Ugly Drum Smoker

Czarbecue said:

Just did my first degreasing cleanse of my 110 gallon UDS. Holy chit. Some people do this after every cook? I am exhausted... started at 7 pm and worked well past 9pm with the flood light on. Getting it ready for perhaps an extended long term shelving while the stick burner get some attention.

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Maybe I am doing it wrong??? I pour in a boiling pot of water, swish, dump, repeat, rinse and dry. The rest is just seasoning.

I would like to get a drum that big! How wide is your grate, and how tall?

jermoQ said:

Maybe I am doing it wrong??? I pour in a boiling pot of water, swish, dump, repeat, rinse and dry. The rest is just seasoning.

I would like to get a drum that big! How wide is your grate, and how tall?

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Someone on the Hunsaker page suggested degreasing after every cook (comp) so I decided to do it since I haven’t cleaned it out since the original build. I have six 29” grates built by Shirley Fab but only use three of them so far. Really only two since the third is a catch all resting on the Hunsaker vortex basket.

I spent most of the time cleaning the drum, heat deflector, and the basket itself. Oh, and the lid needed a good coat of degreaser as well. Did everything twice to use up the whole bottle.

I have 23” of vertical space from the top grate to the catch all grate. The drum itself is 42” tall.. then add the 4” casters I put on it. Overall it’s a little shy of 48” tall. Farking thing is a beast.

I know that UDS are extremely efficient when cooking DOTC (direct over the coals). I would cook with a full basket of LUMP charcoal and the volume would hardly change, so I finally decided to test how efficient the uds is.

I wanted to see how much lump charcoal by weight and volume a uds cooking DOTC would use for a typical cook. I used a bone in pork shoulder for the test. I wrapped it after 6 hours and then took it to 202 degrees. I cooked at 250 degrees using the heatermeter to keep temp, and total cook time was 10 hours.

ambient temp started around 97 degrees and it cooled to probably 90 degrees after dark.

I measured the full chimney before cooking and then after cooking I shook off the ash and measured again.I did not use any wood chunks as I wanted to test only the charcoal efficiency

I used the chimney as my charcoal basket and just stuck it in the uds. only mods were to remove the plastic handle, and turn the bottom upside down for more space.


Results. wow!!! I wasnt surprised but it was impressive none the less.

not only are UDS super cheap to build, they are also super cheap to use.:rockon:

cooking at 250 for 10 hours dotc, the uds only used 2.5 lbs of lump charcoal,
or 0.25 lbs of lump per hour of cook time .
therefore a 20lb bag in theory should give 80 hours of cooking time.
and at $16/bag my charcoal cost for a 10 hour cook comes out to only $2.00 per cook :rockon::rockon::rockon:



chimney base installed upside down for more space in chimney



full chimney weight 7lb 9 oz



full chimney lit and in place for cook. notice the plastic handle grip has been removed.



volume after the cook before ash shaken out. looks like used about half volume



ash shaken out, finish weight 5lbs 0.9 oz



heatermeter burn log



Delicous pulled pork

el luchador said:

I gave away my first uds. I had some ideas on how to improve the uds and wanted to try them out

I borrowed the exhaust idea from the pbc.
1. Makes for a better sealed unit
2. Works the same in rain
3. Doubles as the inlet for the probe wires
4. Triples as the holes for the rod for hanging
5. It's also the handles for the drum.

I made it sealable so you can easily kill the charcoals once the cook is over



I used three bolts per grate instead of the standard four. Each one is 24" apart. Makes it a little easier to get grates out, saves on drilling and bolts.

I have the coals sitting on a grate 15" from the bottom cooking grate and 7" from bottom of the drum. Bottom of drum stays cool.
Being so close to the coals makes for a bloody efficient cooker.

I splurged on a drum dolly to keep the bottom of the drum dry when it rains. I could have used cinder blocks but what the hey it wasn't that expensive

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I like the idea of the side exhaust holes. Are those just 1" nipples with PVC caps?

Steve S said:

I like the idea of the side exhaust holes. Are those just 1" nipples with PVC caps?

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thanks. the side exhaust is one of the best mods Ive done to the uds
Iirc its 1 1/4 pipe with screw on pvc caps. inside diameter I believe is 1.380"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ct5KL2CkbQ&t=5s
.

Is anyone using a hitch mounted cargo rack to transport their drums? Any advice if so or other methods assuming no truck bed available?

razorbrewer said:

Is anyone using a hitch mounted cargo rack to transport their drums? Any advice if so or other methods assuming no truck bed available?

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I’ve seen many of them used for transporting drums. Just look for one that is 23-24 inches deep to hold the drum.

https://www.harborfreight.com/500-l...ity-wheelchair-and-scooter-carrier-69687.html
This one is wider than the metal ones.
27 5/8" wide

Cheaper narrow one
https://www.harborfreight.com/500-lb-capacity-deluxe-cargo-carrier-66983.html

I can't believe I made it though this entire thread. Only took me couple months.
Thanks everyone for sharing. I avoided many mistakes due to this thread.
Seasoned and getting ready to smoke first fatty this weekend. Still weird saying I rolled and smoked a fatty. Plenty of funny looks when I tell people that. :laugh:

On Friday I loaded my UDS with two rib racks





2.5 hours later. Foiled them and laid on the grate.



4 hours total.



In the time they were on the grate I cooked some chicken breasts, corn and mushrooms on the lower grate.



The table



The ribs





Clean bones. Not fall off but I like it not so tender.

Every bit of that looks great! :clap: I am really wanting my corn to be ready now.

Wow that looks so great

I see you are using the Vortex without the deflector plate?

Does the Lavalock or such gasket (1/2" x 1/8") do a good job sealing the lid on a UDS? I'm trying to get a no leak seal on the lid.

Czarbecue said:

I see you are using the Vortex without the deflector plate?

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I use it on and off.
Ribs tend to drip a lot of liquid which builds up on the deflector and turns to hard burnt gunk.
With the deflector off it reaches the coal and turns to vapor which goes back to moist the meat on the outside.

If I'm making lean meat like chicken I use the deflector as it helps a lot with stabilizing the heat and distributing more evenly it in the barrel.
It actually gets hotter on the top grate then the lower one which is closer to the fire.

In this cook it was off during the hanging period and back on when I foiled and left the ribs on the grate, adding the chicken and vegetables.

Peter V said:

Does the Lavalock or such gasket (1/2" x 1/8") do a good job sealing the lid on a UDS? I'm trying to get a no leak seal on the lid.

Click to expand...

I use it. Attached to the lid. Works great.

OKAY. I've spent way too much time browsing this thread, and now I simply have to build myself an UDS. I do have a question tho, that I don't think has been answered exactly.

Has anyone purchased a new drum from either U-Line or McMaster-Carr? If so, does a Weber kettle lid fit it, and what type did you get (open top, closed top, with or without the 2" drain in the bottom, etc)?

I know all drums are slightly different. On some the lid fits perfect, some it takes some work, and some it actually fits the 'bottom' perfect but not the top.

I may be able to pick up a lightly used Kettle for cheap to use as an organ donor for a UDS build. For the drum itself, I'm leaning towards just buying a new one, hence the question. Both McMaster Carr and U-Line are local-ish to me so I could pick it up and save on shipping, but I doubt either of them want me wandering their warehouse checking the fit of the kettle lid...

Just explain your need to the floor manager, most are sympathetic to a good cause. And what better cause than BBQ? Easier yet, call the shop and explain, maybe they know the answer you seek.

I've found most drums that are open top (and some closed top). If you cut the top ring off. Most every Weber and knock off lid fits as long as you do a straight cut.