why people insist on trying to reinvent the wheel or build the better mousetrap. I mean, I'm all for customization and individuality but the "basic" UDS design as explained in this thread and Norco's build thread is a pretty damn good smoker.

All the same, have fun with your build. :biggrin:

But trust these guys. They know what they are talking about.

Dave

Dave: In as far as the primary fuel is charcoal briquettes, the "basic" UDS design, whose purpose is to approximate "set it and forget it" (RONCO) technology, you are correct. If you want to power your UDS primarily by wood sticks, a very different approach is called for.

So anyone contemplating building a UDS should first determine what primary fuel source they intend to use. If its charcoal briquettes, then NORCO's guide is a vewry good resource. HOwever, if it's wood, then I suggest you consider my approach.

Phubar · May 8, 2009

Barbarian said:
Hey Phubar,
Here are the three lids I have.

The first one has a rod welded around the edge and a flat bar welded to the rod as a lip. It was only spot welded so I used high temp sealant to stop it from leaking. It turned out a bit heavy with the rod and the flat bar being added, but works fine and give me plenty of room on the top grate.

The second is a shorter one where I took a lid and cut the center out and welded it to a 6" bottom of a donor drum.

The third is just a lid. I use it only when cooking on the lower grate.

The fourth pic is a buddies drum where he cut the lip off to be able to use a weber lid. And you can see where the stuff runs. I am to anal to deal with that way of doing things, lol. I would be rubbing up against it and getting pissed.

Here is the pic I was telling you about.
How does the vertical air intake work for you?
I wanted to use a pipe with diameter 2,5cm/1".
I want to have something like that but today I read something about guys complaining that it was hard to control the heat.
The guys who had a bigger air intake had no problem as far as I can remember.
I remember that I saw somebody (think Norco) who had the ball valve on the bottom of the barrel but had a rod attached to it that went up so that you don't have to bend down to control the valve.
Probably I'll go with that idea,just have to find it!

Barbarian · May 8, 2009

I have 4 one inch intakes and only use all 4 to get the thing started. After the temp hits about 180 I shut down 2 of them and leave the other 2 open til it hits 220 then go to 2 about half open. My charcoal seems to burn evenly enough. So with 6 intakes and your wanting to get an even burn you will be adjusting all 6 intakes, all of them open 1/8 or so. Seems like more trouble then its worth. But reinvent the wheel if you must.

Barbarian · May 8, 2009

Hey Phubar,
Here are my intakes. I made the back on a bit taller so it would be easier to get to since I have a table close by and cannot walk around the drum. The front one is a bit shorter and the other two are down at the bottom but are only open for about 5 minutes when I fire the drum up, then they are shut down. On the tall ones I use a magnet to adjust the air.

I like the 2" exhaust. It works great since I have a airtight drum now. I use a tin can to put over the exhaust to slow it down before turning the meat and to shut it down after the cook.

Not quite sure what your pic shows, maybe another one later will help. Good luck with the build.

LT72884 · May 8, 2009

DDave said:
No offense, but I'll never understand why people insist on trying to reinvent the wheel or build the better mousetrap. I mean, I'm all for customization and individuality but the "basic" UDS design as explained in this thread and Norco's build thread is a pretty damn good smoker.

All the same, have fun with your build. :biggrin:

But trust these guys. They know what they are talking about.

Dave

Problem, im not going to read threw 3000+ posts to figure out the basic uds build. Im not going ball valves cuz i need to save money. Im going like the BDS style so if 6 is to many then how bout 4 intakes evenly spaced? If I REALLY need the ball valve then maybe ill go that way but if the BDS can get away with out it then so can i. lol.. can you grill with these things

Digi · May 8, 2009

LT72884 said:
Problem, im not going to read threw 3000+ posts to figure out the basic uds build. Im not going ball valves cuz i need to save money. Im going like the BDS style so if 6 is to many then how bout 4 intakes evenly spaced? If I REALLY need the ball valve then maybe ill go that way but if the BDS can get away with out it then so can i. lol.. can you grill with these things

Telling us that you're NOT going to read through what we ALL have done already, is not a real way to gain "respect" or "help in building" for that matter. The fact that your questions are already answered if you read through all of these posts is another thing... not trying to be a douche here, but take the time to read through this thread and we will help in ANY way we can... :biggrin:

LT72884 · May 8, 2009

Digi said:
Telling us that you're NOT going to read through what we ALL have done already, is not a real way to gain "respect" or "help in building" for that matter. The fact that your questions are already answered if you read through all of these posts is another thing... not trying to be a douche here, but take the time to read through this thread and we will help in ANY way we can... :biggrin:

i didnt mean it like that. i made it to page 97 last night and had a hell of a headache. Its hard to search threw so many posts. like looking for a needle in a haystack sorta thing. It seems that the first 50 - 100 pages was about what lid to use and showing pictures of there drum smokers. However this was around 1 in the morning so i might have missed something. Sorry for the miss communication

Phubar · May 8, 2009

Barbarian said:
Hey Phubar,
Here are my intakes. I made the back on a bit taller so it would be easier to get to since I have a table close by and cannot walk around the drum. The front one is a bit shorter and the other two are down at the bottom but are only open for about 5 minutes when I fire the drum up, then they are shut down. On the tall ones I use a magnet to adjust the air.

I like the 2" exhaust. It works great since I have a airtight drum now. I use a tin can to put over the exhaust to slow it down before turning the meat and to shut it down after the cook.

Not quite sure what your pic shows, maybe another one later will help. Good luck with the build.

Thanx again Barbie!:-D

I'm now at a point that I just have to build this thing and worry about the customizing later.
Probably I'll stick with my first ideas,most of the times those are the best decissions.
The Weber exhaust,3 air intakes with 1 vertical pipe plus ball valve will do?
Think that's one of my most important questions,the air intake and exhaust ratio.
I found it earlier on page 54 somewhere.
Sorry about the bad picture earlier,I took it with my cell phone as you can see,hopefully this pic will help.
It shows how I'm using the inside of the lid as a template for bending the rod for the upper lip of the charcoal drum/basket.
Thanks for your support broer/brother!

DDave · May 8, 2009

Mark said:
So anyone contemplating building a UDS should first determine what primary fuel source they intend to use. If its charcoal briquettes, then NORCO's guide is a vewry good resource. HOwever, if it's wood, then I suggest you consider my approach.

Like I said . . . reinventing the wheel. How are you going to get back in there to reload the wood? And having to reload all the time thoughout say a 17 hour brisket smoke is really going to be a pain.

I'm not knocking you, brother, truly I am not. Just trying to save you some frustration.

LT72884 said:
Problem, im not going to read threw 3000+ posts to figure out the basic uds build.

Read this.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=43943

All you need to know to build it.

THIS thread is what I would call "drum theory". It is a very worthwhile read. Yes it does take a long time but then so does smoking a brisket. Both are worth the time spent.:biggrin:

And yes, you can grill with these thin

Dave

Tangled Up In Q · May 8, 2009

Barbarian said:
Hey Phubar,
Here are my intakes. I made the back on a bit taller so it would be easier to get to since I have a table close by and cannot walk around the drum. The front one is a bit shorter and the other two are down at the bottom but are only open for about 5 minutes when I fire the drum up, then they are shut down. On the tall ones I use a magnet to adjust the air.

I like the 2" exhaust. It works great since I have a airtight drum now. I use a tin can to put over the exhaust to slow it down before turning the meat and to shut it down after the cook.

Not quite sure what your pic shows, maybe another one later will help. Good luck with the build.

Barbarian, that is one awesome looking UDS, you may have to drop the U ! Hope you don't mind I am going to try to clone it! I will change up the paint scheme for sake of identity. Both drums I have are closed drums, was yours an open ended??

jtwisted13 · May 8, 2009

here's mine finally

other than seasoning it(tomorrow) and installing the thermometer my drum is finally done..

started with this

burn baby burn

weber replacement grates are not an option where i live so ya gotta do what ya gotta do..lol

charcoal basket done - it is installed on an old grate from a gas grill - not traditional but it works - barrel primed as the paint i was using needed primer.

final paint and lid hanger mod(no idea what its really called..lol)

sprayed down with 3 coats of cooking spray and ready for tomorrows cook...one fatty and no idea what else..

Ugly Drum Smoker

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