E
EatRBBQ
Guest
Figured I'm new to these forums, I best post some quality Q pron and say howdy!
Been fiddling with the Ugly Drum Smoker concept this winter, decided to finally dig in and make one, here's a small part of the story:
January 2010:
Acquired a non-lined 55 gallon drum. These were used for dry materials: this one was plastic beads. Smooth side doesn't allow for a lot of modification without losing rigidity, otherwise pretty standard measurements compared to similar drums.
Non-lined steel saves so much work and effort. You can even see where just finger prints have started to rust. Basically measure, drill, cut, clean up, sand, paint, season burn - and it's ready for cooking.
Home assembled, No welding, used metal banding, nuts and bolts, steel straps, and an 18" Deep Dish Aluminum Pizza Pan.
This one has been through 5 burns nearly full with 10# plus charcoal plus wood chunks. None of the banding or materials appears to be suffering from the temperatures.
Charcoal grate is the typical 13.5" "7440" replacement Weber grate. 1/2" flattened/expanded, 2 pieces 6" x 24" Holds approx. 14# lit-grayed charcoal.
Sanded, Painted, seasoned. Using business card sized magnets for Air-intake control. K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Stupid
Both UDS I've built have cooked at 230 degrees on a 10 to 12# load of lit/grayed Kingsford with 5 to 6 chunks of hickory for as long as 10 hours without dropping temperature.
Used "U" bolts for cooking grate supports. Helped add rigidity to the smooth sided drums and avoid snags when you have to dig in there deep.
Set up for 2 cooking levels - this UDS's domed lid isn't ready yet. I have a hinged lid I'm modifying for the job in the works.
The 2 UDS I've built so far. On a lucky pull I found a Weber Kettle donor for $20.00 for the second drum.
Both have very stable controlled temperatures with or without food loaded. With sealed system, air control, the cook chamber is always very moist, and the charcoal/wood load burns low and slow. I don't use any liquid pan or tuning plate, the lower cooking grate is positioned high enough above the charcoal basket to avoid burning.
The juices from meats, your spices, and the rendered fats drip right into the charcoal fire. Because of the controlled amount of air flowing into the burn area that grease never has a chance to flare. In my opinion it all vaporizes instead and recycles through the cook/smoking process going right back into your meats with the smoke. It adds a flame-broiled flavor to everything without the meat burning.
Updates to follow
Been fiddling with the Ugly Drum Smoker concept this winter, decided to finally dig in and make one, here's a small part of the story:
January 2010:
Acquired a non-lined 55 gallon drum. These were used for dry materials: this one was plastic beads. Smooth side doesn't allow for a lot of modification without losing rigidity, otherwise pretty standard measurements compared to similar drums.
Non-lined steel saves so much work and effort. You can even see where just finger prints have started to rust. Basically measure, drill, cut, clean up, sand, paint, season burn - and it's ready for cooking.
Home assembled, No welding, used metal banding, nuts and bolts, steel straps, and an 18" Deep Dish Aluminum Pizza Pan.
This one has been through 5 burns nearly full with 10# plus charcoal plus wood chunks. None of the banding or materials appears to be suffering from the temperatures.
Charcoal grate is the typical 13.5" "7440" replacement Weber grate. 1/2" flattened/expanded, 2 pieces 6" x 24" Holds approx. 14# lit-grayed charcoal.
Sanded, Painted, seasoned. Using business card sized magnets for Air-intake control. K.I.S.S. Keep It Simple Stupid
Both UDS I've built have cooked at 230 degrees on a 10 to 12# load of lit/grayed Kingsford with 5 to 6 chunks of hickory for as long as 10 hours without dropping temperature.
Used "U" bolts for cooking grate supports. Helped add rigidity to the smooth sided drums and avoid snags when you have to dig in there deep.
Set up for 2 cooking levels - this UDS's domed lid isn't ready yet. I have a hinged lid I'm modifying for the job in the works.
The 2 UDS I've built so far. On a lucky pull I found a Weber Kettle donor for $20.00 for the second drum.
Both have very stable controlled temperatures with or without food loaded. With sealed system, air control, the cook chamber is always very moist, and the charcoal/wood load burns low and slow. I don't use any liquid pan or tuning plate, the lower cooking grate is positioned high enough above the charcoal basket to avoid burning.
The juices from meats, your spices, and the rendered fats drip right into the charcoal fire. Because of the controlled amount of air flowing into the burn area that grease never has a chance to flare. In my opinion it all vaporizes instead and recycles through the cook/smoking process going right back into your meats with the smoke. It adds a flame-broiled flavor to everything without the meat burning.
Updates to follow
