Ugly Drum Smoker

To me an Ugly Drum Smoker is a homemade cooker made from a drum period.

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JTank70 said:

Didn't I read in this thread somewhere that the actual temp in the drum is slightly different than the side mounted thermo reads?

Mine has a 3 1/2" probe and is 1/2" or less below the grate.

Thanks.

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Norcoredneck said:

Whoa Pilgrim,
I am very knowledgeable about the type of drum smoker I build. I have made changes, some work work some don't. Won't call myself an expert but willing to share my knowledge. What exactly is a UDS? It is a culmination of ideas that has been shared on this forum. Some have doors, hatches, pans, box's, baskets. Truth be known a UDS like Moink is Brethren birthed term. You will see it on many forums, blogs, articles. The first few UDS's were by Model Maker, Big Mista, and others. JGH 1204 cioned the phrase. To me an Ugly Drum Smoker is a homemade cooker made from a drum period.

Truth be known what most pigeonhole as a true UDS is actually a BDS clone, some modified some not. To jump on the band wagon and chastise someone for posting an idea in this thread is wrong. It is what it is because of ideas people contributed along the road. Although long, it is worth the read. It helps one understand what ideas have been tried and what the posters results were. Long time posters in the thread (including myself) get a little testy when every 3 weeks the same stuff comes up. It is pretty evident that they didn't put in the time to read the thread because the same stuff gets rehashed over and over. In my advice I have given is always build a simple one, get cooking on it, eat some great BBQ and build another and out cool everyone on that drum. Pass your basic drum on to another friend and spread the love of BBQ.

Norco

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JTank70 said:

Is that some kind of box built around a smoker? Or is it actually THE smoker itself?

I am New to this stuff, puzzled but intrigued.

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Weiser said:

Hot Air corn popper.

Weiser

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Weiser said:

WTF is this?
Can't really call it a UDS, nor can you call it
a BDS Clone.
I'm open to all suggestions. :razz:

Weiser
I experiment a bit too.

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Norcoredneck said:

Everybody likes a good experiment

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JTank70 said:

Well My UDS is finally done!

Finished it yesterday.

I Had to wait 2 weeks after getting the barrel to burn it due to Fire danger being class 4 or 5 for those 2 weeks. (just my luck)
Once I got it burned out things went a little better but man barrel cleaning/brushing is tough, hard work.

I used a vent cap on the exhaust and an old metal drawer knob on the lid. I use the knob to pop the lid loose and then grab the lid by the exhaust and the cap allows the lid to hang nicely on the side of the drum.

Other build notes include two ¾” intakes with brass nipples/caps. One 1” intake with 18” riser and ball valve. Stainless steel bolts for the grate to sit upon with chrome nuts on the outside. Painted with the standard flat black hi-temp grill paint.

I oiled her up with pam and put the heat to her. She is seasoning nicely. It was windy yesterday but I caught the temps on the way up and she did good in the 240* to 255* range for about 3 hours steady. Then I opened up all the vents to see what she could do and it seemed to level out and hover right around 300*. All in all she ran for about 5 hours. When I shut her down she was stone cold in less than an hour.

Can’t wait to cook on it! It’s chicken thighs, drums and a fatty for mothers day!!! It’s gonna be rainy and windy here. (again, just my luck)

I am posting another thread in a little bit with a few questions on the cook. Swing by there and lend a brother a hand with his first smoke ever. I will be posting that one after I do a few things for mother JTank.

Thanks to everyone here for the “Bible” and all the Ideas in it. Special mention to Barbarian for help on my Charcoal Basket. And to h20loo for The advice on going up a size for an intake with a riser.

Heres the pics to prove it really happened!!

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ytsejam said:

so i am planning on firing up my uds for the first real cook. last week i fired it up, and just played with the air, and got a fill for things, then threw a couple fatties/chicken wings on for a few hours.
Now, I got 2 butts going on, gonna make my famous, award winning tamales :-D.

Until now, i always used my ecb, and have made some good stuff. I know the characteristics of that thing like the back of my hand, on account of using it for 10 years now. since this is my first big thing on the usd, im a little apprehensive/excited.

I've always been a mop every hour kind of guy. but i think i am gonna skip this on account of the temp spike when i lifted the lid on the uds. Also, i am gonna try to wrap in butcher paper instead of foil, on account of i am almost out of foil, but have mucho paper on hand, and in this economy, don't want to spend any money.

At any rate, this is just my presmoke ramblings. I plan on taking bunch of notes and pics. so stay tuned

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