Ugly Drum Smoker

coewar · Jul 13, 2011

Hey, 2 things.

First is that I think you should remove the insulated rope. I believe those are made from tiny fiberglass fragments and there might be a warning not to have it anywhere near food. Kitchen ovens have insulated ropes, but they are wrapped in some metallic lining or something, and they don't quite come as close to the food as possibly the lid of a UDS.. though I'd think it's the same.

Second, if you want to shut down your smoker, you have to also close up the vents. Not sure if you did because you wrote only about closing the intake valves. But in the sun, and with vents open, I have seen mine hang around 200 for a while. The sun is hot!

I don't think you need to worry about looking for air leak.

The most important thing is to make sure you are getting proper air flow during cooking. If you don't, your temps will go up and down, and worse, if you don't have enough you'll develop extra creosote inside and on the food.

BulldogBrewer · Jul 13, 2011

Ok, a couple of stupid newbie questions.

1.) Is there a liner in these drums? It looks like just pain to me.
2.) Are these drums even usable candidates for UDS builds?

Here's the label on the side of both of them:

Here's how they look when I get the lid off (they are open lids), aside from rust & dirt, I don't see any of the tan or red liner:

Here's where I've gotten with one of the two after easy-off and a wire wheel on an angle grinder:

I'm wondering how much more cleaning out this needs. I'm apprehensive about doing a big burn out since I'm in the middle of suburbia with all my neighbors 30 or 40 feet away.

Thanks!

lrh · Jul 13, 2011

Thanks for the response, coewar. I did close the top vent. Checked it again just now (8:30) and its now at 240 so I guess it is going to extinguish itself eventually. I was worried I had wasted the entire 15 # of charcoal.......

sandiegobbq · Jul 13, 2011

I tried the Easy Off on a varnished drum and it didn't do squat.

BulldogBrewer · Jul 13, 2011

Is that what this is, varnished? Any ideas on cleaning that up?

sandiegobbq · Jul 13, 2011

The one I bought was from ditty.com in Whittier.

It was a refurbished one and it had a varnish in it.

I called them up and they said to burn it out.

I have a friend with a weed burner and I am going to give
that a go.

Stay tuned.

MushCreek · Jul 14, 2011

If you close the intakes and exhaust, it should go out within an hour. You've got a significant leak. With one inyake open, and the exhaust open, mine cruises at 225.

BTW- Even if your thermo goes way down, and it appears to be out, there still can be embers. Ask me how I melted a hole in a plastic garbage can.......

lrh · Jul 14, 2011

Air Leak?

5:20 AM- Just checked it again: Top of the Dome at 190, 17 hrs after shutting it down. Dang it...... Time to pull the charcoal basket and save what I can and start looking for the air leak......

Well, could only salvage enough briq's for a couple of small grilling sessions. (I usually am grilling for just two so it doesn't take alot) What wasn't salvaged still did some good. Put the cook grill over the ash pan, threw on some chicken burgers, those will be a couple of lunches for Mrs. and me next few days. Think I'll silicone all the wahers/bolts I put in and replace the rope around the lid with a hefty bead of it, and try again, only with alot less charcoal in the basket next time.

Boshizzle · Jul 14, 2011

Just in case anyone needs to send a message.

Norcoredneck · Jul 15, 2011

lrh said:
5:20 AM- Just checked it again: Top of the Dome at 190, 17 hrs after shutting it down. Dang it...... Time to pull the charcoal basket and save what I can and start looking for the air leak......

Well, could only salvage enough briq's for a couple of small grilling sessions. (I usually am grilling for just two so it doesn't take alot) What wasn't salvaged still did some good. Put the cook grill over the ash pan, threw on some chicken burgers, those will be a couple of lunches for Mrs. and me next few days. Think I'll silicone all the wahers/bolts I put in and replace the rope around the lid with a hefty bead of it, and try again, only with alot less charcoal in the basket next time.

Gotta ask yourself is it worth taking the chance of burning something down to save $5 worth of charcoal? Better to learn to gauge what you need. Get a 5 gallon bucket, weigh out 10# and mark bucket. For shorter cooks make a smaller ping to put in your charcaol basket. Old coals are ok but seem to crumble and add to the ash pile.

fr8erfxr · Jul 15, 2011

I found that a weber charcoal chimney filled flush with the top holds 6 pounds of Kingsford Blue. I use that to gauge how much charcoal I use for cooks of different lengths.

Jay871 · Jul 16, 2011

I thought I read somewhere a while back to put clay kitty litter in the bottom of your barrel to absorb grease. Has anyone ever done this? Do you leave the kitty litter in during the cook or do you put it in to absorb and vacuum it our right away. One more question, I would think the kitty litter should be unscented?

lrh · Jul 16, 2011

My UDS

:-D After solving an air leak problem around the lid, my first cooking effort was 1 1/2 thick loin chops with sparing use of Texas Two Step rub over moderate coals and a couple of hunks of pecan. Wife declared them best evah. (Sorry, no food pics. I was too busy eating.)

Used a Uniflame donor kettle from Wallyworld and misc. parts from an old Brinkman electric smoker that long ago had been shoved to a corner out of frustration with its end results. An old enamel ware stock pot for the coal basket and a few other things from my "possibles" stash (ie junk that should have gone to the landfill long ago) I'd attach another pic or two but it keeps showing "invalid file" when I try to upload from my Photobucket album.

BikerBryansBBQ · Jul 16, 2011

I can't believe i have been through this whole thread!!!!!!!!!!!

My tongue is hangin' out!!!

Now i can start gathering the parts!!

BikerBryansBBQ · Jul 16, 2011

I just could wait to try a fattie so I did one on the weber! Got done WAY to fast! But was still good!

johnodon · Jul 18, 2011

Finished my build!!!

Build thread can be found here: http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=111577

sandiegobbq · Jul 18, 2011

johnodon said:
Finished my build!!!

Build thread can be found here: http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=111577

Very nice indeed!

DieselDawg · Jul 18, 2011

sandiegobbq said:
The one I bought was from ditty.com in Whittier.

It was a refurbished one and it had a varnish in it.

I called them up and they said to burn it out.

I have a friend with a weed burner and I am going to give
that a go.

Stay tuned.

Ditty.com huh? I live in Whittier and have been searching for a barrel for about 2 weeks now! I have to check this out - I think the heavens just opened up because I can hear angels singing and everything smells like Q! :laugh:

Carbon · Jul 18, 2011

I have a question on placement of air intakes. I'm currently building my UDS using a single draft door measuring approx 3" x 5" at the bottom which slides over three 3/4" intake holes. Very simple.
I see most all UDS builds using valves and caps, whether 3 or 4, spaced equally apart around the drums. How important is this? Is it really that important to have incoming air from all directions within the drum for an even burn when all the valves and caps are open? You'll ultimately end up controlling temp with just one 3/4" intake anyway so my question is does it really matter? Thanks!

thoraudio · Jul 18, 2011

A fellow BBQPro'er I see. :-D

Although I had to beat to fit.... paint to match will be soon.

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