BBQGeekess's 30 Gallon UDS Build Thread

I just measured the diameter of the charcoal grate for the weber 22.5 kettle and it is at 17".

What is the diameter of the jumbo joe / weber 18.5 cooking grate? is it 17" as well or larger?
 
So I finished installing the other sliding vent and adding the rear hole for nipple/cap. Now I just need to remove the two vents temporarily (unscrew them) and burn out this drum (I am assuming I can use some old non treated cedar/pine fencing?)

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Yup. I used pallet wood which is mostly pine.
 
I'd probally just scrub it with soap n water and scrub brush on a stick since it's unlined and only has rust inhibitor on it then finish building it and move on to "Seasoning" It.
 
I think I had a drum similar to yours, in terms of the rust inhibitor lining. It was like a thin film. Torched it all over (on the inside only) with my weedburner and the lining vaporized quickly in a few minutes. I knew it was gone because there was a little rust on the inside the next day.
 
I can't believe I'm actually building the UDS after so many months of reading about it, watching videos, and wanting one really bad. I am so very excited!

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SmittyJonz said:
I'd probally just scrub it with soap n water and scrub brush on a stick since it's unlined and only has rust inhibitor on it then finish building it and move on to "Seasoning" It.
Click to expand...

Oops, too late, lol :) I had a bunch of old rotten fence pickets to burn up anyways so it worked out well. All the nasty chemicals were burnt off from the exterior paint--smelled pretty bad.

I am thinking about seasoning inside and out and not painting it or I might get it powder coated with high temp powder--I know a guy that can powder coat affordably.
 
You will love your new uds.

I want a mini uds to go with my big one.
 
Good call on the burn geek... One of these days i might get my drum high temp powder coated, they'll charge me around 80 dollars to sand blast and coat it. Mine is inside the garage unless it's out smoking so i don't know... ugh decisions decisions.
 
The drum burnt out nicely and I started it up using a weber chimney starter as temporary fire basket (removed the plastic handle). (Sat it on a couple fire bricks.)

Started seasoning the bare metal on the outside with flax seed oil--I'll keep doing this until that oil / carbon is on really thick. (Gonna try doing this instead of painting it.)

Used my weber 22" kettle lid temporarily (hello Mushroom UDS). Vents wide open it approached 600 degrees F. The vents worked well when they got hot (maintained their shape)--I really think these 25 cent aluminum flashing vents are gonna work out well and last.

Gonna go buy some hardware to sit weber 17" charcoal grate on. There will be 3/4" gap around the outside edge but this should be fine. It's better than the lightweight 17.5" cooking grate that has these handles that get in the way. These thick charcoal grates will last a long time as cooking grates since the seasoning protects them.
 
Installed a 17" weber charcoal grate as cooking grate, using 5/16 stainless steel bolts, nuts & acorn nuts. Started up the drum with the weber chimney starter as the fire basket (minus the plastic handle). BBQ'ing a chicken on it right now hot & fast: 340F. Using the 22" weber lid. Installed my weber q temp gauge under the grate as well--drilled the hole while the drum was hot even lol.. and quickly installed it as my hand was getting pretty hot :)
 
Finally got the bungholes open on the drum lid--using an old screwdriver as a punch and a hammer (a tip a couple brethren told me). I got the smaller bunghole off using a bare ratchet wrench.

Switched to the drum lid mid cook. Here's a pic of it now:

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So the things that changed since last photo is that it has been burned out, seasoned with flax seed oil on the exterior, grate installed, thermo installed, and just now the drum lid put on. It's running at 350F with 7/8 hole in back fully open and one of the others half open. (I have the remaining one completely closed off.)

Oh btw, what I really like about the lid I got with this drum is that it is really convex (dome-like). This will keep sooty moisture from dripping on the meat :)
 
SmittyJonz said:
Now you gotta name it. :grin:
Click to expand...

Lol my boyfriend just told me I should name it Smokey. But I need a name that has a universal element to it since this can do it all: smoke, grill, rotisserie etc..

EDIT: okay her name is Emma (which is Latin for "Universal").
 
Nice build! I doubt you'll have a problem with the flashing ( unless you get a giant grease fire for a long time) I've never had a problem with mine.
As for a way to sear/grill, get some more of the 1ftX2ft expanded metal from HD, cut with tin snips the length wise into 3 to 4 inchs tall, bend into a simple circle and bolt together or weld. Make the circle a bit smaller than your second rack dimension and just lay that on top of your second rank, light a full weber starter with coals, dump into that circle (with unlit coals depending on how high of temp and how much you want to cook). Put in your top rack and go at it with your bottom vents wide open. Works great. This one has been thru many many cooks and still going strong with. Also I started with a 2 inch bottom of the barrel hole with a slide adjustment. Used 1/2 of a soup can with holes in the sides of the can to let air in and no ashes to fall out of the smoker inside covering that 2 inch bottom hole. When doing long cooks, the ash would cover the holes in the can and snuff the fire out. So I went to side vents. Never had another problem.
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I built the fire basket (13.5" diameter) with 5 5/8" tall (42.5" long) 9 gauge 3/4" diamond flattened expanded steel. (Bought an angle grinder for $10 at Harbor Freight and a $2 cutting disc for it.) Got the expanded metal 2'x4' sheet from local metal supply shop for $25.

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Added a 2nd (lower grate) as well for optional diffuser/drip pan or to place the fire basket for grilling.

Cooking with her now (some rib tips I got on sale for $2.27/lb), using the new basket and notice the extra set of acorn nuts under the top set :)

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HeSmellsLikeSmoke said:
Nive work. Are you going the lift the basket up with bolt legs?
Click to expand...

I am not going to put any legs on the basket itself, because I designed it to be able to optionally sit on the lower grate just below the cooking grate for high heat grilling (my UDS can get way over 600F if I want--plenty of ventilation).

I need to make a fire basket stand 2 1/4" tall (intake vents are at 2" from base), that the fire basket will sit on down there.

Right now I have the fire basket sitting on 2 fire bricks which are around 2" thick.
 
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