Ugly Drum Smoker

[sbramm]

Originally Posted by Skidder

As Mark said easy on the drinking till it's done then party away. Remember K.I.S.S.

gonna have to disagree on the beer consumption there skidder!

i call that "creativity nectar" that when taken in moderation, keeps the mind open and muscles relaxed. after the build, a little more helps with the "bbq stare".....

agree on the K.I.S.S. approach as that has works for me. 3 valves, weber or flat lid, one or two levels and some kind of charcoal basket and....the must have.... bottle opener attached. the bottle opener alone increased temp stability by at least 10%!!!!

cheers,

scott

[h20loo]

Originally Posted by jetfxr27

Over 40! Wow thats a lot. I too am about to ramp up a production, I work with over 400 guys and most of them want one. What are some tips for mass producing for a BIG group of friends. What would you do differently or whats an easier way to to some tasks?

We ocasionally do a big brush fire to clean up the back end of a farm. I will throw 6 or 7 barrels on before I light the brush. You can't get within 100 feet when the fire is going but the end result is barrels that only need a pressure wash and seasoning. The lids are cleaned with a grinder. I have built them for friends, drank beer while coworkers built them in my garage and now my boys and their friends have started. I still drink their beer as a royalty!
I'm always tempted to reinvent the wheel but I have a style that works and I stick to it. Like Bubba our barrels need to perform in misserable cold weather and hot humid days so when we have something that works we stay with it.
I still haven't found a source for new barrels but that would be the best for city guys. The less you need to buy the better- so I'm a big intake hole/magnet guy. The guys with all the taps are tinkerers. I can't help but think these guys have a bunch of taps in a row on their garden hose but if it works for them then they should stay with it. The last thing you want is a friend or customer busting your balls because they are having trouble with a barrel-KISS becomes even more important when you share your hobby.

[Skidder]

Scott I only meant take it easy on the suds when building the first one! After that well.............

[jetfxr27]

Originally Posted by Drifter

I have gotten a lot of good info out of this thread so here is my $.02 worth. Hopefully it'll help someone out. When I built my UDS I couldn't find a fire grate for 18" grill, so I used one for the 22.5" grill which makes my fire basket 18" in diameter. The problem was that I couldn't find anything that size to use for an ash pan, untill this afternoon. I was at the Dollar General Store down the road and spotted this 18" throwaway grill. It was marked $12.00, not too bad, so I grabbed one. When I checked out it was on end of summer clearance for $3.60!!! SWEET!! I grabbed another for a spare. It fits my oversized charcoal basket perfect!! If anybody else has had this problem I hope this helps.

Thanks again, Nabbed the last 4 in my area! Even better the blue ones were only $3.00!

[1FUNVET]

Originally Posted by jetfxr27

Thanks again, Nabbed the last 4 in my area! Even better the blue ones were only $3.00!

Thanks the price here as well. Bought 3 cause they were on sale-helping the economy.

[Drifter]

Originally Posted by h20loo

There are lots of regular contributors here since almost day one who have shaped this thread. They can be crusty sometimes but then you read back a few pages and you find them busting their balls helping someone- guess we all have good and bad days.

Yeah, you're absolutly right. I guess I just took it to personal when Norco pointed out my repost, probably because of some unsolicited criticism he gave me in another thread. But having said that I owe him a big thanks because it was his build thread and videos that I used to build mine.

Originally Posted by jetfxr27

Thanks again, Nabbed the last 4 in my area! Even better the blue ones were only $3.00!

Glad I could help you out!!

[Drifter]

Originally Posted by 1FUNVET

Thanks the price here as well. Bought 3 cause they were on sale-helping the economy.

Good to see that my post is stimulating the economy!! I think I'll grab a few more if they still have any when I get home this weekend, if I get home this weekend!!(I drive a truck so I'm gone all week!)

[highchief]

hello everyone,
1st post here. I've been reading away here on this thread and all the info is great. I appreciate the ingenuity that it took to make something so cheap work so well, yet it's so simple.
One thing I have noticed in a few posts are the comments regarding people being concerned about visit from the fire department on the barrel burn day. I live in a condo in a thickly settled area and was concerned about the neighbors calling the FD since they are all significantly less redneck than I. So I called Fire Dept. and they said, contained fire is no problem, just give us a call on the day you're doing it so we don't have to respond to a false alarm. the proactive approach can pay off.

cheers & happy grilling!

[Skidder]

highchief welcome to the insanity. You picked a good smoker to build. You'll love how easy they are to use. Please post pics of your build. Good day to burn in Ma. with all the rain so get out there and get it started. Your right in the heart of the New England BBQ Society competition circuit area. If you get a chance join us for more info.

[crundle]

Here are some pics of my first smoker that I built recently. I bought the drum and got it sandblasted for $50, then painted it up and oiled the inside.

For intakes I drilled 3 x 1" holes, and control the airflow using fridge magnets. The lid has 8 x 1/2" holes and by having one intake open, one closed and the third one half way, I can keep a nice stable 230 or so temp during the cook.

So far I have only cooked three beer can chickens in the smoker, using hickory chunks on top of briquettes. The flavour is incredible, and now I am keen on getting into some ribs at the next use.

The forum has been incredibly useful in working out the design, and it was great being able to draw on others experiences to avoid any pitfalls.




cheers,

Crundle

[h20loo]

Crundle- that looks like the perfect simple barrel. I bet it will turn out lots of Q with very little babysitting.
I'm curious about the bolt head on the side of the barrel?
Could you edit your last post and throw an "enter" between the last two pictures- some peoples work computers won't allow them to see the third picture.

[QuietOne]

Originally Posted by h20loo

.... I'm curious about the bolt head on the side of the barrel? .....

My exact thought too? What's the bolt for?

[highchief]

Originally Posted by QuietOne

My exact thought too? What's the bolt for?

you can see from the other pics that he has the cooking deck mounted down by the first rib in the barrel. That's the deck mounting bolt.

[Rich Parker]

Nice drum Crundle!

I am not sure your thermo in your lid will give you an accurate temp with the cooking grate so low. You might be off over 50 degrees depending on how long the stem is.

[Old Hippie]

Originally Posted by Drifter

Good to see that my post is stimulating the economy!!

It did? Who's economy?

"MADE IN CHINA"