Ugly Drum Smoker

tuliku · Sep 8, 2011

Drilled all the holes around:

Made a small hole in the middle and put the red hot coals in.

Within 15 minutes, it went up to 240 F.
Added also two small pieces of applewood:

tuliku · Sep 8, 2011

Half hour later at 280 F

= edit =
Another half hour later at 320 F

Me so happy, looks like it works properly now, but still, any comments / advice for improving are very welcome !

== edit ==
Another half hour later still at 320 F.
I guess this is the max temp then
To try to get it hotter, i closed 1 of the 3 pipes. The daisy lid was all the time closed.

mike5150 · Sep 8, 2011

tuliku said:
Half hour later at 280 F

= edit =
Another half hour later at 320 F
Me so happy, looks like it works properly now, but still, any comments / advice for improving are very welcome !

== edit ==
Another half hour later still at 320 F.
I guess this is the max temp then
To try to get it hotter, i closed 1 of the 3 pipes. The daisy lid was all the time closed.

Nice UDS Lets see how it cooks

Your basket that's not galvanized steel IS IT? Also have you checked your thermometer in some boiling water?

tuliku · Sep 8, 2011

mike5150 said:
Nice UDS Lets see how it cooks

Your basket that's not galvanized steel IS IT? Also have you checked your thermometer in some boiling water?

Euhm... Actually, i don't know.. the bottom of one of those cheap grills.. When i pushed my drill in it, the paint or whatever it is, jumps off.
The sides is made from 2 layers of fence material. I used a flamethrower on it, it will get red hot, but not melt away. Further it's quite flexible.
Is that a bad thing ?

expatpig · Sep 8, 2011

Uh oh, the galvanized police are patrolling!

Seachaser · Sep 8, 2011

I thought all outdoor fencing was galvanized. (Guess there is no such thing as indoor fencing?:-D)

hankll · Sep 8, 2011

Here is what I did

coewar said:
Hi guys.. just browsing and saw some interesting maybe unanswered questions.

hankll - burn it out! especially the one that had antifreeze. Clean it with something like dish soap at least, or something like alcohol-based cleaner.

I did go ahead and burned it out, mainly because I wanted the exterior paint removed, as well as to remove any of the residue of the chemical. Incidentally, this was oak and bark from my firewood. It burned for about 5 hours. and cooled completely while I was at work. My guess - yea, it is a very hot temp!

hankll & Drumbum77 - Then BURN it out at a high temp, close lid, should do like a good 400 degrees for an hour at least? Or just let it finish the fuel. (any kind of wood helps create lots of heat. Be careful! not too much!)

Then using my buffer with a wire brush normally used on a bench grinder, I scrubbed it out, which removed any of the soot from the fire and any remaining paint. Then I rinsed it out and let it dry. I didn't think to oil it but did do a smoke of some ribs for a trial run. Unfortunately, I failed to remember to take pictures of the grub!

My friend did this with his drum using olive oil and it came it amazing. Looks as if he carmalized it inside.

Well, its all done now and sitting pretty beside my deck for instant use..

mike5150 · Sep 8, 2011

expatpig said:
Uh oh, the galvanized police are patrolling!

Not policing just asking! It's his UDS I am sure he has all the info on galvanize parts

tuliku · Sep 8, 2011

Galvanized parts are bad for using....?

traderbbc · Sep 8, 2011

tuliku said:
Galvanized parts are bad for using....?

If its galvanized and I am not the galv police I would not use it and most likely it is if its outdoor fencing as the outdoor fencing usually is treated so it doesn't rust. Now does that mean anything will happen to you based on how high the temp gets in a smoker, probably not. If you were welding it thats a different story and if you used galvanized bolts dropping them in vinegar works, takes a few days but it works. I used zinc bolts for my basket stainless for the cooking grates but I did drop the zinc bolts in the vinegar for a few days, I was just being cautious. I used expanded metal which most on here do, if you have a home depot they have a 12x12 piece here anyway for 10 bucks. I took my skill saw and cut it in half so I had a basket 6" high had to bolt the 2 pieces together as my charcoal grate is 13.5 diameter I think, you have enough to have about a 1" gap from the side of the edge. I just used ties from copper wiring to attach it to the grate, works fine and half full of charcoal last weekend doing ribs it burned better than 5 hours and more if I had not shut it down. Not an expert by any means, I figured drilling the wholes would solve your problem one picture looks like you didn't drill all around the edge if you didn't I would do that. If you get to 320 not much would be cooked above that if anything, its a smoker not a grill.

tuliku · Sep 9, 2011

Hmm, so i'm safe with the galvanized fence part ?
Tomorrow i am organizing a party and i want to use my uds, but not kill/poisen anyone...

The holes in the bottom part are all around, i just made a pic halfway as well to show the difference from before and after.

Here in the Czech Republic we don't have something like a home depot. In Holland we do, but i don't want to drive halfway trough Europe for a piece of metal

Today after work i will try to find something else for the basket..

What kinda bolts would be the best to use, stainless or something else ?
I used the standard ones, but no clue what their made off, not everything is well described here in this country.

Thanks

Seachaser · Sep 9, 2011

I did a lot of research by googling zinc poisoning a few weeks ago. (Galvanized contains zinc) But I also found that a lot of things have cancer causing agents that we cook on such as propane, charcoal, wood, teflon, etc., but that zinc stuff is bad news.

tuliku · Sep 9, 2011

OK, thanks for the heads up. Guess my evening plans changed now to finding metal for a new basket..

traderbbc · Sep 10, 2011

tuliku said:
OK, thanks for the heads up. Guess my evening plans changed now to finding metal for a new basket..

If you read thru all of this thread which is a long endeavor on the bolt and zinc issue. As many have pointed out the temp that zinc would be an issue would render your food looking like charcoal ash. As I pointed out I used a Walmart 22" grill for the lid and parts for my smoker. I made an error when I told you my grate was 13.5 its actually 18.5 I believe because I used the grate from the Walmart grill which if you read the parts list is zinc coated by the way. As I said before it the zinc was an issue I am sure someone would have sued Walmart over it by now.

If you can find stainless bolts for your grates fine but my two sense is don't worry about your most likely zinc coated bolts you used for the basket. As I said before if your that concerned put them in a cup of vinegar and let them sit for a day or so, that includes your nuts, washers and bolts, you will see after a day or so they will turn black and start rusting because the vinegar removes the zinc coating. For some reason the bolts rust faster probably less of a zinc coating. Zinc looks more shiny than galvanized doubt your bolts and washers are galv but they could be but most in the bins in your hardware store are zinc. The vinegar works, I usued a plastic clear 16 ounce cup to soak my bolts and you can see the vinegar working.

The expanded metal may be hard to find over where you are unless you have a welding shop nearby and they would have some as they use it all the time.

Do your research but most of the issues on zinc and galvanized fumes involved welding which obviously would be a temperature your smoker would never see ever as it would not be possible to get your smoker or grate that hot. And as a poster said to me once you smoke your first meal the grease is going to cover those bolts anyway.

I have smoked 4 or 5 times with my vinegar cleaned bolts and I have not had an issue. I did use stainless for the cooking grates but if I could not have found them I would not have worried about the zinc bolts there either.

I am not a chemist so take that in consideration but there are links in this thread to articles stating the zinc issue is basically nonsense unless you were welding but its your decision.

tuliku · Sep 10, 2011

I was lucky !
I found after half day searching a shop where they sell all kinds of metal...
And i found what you guys call "expanded metal"

Now everything is ready in time, in a few hours the grill party starts, got 2.5 kg of uruguay steak, some chickens, and ribs waiting for them

Bye for now and thanks for all the advice !

SmokerKing · Sep 10, 2011

tuliku said:
I was lucky !
I found after half day searching a shop where they sell all kinds of metal...
And i found what you guys call "expanded metal"

Now everything is ready in time, in a few hours the grill party starts, got 2.5 kg of uruguay steak, some chickens, and ribs waiting for them

Bye for now and thanks for all the advice !

what is that ? 2' tall?

traderbbc · Sep 11, 2011

tuliku said:
I was lucky !
I found after half day searching a shop where they sell all kinds of metal...
And i found what you guys call "expanded metal"

Now everything is ready in time, in a few hours the grill party starts, got 2.5 kg of uruguay steak, some chickens, and ribs waiting for them

Bye for now and thanks for all the advice !

Let us know how dinner came out and good job.

tuliku · Sep 11, 2011

Smokerking, something like that. But it is ok, it got destroyed the next day after the party, cause a car who parked at our drive way didn't see it and crushed it..
So i got myself a new task, making another one during the week, but this time only half size

So, the grilling / smoking party was excellent. We used an additional small standard grill for the vegetables and fish, and the UDS for the steaks and chicken. It burned very well for more then 6 hours, with about 4 KG of briquettes. I guess thanks to the briquettes, temperatur went up to a smooth 300 F.

I asked all the ladies at the party to pose with my UDS, as a thank you for all you guys here for the great support and advice given

Thanks for getting me on the right way, more success pics will follow

Greetings from Prague

Carbon · Sep 11, 2011

^^^ The money shot! Glad to see you all had fun!

lrh · Sep 12, 2011

:thumb:Czech chicks!

Ugly Drum Smoker

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Got Wood.

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