Ugly Drum Smoker

ebijack · Jul 28, 2015

IMHO you should at least double your exhaust.
Chicken I prefer higher temps like 315, not 250 to get crispy skin.
You can use less or no wood to get the smoke profile your looking for.
After dumping on the hot coals you should wait till you get the drum stabilized or close to the temp you want to cook at.
It's all about air management.

icebox114 · Aug 1, 2015

Many thanks to all these pages and all the tips from brethren around the world, I've finished my UDS! Proud to finally add it to this great thread. Christening it as I type with a 14 pound brisket. Think I've got my airflow figured out, temps are steady. I think I've created my own "man's best friend".

wdpope1 · Aug 2, 2015

lovely sunny sunday, smoker stinking up the whole neighborhood got the ABTs on for a snack Boston Butt at 175 UDS at 233 havoing hard time waiting for my supper

Jsmith · Aug 2, 2015

Icebox, love what you did for the adjustable shelf. Curious what you used and where I might be able to get it.

Thanks,

jabbey71 · Aug 5, 2015

Seasoning

I'm getting ready to season my UDS. I'm going to either spray Pam or coat the inside with crisco oil. What temp will be a good temp to season this drum at and for how long. Thanks.

ebijack · Aug 5, 2015

It's a good time to play with temps and see how long your able to get stable at them. A couple hours at least for seasoning. Go from 250 ish to as high as your able to get without any food in the drum See if you can hold at 50 deg increments. Once you add food into the drum, you most likely won't be able to hit as high of temps.

jabbey71 · Aug 14, 2015

Charcoal Amount

I'm going to season my UDS this weekend weather permitting for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours at around 250. My charcoal basket is 17" round and 12" high. I'm going to put some chicken on afterwards to cook but I don't think I want to fill the basket completely. How much charcoal would be enough for seasoning and cooking. Also approximately how many lit charcoals should I place on top of the unlit charcoal from my chimney starter. This will be my 1st Drum smoker that i'll be using. Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

ebijack · Aug 14, 2015

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1682070&postcount=1

jabbey71 · Aug 14, 2015

Thanks for the link. Very appreciated..

ebijack said:
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1682070&postcount=1

ThatQ · Aug 19, 2015

Hello Drumheads. Newbie here. Have read the first 250 pages of this awesome thread. I know what I want and I think I know how to get there (thanks to first 250 pages). Picked up a drum today $15 bucks. Guy says it was from a chocolate factory. No Liner open head. In my exuberance of my lucky find I did not pay close attention to the label on the drum. Upon further inspection of the label I see caustic in the description. Not sure if this is something I should be using. Posting Pics (hopefully). Thank you.
-Bill

ThatQ · Aug 19, 2015

Since the picture showed up posting another one of the inside of the drum. Looks like pretty much bare steel with light rust. Was careful about not sticking my head in there after reading the label.

Mr. Bo · Aug 19, 2015

Here's some data on the material from the drum.
http://www.strykerchem.com/docs/PELSCaustic.pdf

Mine had Kawasaki motor oil in it but I just burned it out real good before cooking on it. Good luck with the build!

ThatQ · Aug 19, 2015

Thank you for information. I will do a burn and tide scrub up and see what shakes. Have begun to assemble some goodies for the build. Need to get some expanded metal for firebox.
-Bill

damascusmaker · Aug 21, 2015

Adding photos of my UDS

Just built 2 or 3 months ago. Still learning, but it works great. Longest smoke was 24.5 hours, original load of fuel, added one chunk of apple late. Shut down there was about a double handful remaining. It did a great job on a pizza. Best things I've done have been boston butt and hotdogs.

ebijack · Aug 22, 2015

Very Nice!

icebox114 · Aug 22, 2015

Jsmith said:
Icebox, love what you did for the adjustable shelf. Curious what you used and where I might be able to get it.

Thanks,

Jsmith, it's just vertical shelving strips with tabs that you just pinch into whatever slot height you want. I used three vertical strips evenly spaced 1/3 of the way around the drum, screwed in to the drum. The tabs were a little loose in the slots, so I had to "open" the tabs a little with a flat screwdriver. Tougher to pinch in, but once they're in, they're tight. One of my grills fits perfect on the slots, one is a little smaller diameter, and so I have to be careful when I put it in and grabbing meat off it, etc.

icebox114 · Aug 22, 2015

Jsmith said:
Icebox, love what you did for the adjustable shelf. Curious what you used and where I might be able to get it.

Thanks,

Sorry, Jsmith. I picked it up at Home Depot in the shelving aisle. I hit the strips and the tabs with the propane torch to burn off whatever coating is on also.

Jsmith · Aug 22, 2015

Thanks Icebox, ended up finding it at Home Depot but decided to go a different route. Thanks for the tip, I have a buddy that is going to use this setup so I'll pass it along.

Jsmith · Aug 22, 2015

UDS is ready

Hey everyone, after hours of well spent time on this forum, I was able to complete my UDS build and start a new hobby. Newbie at smoking so it will be a learning process but with the wealth of knowledge you have provided I have a feeling I'll pick up the basics pretty quickly. Thanks for all of you who have taking the time to share and I look forward to continue to learn from your experiences as well as my own. Now if you could please excuse me, I should probably get back to my craft beer while I sit outside soaking in the aroma of apple wood smoke and spare ribs :thumb:

Bob C Cue · Aug 22, 2015

Congrats on your build; looks great.
Don't forget the most important rule. You cannot eat anything from your first 5 cooks. Must flash freeze and ship to the last five Brethren who posted to this thread. They will make sure the food is safe and Brethren worthy.

Best of luck.

Ugly Drum Smoker

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Found some matches.

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Found some matches.

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