Ugly Drum Smoker

OferL said:

A very nice innovative build.
I'm curious about the pizza comment. What does that mean?

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that much intake will allow for high heat cooking

OferL said:

A very nice innovative build.
I'm curious about the pizza comment. What does that mean?

Click to expand...

Thanks.
Yes alot of folks like to do high heat sears and cook pizza above 500*
I was able to hit 600* using just used coals. Without using lump or wood sticks.
Using lump and wood sticks. This little unit should be able to hit 700*. Once a pizza stone is set on the grate. Full open intakes and exhaust.
Another advantage I see is. Easy mobility. The unit is short enough you won't ruin your clothes leaning over/into the drum to grab the coal basket. Shorter lift. 2 grates for cooking when required.
Sure you can not hang full racks of BB ribs. But 1/2 racks, chickens etc no problem.
I'm really liking this little drum. I might have to build one for myself. With the drum top firepit ( had to buy a fire place grate). I have $300 total invested. Could be done a bit cheaper. But building for a friend and being her first drum. I wanted as much new as possible. I also bought welding gloves, chimney starter cubes, chimney etc. Everything needed to cook except coal/wood chunks.
First cook/break-in fatties. While those were smoking I boiled up some brats in beer/peppers/onions/garlic. Grilled those after the fatties were done.





Thanks for looking.
Side note. I am not sure why this little unit uses/requires more intake and exhaust to run 275* than any of my full size drums or my horizontal drum. It does use less coals/wood then full size.

build pics

More pics from my build.... vent cover is next.

couple more pics of vent / latch / hinge

looking good meridian, looking GOOD

I cant believe I didn't post this here.

this is the graph of a 26 hour pork butt I did, just for giggles.

I filled the firebox half full with briquettes. firebox is 12"high, 17" diameter.

after 26 hours(22hours at 180°, 4.5hours at 200°) it still had almost half the lump charcoal left unburned

cooking direct over the coals is VERY efficient. I wouldn't be surprised if its as efficient as, or more efficient than , a kamado with a plate setter.


Heatermeter kept temps ROCK SOLID

el luchador said:

I cant believe I didn't post this here.

this is the graph of a 26 hour pork butt I did, just for giggles.

I filled the firebox half full with briquettes. firebox is 12"high, 17" diameter.
26 hrs and you only opened the lid twice. That's character.

after 26 hours(22hours at 180°, 4.5hours at 200°) it still had almost half the lump charcoal left unburned

cooking direct over the coals is VERY efficient. I wouldn't be surprised if its as efficient as, or more efficient than , a kamado with a plate setter.


Heatermeter kept temps ROCK SOLID

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UDS is some kind of magic. I see this behavior with my tmp app every time I use it.
26 hrs and you only opened the lid twice. That's character:thumb:

OferL said:

UDS is some kind of magic. I see this behavior with my tmp app every time I use it.
26 hrs and you only opened the lid twice. That's character:thumb:

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Thank you and I agree. " UDS is some kind of magic" :rockon:

I moved the meat to the top grate so I could probe through the exhaust. I was doing an experiment and wanted to keep the temps as stable as possible.

most of the time I wasn't even around to open the lid. lets see, I slept, then went to work, then went to the gym all while this thing was going. Its great to have a set and forget cooker.

the one big thing I noticed from cooking that long is that the smoke went deeper into the meat than ever before. not more smoke, just deeper smoke if that makes sense at all.

Hello:

I joined (accepted to) the site yesterday and have signed-up for a subscription this morning. I, as many of you, own/use several pieces of outdoor grilling/smoking equipment. My drum smoker is a made from a stainless steel drum with the Big Poppa conversion kit. Since I cannot conduct searches here yet, I have a question and I hope this is the appropriate location.

The bottom-side of my drum lid gets a build-up of a black, greasy, tar-like yuk (best description I can give it). We built a smoker for a friend who used a mild steel drum with the same Big Poppa kit. The bottom side of his lid does not get the yuk build-up. Both drums get used a lot (butts, chicken, ribs, prime rib and brisket). Do you think I am getting the build-up because of the difference in the medal of the drums or is the under the lid build-up considered normal? Other than scrape it with a putty knife I have no clue how to remove it.

I have found the drum to be a very useful and excellent smoker. For me, it requires just the right amount of attention - not set it and forget it but also not demanding once it gets to tempt. I have cooked on it for 20 hours with single fill of charcoal.

Thanks,

Ken

I have a regular steel drum and I get sweaty drippings when it is cold out... or if I am running a temp below 275. From my experience, a higher temp would be able to vaporize most of the moisture buildup.

What are your temps? Any water pans?

I typically try to control the drum tempt around 250, + or - 20 degrees, for most of my cooks and I have never used a water pan. I have never grilled on the drum or had it above 300 as I have other equipment for high tempt cooking/grilling. Maybe I will just light her up, raise the coal basket to the high level and give her a good high tempt burn-out this coming weekend.

I would like to add that I also own a Grill Dome and Pellet Grill which I have and do infrequently use for low and slow cooks. Honestly, for no other reason, I just prefer the taste of the food from the drum.

Thanks again,

Ken

Bigfish8 said:

Hello:

I joined (accepted to) the site yesterday and have signed-up for a subscription this morning. I, as many of you, own/use several pieces of outdoor grilling/smoking equipment. My drum smoker is a made from a stainless steel drum with the Big Poppa conversion kit. Since I cannot conduct searches here yet, I have a question and I hope this is the appropriate location.

The bottom-side of my drum lid gets a build-up of a black, greasy, tar-like yuk (best description I can give it). We built a smoker for a friend who used a mild steel drum with the same Big Poppa kit. The bottom side of his lid does not get the yuk build-up. Both drums get used a lot (butts, chicken, ribs, prime rib and brisket). Do you think I am getting the build-up because of the difference in the medal of the drums or is the under the lid build-up considered normal? Other than scrape it with a putty knife I have no clue how to remove it.

I have found the drum to be a very useful and excellent smoker. For me, it requires just the right amount of attention - not set it and forget it but also not demanding once it gets to tempt. I have cooked on it for 20 hours with single fill of charcoal.

Thanks,

Ken

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Look for this at the bottom of the page.

You can search the whole site from there.

dadsr4 said:

Look for this at the bottom of the page.

You can search the whole site from there.

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He won't see it yet. You have to have an X amount of posts to search. I think it is like 25 or 50, I can't remember. This prevents newly signed peeps from spamming the board.

Czarbecue said:

He won't see it yet. You have to have an X amount of posts to search. I think it is like 25 or 50, I can't remember. This prevents newly signed peeps from spamming the board.

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I've used the search bar without signing in on someone else's computer a number of times to get a recipe for them.

dadsr4 said:

I've used the search bar without signing in on someone else's computer a number of times to get a recipe for them.

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Nope, not available to me yet. Hopefully soon as I did pay for a subscription this morning.

Thanks,

el luchador said:

looking good meridian, looking GOOD

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Thanks man I appreciate the kind words...

el luchador said:

I cant believe I didn't post this here.

this is the graph of a 26 hour pork butt I did, just for giggles.

I filled the firebox half full with briquettes. firebox is 12"high, 17" diameter.

after 26 hours(22hours at 180°, 4.5hours at 200°) it still had almost half the lump charcoal left unburned

cooking direct over the coals is VERY efficient. I wouldn't be surprised if its as efficient as, or more efficient than , a kamado with a plate setter.


Heatermeter kept temps ROCK SOLID

Click to expand...

WOW !!!! that is nuts.....

Any tips to keep the lid from sticking to the drum? During a cook I shut it to prevent any leaks. This creates a really tight seal. With the size and weight of my 110 gallon lid, it’s like using all my might to lift King Arthur’s sword. Most of the time I have to use a step stool for additional leverage.

Maybe a gasket on the rim of the lid?

Tweak/bend out the bottom outside edge of the lid slightly. All the way around. Just enough so the lid still sits firmly on the drum but the rolled edge isn't so tight causing your problem.

When I still had my flat top UDS (sold it -miss it), sometimes I had to use the end of a pair of tongs to break the seal. I loved that unit- and wish like hell my new stainless one had been open top. I like the room the weber lid gives, but would trade it in a heartbeat for a snug fitting lid.

If you want it ez, open the lip a bit like Ebijack suggested. I might opt to rig some sort of seal break on the leading edge of the lid- would easy to do.