Ugly Drum Smoker

Nice

Nice set of pics/info

I have built up my UDS and everything is looking okay. Except I couldn't find a two inch pipe for the bung hole vent that wasn't galvanized. Is this an issue? There won't be flame on it, just a lot of hot air.

Not a problem, but if you want you can soak the pipe in vinegar/water 50/50 to get ride of the galvanizing. Wipe with a rag.

So, after a month or so of reading this thread, and learning as much as possible about building my UDS, I've finally got it done and ready for some meat. Did the seasoning/experimenting burn last night, and hope to try out a spatchcocked chicken and a couple of fatties when I have more time this weekend.
I went with the basic KISS method for the first one, with a shelf, some wheels added, and the Weber lid.
My wife said I had to at least paint it up nicer than a plain barrel, and I've seen a lot of sports team paint jobs on here, but, I'm not much of a sports fan, so I went with a Breaking Bad theme.
Here's some progress pics, the food pron to come later:
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The drum, and donor Weber($25! It's in great shape, so they will share the lid and grill until I find one in worse shape for the parts)
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The burn out.
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The inside, and basket.
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Ready to test out!

that's pretty decent looking mattkm

FYI: Good source for food grade drums

Hey all, I got lucky last year when I started to make my first UDS and found a good source of Food Grade drums. Stores that make their own soap use a food grade oil as a base. The drums are extremely clean, dent free or nearly dent free with a removable lid and ring clamp.

I have found 2 stores in St. Louis, one on the Hill and one in downtown Kirkwood. They both produce 1 per month and advertise once in a while on Craig's List. $30 each. I just picked up 2, one for me and one for a friend, and they still had 6 more. :clap:

Smoke free or die!

Nice looking "T" build. Need pics of the exhaust. Is there a build thread that I can find? I don't get to spend much time here anymore and miss a bunch of stuff.

How does it hold temp compared to your UDS?

funugy said:

Nice looking "T" build. Need pics of the exhaust. Is there a build thread that I can find? I don't get to spend much time here anymore and miss a bunch of stuff.

How does it hold temp compared to your UDS?

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Holds Temps well but uses almost double the charcoal as my Reg UDS.
Exhaust is 3" Auto exhaust pipe 12" H.

OK. I read thru 405 pages of this thread, constructed a UDS with 3 1" intakes with 3/4in nipples and one ball valve on an 18" riser. I have 4 3/4in outlet vents on top. Burned out the barrel (which was unlined but i didn't know what was in it.....the lining was silver and got some light surface rust just sitting out overnight), seasoned it with spray vegetable oil. It burned hot (450-500) for 7 hours and had a hard black coating on the inside after it was done....no residue on a finger swipe.

Hooray, i thought. Yesterday I put on a fatty and 10 chicken thighs to break it in. To make a long story short, they came out terrible. Waaaay to smoky. I used a half basket of charcoal with 3 fist sized chunks of hickory and a few smaller slivers. Started about 15 briquets in the chimney and then dumped them on the firebox. The UDS held a steady 250 the entire time with one of the intake caps on. I waited for the smoke to die down before putting the meat on, but it never got to the point I would consider TBS. Once I put the meat on, the smoke got very thick for a while. I checked the meat at 2hrs, and never opened the lid until that point. At 2.5 hrs I pulled everything as both the chicken and the fatty were near 180 degrees. The chicken was good without the skin, and the fatty was good with the bacon removed. The skin and bacon were so smoky we couldn't eat it.

It's obvious I have a problem with smoke control, but how do I fix it? I've come up with several possible fixes but I'm not sure which apply, and I don't want to make more work for myself.

Add 2 more 3/4" outlets to the lid

Wait until there's nothing but TBS before I put the meat on

Use less wood

Scrub the barrel back to bare metal and reseason

???

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.

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".

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

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

Thanks,

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.

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.

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.

Thanks for the link. Very appreciated..

ebijack said:

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

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