Finished my UDS tonight
Hello everyone. I will start by saying I am only 275 pages into this thread, but I couldn't wait to finish the thread before I built my UDS. I went with the KISS design for this first UDS, and I definitely have some ideas on cost and ease of production improvements for the next time.
Here is the barrel I started with:
Improvements the next time I choose a barrel:
- Make sure the top is NOT galvanized!
- Try to find a heavier barrel - mine may be a little thin.
Due to it being a thinner barrel and just having paint inside, the burn out was easy. I borrowed my neighbors weed burner and made quick work of the paint.
Now I drilled it for the grilling shelf - my barrel is 33.5 inches tall which caused a good bit of consternation in trying to figure out how I was going to get my grilling surface 24 inches above my coal box. Then, I finally figured out that everyone says 24 inches above the bottom of the coal box, not the top of the coal box... That made the decision easier - I just went with 7 inches down from the top.
For my coal basket I had purchased a 'throwaway' cheap grill from amazon as I could use it for catching the ash and the grill for the bottom of the coal basket. This is the second area for improvement the next time I make one. Next time I will hit up Craigslist to find a cheap Weber gold grill to use for parts as I can find those on Craigslist for 30-40 and it would provide the grilling surface, bottom of the coal basket, and possibly a lid for the UDS. But that is for next time... To finish my coal basket I got 2 pieces of 12x24 expanded steel (1/2 inch holes, 13 ga.) and used bolts to connect them in the general shape of a circle (maybe more egg like). I then used stainless steel zip ties to connect the expanded steel to the bottom of the basket. Finally, I attached 3 inch long bolts to the bottom of coal basket for clearance and air circulation.
Next, I had the fun job of removing the galvanization from the lid. The main issue with doing this was first figuring out how to remove the galvanization, and then finding a container big enough for the lid. I ended up using an old recycling bin - filled with a bunch of water and then added the muriatic acid (leftover from my last trip to the pool store). Here are some pictures of the process.
Starting the process:
Hey, it works:
My container wasn't quite big enough so for the center of the lid I had to just pour a little muriatic acid on the it. Boy did it work, but I wouldn't recommend it. Slow and steady wins the race for sure...
I had already cleaned our the residue both inside and out and used acetone to clean it. While I was bathing the lid in muriatic acid I also painted the drum. I couldn't find the right color of maroon for the bottom of the drum (think Texas A&M's helmets against Mississippi St. a couple years ago), so I just went with straight black high heat from Autozone.
Here is the drum during the painting process:
Finished painting the lid, and the only thing left is to drill the holes in the lid (8 holes, each 1/2 in diameter), and then to season the inside. Hoping to do that tomorrow morning, and then cooking the first brisket on Saturday!
Thanks everyone for this thread and I plan to continue to try to work my way through it as time permits...