Ugly Drum Smoker

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Thanks OB racer. Remo sent me the PH# to the place he got his. I'm going to try that first as they are not lined. If that doesn't work out I'll get back with you about the lined ones you have.

No problem anytime let me know.

New UDS build in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

First time poster from Sao Paulo, Brazil, and very grateful to all you people for these posts. I am only on page 618 so far, but am working my way through as a rite of passage!

I have started my first UDS - some parts are hard to come by here, and a Weber would cost over US$400 here, so no chance of my finding one of them lying around unwanted! However, I did find someone who can weld for me (I am learning) and some suppliers of the expanded metal - I have not found anyone who will sell me less than a few hundred metres of it yet though...

Here's what I have got so far:

The Drum and Lid:


The insides before the first burn and clean:


The charcoal basket I made - not sure about this, and am trying to replace with expanded metal if I can get some. I am also sourcing a pizza lid to weld under this to collect the ash


I have 2 x 3/4" air inlets for the base, with nipples to close them off, and a 1" ball valve type tap for the main inlet, which I will space evenly, about 2" up from the bottom of the drum. At the top end, I am using 3 x U-Bolts to support my grill, when I get it made.

The lid seal seems ok, but I am wondering about using clamps to seal it better, or one of those barrel levers to close it. I saw someone here selling a type of silicon seal (red colour) by the metre, normally used for oven doors - any thoughts on this?

I don't think I will have room for a second grill, as my first one will need to allow for a flat lid for the foreseeable future, but it's a starting point. I will post some more photos once I make some progress.

Anyway - as an aside, one of the biggest learning curves for me has been finding out what ABT's and Fatties are. For some regional flavour, one of my first cooks is going to be a 'Cupim' which is the hump of a Bramha style bull - it's not unlike brisket in many ways, and really benefits from a long cook at low temps. Not sure if you have this in the US?

Looks like you have a great start on your first UDS CambuiAl. Your charcoal basket should work fine unless that's galvanized wire or it's too small in diameter and might burn out quick.

Never seen a Cupim but we do have Bramha cattle here.

Good luck with your build.

You have a good start. I use a flat lid as well and it works just fine. I use a 2" pipe about 9" tall as an exhaust.

@MR Bo - thanks. I bottled out on the charcoal basket as I think that IS galvanised mesh

I tracked down someone in Sao Paulo just today at

http://www.armetais.com.br/produtos.html

who is making a new basket for me, with some help from some photos from this site! I feel I have cheated somewhat, but I did need someone to make the grill for me anyway, as Weber is not available here at reasonable cost.

That metal sheeting with the circular holes 'chapas perfuradas' is most commonly used as grill material in Brazil, and I did see someone who had made their entire charcoal basket from it. The only doubt was if the ash could drop out, or if it would end up putting out the coals because it can't fall through. I will see what this guy comes up with - he seemed pretty animated about it, although my Portuguese is fairly limited when it comes to metalwork vocab!

@Peddler - Flat lid is the way to go for me, and I am quite happy with that. I am planning on using the 2" hole for a chimney pipe and another 3 x 3/4" outlets with nipples that I can close if I need to, either for rain protection or to control the temps. I will have to see how snug a fit the flat lid is after my burn this weekend, but I am sure I can make that work.

.....and DONE! WOW! Reading this entire thread from post #1 was an epic, almost 4-week mental workout!

I think the most frustrating part of the whole experience is reading a question that I know the answer to, and seeing that said question was posted in like 2009...

Two cooks in with my UDS, and I'll tell you that I love it. I open the ball valve and uncap the other 2 nipples, dump a 15lb bag of KBB in the basket, start 12 KBBs in the chimney, then dump them onto the unlit when they're ready to go. I watch the oven thermo through the Weber exhaust holes, and cap 1 nipple when it hits 150°. I cap the second nipple at about 180° and close the valve about half way. It gets up to about 230° -250° and chugs right along for as long as I've needed it to - rock steady. I have absolutely no complaints at all.

I gotta wait until June 1st for more project money, then I'll be adding handles and a thermo. I'm already thinking on another build. I told you that y'all were a bad influence... :becky:

I finishedy first UDS today I I think it turned out really well...I sure cooks well. Smoked some wings and baby back ribs and had no problem keeping it at 230 for 5 hours.

Build on the way!

So today I assembled all the parts and got cracking. Drilling the holes worked well - the fit was perfect.

The drill bit for 3/4" pipe parts: I did snap both of the drill guides in getting this done, but that's mostly because I am new to drilling metal.


I tried out the holes on some thin metal first before drilling the barrel - it all fit perfectly and threaded straight in:


The three air inlets in - 2 x 3/4" pipes and 1 x 1" pipe for the ball-valve:


One of the 3/4" inlets with the cap showing:


These are the u-bolts I will use to support the 2 grills:


Starting to grind out the inside:


The 1" ball-valve:


The lid - stripped of paint, and with 2 new air inlets and the handle:



That's it for now - the barrel is burning away and the outside paint is melting off, but I wont be getting anything more done until next week, when my grills should be ready (no Weber here )

Couldn't have done this without this great thread!

Looking good! It's going to be one nice drum.

what size hole did you make to thread in the 1" nipple? was it just 1-1/4"?

Heisenberger said:

what size hole did you make to thread in the 1" nipple? was it just 1-1/4"?

Click to expand...

I don't have the drill parts with me to check, but will update you at the weekend. It was a Makita 6-piece plumbers holesaw kit, but looking online there are some variations between Brazil and other countries, so I cannot say for sure. The 3/4" pipe hole was done with a 25mm part, and I *think* the 1" was done with a 38mm part.

So - the burn out is now done, and I am ready to give the drum a final clean out inside before spraying with vegetable oil.

I have 3 questions please:

Painting outside - Not sure if I need a primer or not, and I was going to use a high-temp spray paint that people use for painting wood burner chimneys here. I assume I need a paint that will do high-temps, even if this thing will never get that hot? What paint do most folk use?

The lid fit question - it sits okay, but there are a couple of points where it wobbles. I have read (700 pages so far) in this post about people using a type of gasket tape, the type of silicone sealant used in oven doors (I can get this in Brazil) and there is also a type of rope that might or might not have fibre-glass in it. Any thoughts? Of course, I could just sit a heavy weight on the lid while cooking!

Thermometer - I have one on my pizza oven and it has a 12" probe on it. I take it that people just push this in and out when ready to cook (i.e. it's removable) as otherwise it would get in the way of loading the charcoal basket in and out?

Many thanks!

Forgot to add this one - everyone loves the burning out part!

This burnt it back to bare metal - job well done!

Looking good!

First, yes I would suggest using a primer anytime you're going to paint over bare metal. The primer gives the paint a clean surface to stick to. I too used high-temperature stove paint, but others use engine paint sold in auto parts stores, and it appears that it works very well.

I can't help you with the lid. I used a Weber lid, and I understand that's not an option for you.

The 12" thermometer that you describe sounds like the right one to me. The thermometer is removed to allow you to take the charcoal basket out. Then it's installed after the basket of lit charcoal is put into the smoker.

It sounds like you're moving right along, and you're almost there. Good luck!

I had a loose fitting flat lid as well. I basically bent the rim of the lid in at two different spots. I did it by holding it vertically to the ground and kinda banging/dropping it on the ground. This didn't make it airtight but ever time I put the lid on I would press down at that two points to kinda lock it down. I don't know how warped your lid is but it worked for me and you can always bend it back with channel locks...

I used a 12 in thermometer for a while and drilled a bolt for it to go thru. Holds the stem straight.

Painting and lid sealing this weekend!

So - I have bought my primer, and spray paint for high temperatures. I bought 4 x 300ml cans of mat black and 1 x 200ml can of gold - the colours were fairly limited, but I figure I can do a nice logo with the gold on the mat finish.

I also bought some silicone seal (2 metres) - the type used for high-temperature oven doors. I am curious about this stuff to see if this helps with making a good seal on the lid. I am thinking of using this on the rim of the barrel, so the lid sits nicely on top. Anyone used this stuff before?

n0face said:

My christening cook...

Holding steady.

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Hey n0face

I am looking at trying these Polder temperature monitors and wondered how you are getting on with them...?

Cheers