Ugly Drum Smoker

the_hunchback said:

Question for you guys that have experience with both a UDS and WSM (18.5). Which one would you get if you had the choice. I can possibly get a WSM for around $150 but am trying to decide which way to go. Thanks.

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I have an 18.5 WSM and two drums, so I guess I qualify as a responder. I like both units. The WSM is easier to move around and bring someplace if need be. The porcelain coating will last a very long time and the cooker will not rust. The WSM has a long history of success and has been engineered to work well. Large customer base and fountain of knowledge is available to you along with a web site devoted to the WSM, The Virtual Weber Bullet. Produces quality food and is very economical to operate. You do not need to fabricate it yourself, for some this is an issue. I have cooked 6 pork butts at once in my 18.5 WSM. Ribs and brisket can be an issue with the small grate size. For $150 I'd go with the bullet as you will spend close to that, or more, building your drum. Not to mention your time.

Now for the other side. With both units cooking away side by side, people will always make a comment about the drum and the fact it is a home built unit. That buzz is a nice conversation starter. Depending on the size of the charcoal basket, mine is 14" wide x 12" tall, you will get a really long burn time. In excess of 20 hours. With a diffuser plate of some sort, the product you produces will taste the same as off the WSM. Rack size allows for full packers and racks of ribs laid flat, my preference. So, in making a recomendation? Buy the WSM and then while you are cooking up the first batch of ribs start building a drum as you will want both.

A bunch of wise men have said "You can never have too many smokers!"

This is my basket with a height adjustable bottom 16" tall X 16" dia. 3 return springs to secure the ashpan to the basket. If I need to use it to grill on my bottom grate, I just raise the bottom. The only mod I've done since is to replace the coal grate with expanded metal, too many pieces of charcoal were falling through the grate.

smokeyw said:

does anyone have any advice on this? I have a brand new Weber grate for a 21 1/2" grill that measures 17" in diameter. I would like to use it but it looks a little big to me. Any advice would be appreciated.

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I am using that exact grate, 9 inch expanded metal sides, and 2 inch bolts on the bottom for a 2" air space below grate.

Works wonderful so far.

Wow - this thread is a monster! I'm just taking it 10 pages per day, learning lots as I go. Last night I was driving my daughter home from paddling practice, when I saw 2 guys wheeling an old 22.5" OTS to the curb. I turned around and asked if it was free. "Take it", they said! So I scored a lid and upper grill for my UDS project (the rest was all burned and rusted out).

otterpop said:

Wow - this thread is a monster! I'm just taking it 10 pages per day, learning lots as I go. Last night I was driving my daughter home from paddling practice, when I saw 2 guys wheeling an old 22.5" OTS to the curb. I turned around and asked if it was free. "Take it", they said! So I scored a lid and upper grill for my UDS project (the rest was all burned and rusted out).

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Don't forget to take notes as you read, it's easier when you want to reference something for the build.
Nice score on the Weber stuff!!!!

leaking lid

jgh1204 said:

Thanks , the simpler the better for me.

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it seems to me that a door would lose temp , my lid looses enough , i dont know the answer

Southern Home Boy said:

I actually built mine inside a larger, 85 gal drum that I use as a "shell":

... (skipping pictures in quote.. click on the little arrow to jump to original post)

There's another Brother here - Smokin' Joe - who did the same thing (I shigged his idea :redface The biggest difference is his is insulated with rock wool and mine just uses the air gap as an insulator.

I can lay my hand on the outside of the drum anytime during a cook and just hold it there. It gets warm, but not hot enough to burn and the shell does a good job of keeping it from losing heat to the wind or rain.

The lid is still an issue. I haven't come up with a way to insulate the lid yet that I'm willing to try.

At the end of the day, I don't think it matters too much though.

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Hey man.. I just have to say that your smoker is fantastic! Not necessary, but at this point looks like you're having fun and being creative. I do wonder why the 3 air intakes to come from the bottom of the barrel and all coming out the same side.
As for the need, like the dude from MN wrote, I too smoke in very cold temps (from CT) with or without wind and I still am able to get a good 10+ hours on 1/2 a bag of charcoal without any additional insulation. The insulation idea I was trying to figure out with my POS offset smoker because THERE it matters. So I have a welder's blanket for that.. but once I built UDS I am not really looking back.

blackdog043 said:

I would say, your air flow is not working the way it should. If you use the KISS method your drum temp would be easier to dial in to what you want it!! Easy way to try it, close your side exhaust vents and open the 2" bung hole for exhaust. Leave it wide open and control your temp with the intake. If you want more smoke flavor add more wood chunks. I don't know what the other sites say to do, this is the best on the net for help with anything Q, hands down, in my opinion. Give the KISS method a try and see if it works for you. People on here have more problems trying to improve what works. Not saying you can't come up with some other design that will work for you.

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hey man.. you were exactly right. I was not understanding the mechanics of draft. I ran a burn with the 2" bung open and closed down some of the intakes and the temp held within 10 degrees for hours.

And jcinadr posted about using BBQ Guru computer system to control temp. Here's what I'm going to try to do:

A friend of mine made mods to his offset smoker but putting in a flap inside his chimney attached to some wires that poke through the chimney walls, allowing it to kind of sway. He positioned it just right so that it seems to work like a carburetor and self adjusts by opening more or less based on the temp. I have to learn more about it, but it's tied with my desire to attach some pipe to the bung hole to create the negative pressure at the top for creating more draft.

But another idea I may do, is to use one of the 3 nipples that I put on the side of the barrel at the top... I can put an elbow on the inside and another pipe extension (this is 3/4 inch) downward inside, and then also elbow on the outside and some pipe extension going up.. Resulting in something like an elongated "S" with half of it on the inside pointing down, and half on the outside pointing up. My theory (and I'm having fun with mods) is that this will still create some negative pressure at the top to create the draft, and also not rob so much smoke and moisture from the top where the food is being cooked.

BUT WAIT THAT'S NOT ALL! Another idea, after reading a lot about draft and combustion (http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/smokehouse-plans/smokehouse-firebox) I'm also thinking of adding a 3/4 inch nipple somewhere in the middle, above the heat source and under the food. Point of that is to try to bring in more moisture by drafting in cool air from the outside. This in turn may also increase the heat created from the coals by allowing for a secondary combustion.

Who knows.. but it's easy and cheap to try, and if it doesn't work I just cap the holes!

the_hunchback said:

Question for you guys that have experience with both a UDS and WSM (18.5). Which one would you get if you had the choice. I can possibly get a WSM for around $150 but am trying to decide which way to go. Thanks.

Click to expand...

I own and compete with one 18.5 WSM and two drums. I only use the WSM for chicken and am thinking about retiring it completely this Spring. The pros to me are: drums to me burn more efficiently, ability to cook a lot more meat than the 18.5 WSM, able to burn for longer periods of time with the larger charcoal basket. The cons: drums are a little more difficult to travel with if you don't have a pickup or trailer.

I don't think you can go wrong with either so don't spend too much time making the decision. :thumb:

Here she is, I am just about finished up. I am seasoning it right now and it is holding steady at 350 degrees. Still have to paint it. All I need now is a nice butt to throw on there.... or maybe some ribs..... or maybe brisket.... Decisions decisions...

Don't forget about the fatty.:thumb:

I've read many comments referring to the inability to "shake the coals".

Why don't Y'all just kick the bottom of the drum to knock the ashes down?

No need to open up the drum, just give 'er a couple swift kicks at the base. Ash will drop, and she'll start purring again.

blackdog043 said:

Don't forget to take notes as you read, it's easier when you want to reference something for the build.
Nice score on the Weber stuff!!!!

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Now you tell me LOL

El Ropo said:

I've read many comments referring to the inability to "shake the coals".

Why don't Y'all just kick the bottom of the drum to knock the ashes down?

No need to open up the drum, just give 'er a couple swift kicks at the base. Ash will drop, and she'll start purring again.

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Actually I don't know what the problem is with ash. I never kick mine or have a need to shake or anything. My fire basket I made is just simply wrapped around a coal grate for the 22 inch Weber; the coal grate measures out to be under 18 inches. And I made feet using long bolts.. which make it stand like around 2.5 inches. The whole thing sits on top of another smaller barrel lid catching the ash that falls, making it a snap to clean by just lifting the whole thing out.

This is nothing different from what everyone else seems to do, and I never have a desire to shake anything. Maybe it's a personal problem? haha But the thing will run just fine for 10, 12 hours whatever.

I'm not going to lie, I didn't read the whole thing. I did spend the better part of 10 hours yesterday into this morning reading a lot of good stuff. Well I was able to drag myself out of bed this morning and found what seems to be a great deal on drums on the otherside of town in Tempe. Closed head, used to have soybean oil in them, for $20. I thought I read that the one's with mineral oil etc. don't have too thick of a coating and maybe just a rust inhibitor. So I'm going to cross my fingers, hope my Dremel 400 can cut through this thing and let the journey begin.

Also the guy had 8 barrels left at 2 pm local time if you need his name and # shoot me a p.m. Seemed like a good guy and was a real easy transaction.

Found a $10 drum on Craigslist today, formerly filled with Hawaiian Punch in a plastic sock liner. Just picked it up and cannot believe how well the old Weber dome lid fits :thumb: like a glove. Stopped at the local hardware store to estimate total price for parts and was shocked at the cost of expanded metal for the coal basket - around $60! Is that about right or should I shop/scavenge around?

otterpop said:

Found a $10 drum on Craigslist today, formerly filled with Hawaiian Punch in a plastic sock liner. Just picked it up and cannot believe how well the old Weber dome lid fits :thumb: like a glove. Stopped at the local hardware store to estimate total price for parts and was shocked at the cost of expanded metal for the coal basket - around $60! Is that about right or should I shop/scavenge around?

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Think outside the box and come up with something else. Me...I used an old milk crate, weed burned the bejesus out of it and went to town. It holds enough coal to go at least 16 hours.

Late on when you stumble upon some expanded go for it and have a basket like everyone else.

Just sayin.............

Paul B
SS UDS

Well Dremel isn't exactly like a hot knife through butter on this thing but it is making progress. I'm going to google search this as well but do you think I could use my sabre saw and just get a metal cutting blade? It's either that or about 50 of these metal cutting dremel disc's.

Sabre saw blade will work fine and do a quicker job to boot!

Colemanchu said:

Well Dremel isn't exactly like a hot knife through butter on this thing but it is making progress. I'm going to google search this as well but do you think I could use my sabre saw and just get a metal cutting blade? It's either that or about 50 of these metal cutting dremel disc's.

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Oh heck yeah. I used a jig saw on all my UDSs. Either that or my recip saw w/a bi-metal blade.