Ugly Drum Smoker

Butt-A-Bing! said:
Hey, so I thought I would give the UDS a try. I aquired a drum today but I am not sure about it. I have looked through most of the posts and haven't seen one like it. It has no rolling rings and I am wondering if it is a heavy enough gauge. I had to cut the lip off to get the Weber lid on it and it seems a little "flimsy" now. Anyone ever used this type before?
Click to expand...

If all it has to support is a Weber Kettle lid, it should be fine. Once a grate is in, it won't be able to distort much anyway.
 
I usually pick up on mod ideas pretty quick. I have no idea how you are going to use this bolt system to nest your wsm inside your drum.

I will be waiting for pics.

PB240005.jpg
 
Butt-A-Bing! said:
Hey, so I thought I would give the UDS a try. I aquired a drum today but I am not sure about it. I have looked through most of the posts and haven't seen one like it. It has no rolling rings and I am wondering if it is a heavy enough gauge. I had to cut the lip off to get the Weber lid on it and it seems a little "flimsy" now. Anyone ever used this type before?
Click to expand...


I just realized its a 35 inch tall drum! How am I gonna get 24" between the charcoal grate and a second shelf? :confused: Shoulda had a tape measure when I picked it up! Whats the shallowest charcoal ring I can get away with?

Chris
 
Cliff H. said:
I usually pick up on mod ideas pretty quick. I have no idea how you are going to use this bolt system to nest your wsm inside your drum.

I will be waiting for pics.

PB240005.jpg
Click to expand...

I'm mounting the large bolt with nut where you would normally put your grate bolts...the through hole is just to allow for rapid removal of the grate mounting bolts and provide clearance (no grate bolts in the way) for the WSM to fit inside the UDS. Pics to follow this weekend. :p
 
Butt-A-Bing! said:
I just realized its a 35 inch tall drum! How am I gonna get 24" between the charcoal grate and a second shelf? :confused: Shoulda had a tape measure when I picked it up! Whats the shallowest charcoal ring I can get away with?

Chris
Click to expand...

I use a 6 inch height on my rings and vary the diameters. I have a 16 inch diameter for long burns (8 hours or longer) and an 8 inch diameter for quick cooks (2-4 hours). The overall height with standoffs is 9-10 inches.
 
UDS kits

I recall seeing a website for a UDS kit. Anyone remember what it is?
Thanks Eric
 
If I remember right that kit is kinda pricey. Dig through the thread, pick out what you need for how you want your drum be, and save yourself a buncha $$$. Besides - you're gong to get a good feeling cooking on "your" smoker :biggrin:.l
 
UDS kit

I have a idea and need to know what they are offering in the kit for that price.
 
Well I made it all the way through before posting anything. I am just about done with my UDS and will post pics when I finish it with some tasty pron.

One thing that kept irritating me is the use of "food safe". From what I've seen food safe just means they have a liner in the drum. I'm sure that liner isn't food safe when it's burned. The only real food safe would be a stainless steel drum. I think a drum that had food in it or motor oil in it would be fine after a good burn. I've talked to people that used old heating oil barrels as pig cookers after a good burn.

Sorry for the rant. I just had to say it.
 
dresselbrew said:
Well I made it all the way through before posting anything. I am just about done with my UDS and will post pics when I finish it with some tasty pron.

One thing that kept irritating me is the use of "food safe". From what I've seen food safe just means they have a liner in the drum. I'm sure that liner isn't food safe when it's burned. The only real food safe would be a stainless steel drum. I think a drum that had food in it or motor oil in it would be fine after a good burn. I've talked to people that used old heating oil barrels as pig cookers after a good burn.

Sorry for the rant. I just had to say it.
Click to expand...

I agree totally. Burning plastic release some seriously toxic $hit. Like dioxins.
 
I'm a noobie smoker. Been wanting to smoke some meat for a while and never had the right equipment. This thread got me to make a drum. I've been really happy with it so far.

Did my 4th cook over the weekend. A short smoke with some Pork Steaks and some salsiccia (italian sausages).

My first cooks had been with kingsford briquettes. This last cook I decided to try some lump charcoal based on what I've read from others on this forum. I know it was a short burn but I couldn't be happier with the results compared with briquettes.

I liked the smell of the smoke and the smoke flavor of the meat better as compared to that of my earlier cooks. I am having a hard time putting it into words the difference between the 2 so I apologize for not describing it better.

I know opinions are like A-holes and I need to get a couple more cooks in with the lump, especially a couple longer cooks, but I was very happy with the results of lump charcoal on the drum from this cook.
 
Mix it with a bit of Kingsford for a longer burn.
 
chasmosis:

You live in an area blessed with an abundance of natural woods for smoking. So try some, A little bit to start and see where it goes.

I only use natural wood. My UDS has never seen lump or briquettes. If I want less smoke, I use milder woods and/or mixes of different woods.
 
dresselbrew said:
Well I made it all the way through before posting anything. I am just about done with my UDS and will post pics when I finish it with some tasty pron.

One thing that kept irritating me is the use of "food safe". From what I've seen food safe just means they have a liner in the drum. I'm sure that liner isn't food safe when it's burned. The only real food safe would be a stainless steel drum. I think a drum that had food in it or motor oil in it would be fine after a good burn. I've talked to people that used old heating oil barrels as pig cookers after a good burn.

Sorry for the rant. I just had to say it.
Click to expand...

I use only unlined food grade drums that contained olive oil. I believe what is meant by "food safe" is that the drum (lined or unlined) did not contain any toxic chemicals. That said...there are folks (as you said) that use drums that contained motor oil. Not a problem IMO...so long as they're properly cleaned. :p
 
From what I can tell, the linings used in drums to make them "food safe" for storage purposes are either epoxy-phenolic blend linings or straight phenolic linings.
 
I didn't think they would put food in an unlined barrel unless it was stainless. I guess olive oil would be fine though since it wouldn't let the steel rust like other foods with water in them would.

Burning this drum out is a pain in the a$$. I got it cherry red and the inside is still orange like the liner. There isn't any smoke from the inside anymore because the liner seems to have burned as much as it can. I tried to use a wire wheel on a drill but it is taking a long time to get through to bare metal. I would venture to guess it's fine now but I'm not sure if I want to let it go. Grrr!!!
 
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