Ugly Drum Smoker

Basket update with diffuser holder

So seems my insertion of a firebox in my UDS is not common, I did it so if I wanted to use regular wood pieces I could but it never occured that the flavor would change from cooking directly over the coals. Whats the difference as I just made this and have nothing to compare.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=153204

up to page 450. I think you guys are adding pages faster than I can read Arghhhhh.

Slow cooking deserves slow reading.

I made the charcoal basket as most typically do with the charcoal grate from. 22.5" weber and expanded metal. I also got the lid from a 30 gallon drum and welded it to the bottom of the basket to help with ash clean up. Being totally frugal or without any mechanical skills you can do the same with a metal milk crate to use as you charcoal basket.

New guy here. I wanted to build a UDS and thought I'd practice on an old trash can first, but the wife didn't want me to mess up the trash can, so I thought I'd try it out on the neighbor's trash can while he wasn't home. Boy was I glad I didn't try it on mine, it made quite a mess. Big glob of melted green plastic in the middle of his back yard.Was he ever mad when he got home! Told him I didn't see nuthin'. Maybe I'll have to read through this thread and see what I did wrong? :wink:

First time out of the barn with four racks of spare ribs. 3-2-1 method and they came out great! Used my turkey roasting rack upside down which held all the ribs. Friends said I should go into the rib business. (Don't think so myself but they were good!) No diffuser and got just the right amount of char on the underside. Got a little hot in the middle of the first cook (3) up to about 240. Messed with the valve for the rest of the time but managed to keep it in the 220-230 range.

airspace

foam2 said:

I made the charcoal basket as most typically do with the charcoal grate from. 22.5" weber and expanded metal. I also got the lid from a 30 gallon drum and welded it to the bottom of the basket to help with ash clean up. Being totally frugal or without any mechanical skills you can do the same with a metal milk crate to use as you charcoal basket. View attachment 75536View attachment 75537

Click to expand...

You need some airspace under that milk crate - trust me.

Mmm Bacon said:

...

Click to expand...

I just wanted to say that I'm shocked that nobody had this user name until now. Seems so obvious in hindsight.

I know on the milk crate - I just set it on the lid for reference. The finished charcoal basket i have has about 2.5" between the charcoal grate and the 30 gallon drum lid.

What is an Ugly Drum Smoker?

Norcoredneck said:

What is an Ugly Drum Smoker?

Click to expand...

I think its a special trash can that you use to smoke dead Critters and other things on!! LOL :grin: :icon_smile_tongue: :biggrin1:

This thread is currently being indexed at the bottom of THIS Thread

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=153029&highlight=pitmaster+uds

I am up to 2008 and 2009 will be out this weekend. I am doing it by subject divded by year. I do it by year for two reasons. One is you can see how it developed and for the guy that wants the newest designs (which logically would be last) he/she can see those separately. The other reason is it is a daunting task so I can release a little at a time.

Not common but done in 2006. ModelMaker did it. Sort of the same concept. There is another somewhere that has your box on the front but I have not indexed it yet....

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/s...wthread.php?t=19764&highlight=eds+drum+smoker


I was able to locate the post within a minute using my nifty UDS Thread Indexer. LOL

tsanchez said:

So seems my insertion of a firebox in my UDS is not common, I did it so if I wanted to use regular wood pieces I could but it never occured that the flavor would change from cooking directly over the coals. Whats the difference as I just made this and have nothing to compare.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=153204

Click to expand...

Norcor... An Ugly drum smoker is a bbq apparatus made from a drum. Its is the best BBQ pit pound for pound. I even like it more than an OYLER but I am afraid its one the user engineers himself. So.... I think you should just go buy a PBC as you do not have the skill set or patience to make on one of these. You are not a bad guy, I just think that you cannot make one of these... your hands are too dainty. Crockpot maybe for you?

Norcoredneck said:

What is an Ugly Drum Smoker?

Click to expand...

Pitmaster T said:

Not common but done in 2006. ModelMaker did it. Sort of the same concept. There is another somewhere that has your box on the front but I have not indexed it yet....

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/s...wthread.php?t=19764&highlight=eds+drum+smoker


I was able to locate the post within a minute using my nifty UDS Thread Indexer. LOL

Click to expand...

That looks like just a door to stuff the coal basket through, I put a complete box in there

My first uds smoker

Hi am new to this ....never smoke o grill that much before searching the web
Came to this awesome place .also my English is not that good ..I just build me a UDS smoker ...using it for the first time today ...some chiken drums and corn
Hope everything goes well

Nice lookin Drum You have there!!

my uds

No pics, it didn't happen. So, here is a pic of my uds. I need to wait until it is warmer outside to give it a coat of paint... (30 degrees here today) or I might just leave it as is. I gave it just one grate 24 inches above the charcoal basket. I'll wait until I can find a donor Weber lid on CL to add the upper grate. Thanks to everyone for their input on this thread - KISS was my motto for the day. The drum I bought had the maroon liner in it, and if/when I build another, I will spend the extra $30 on one without a liner - that was a farkin' pain to get rid of. But the lid is tighter than the lock on Johnny Trigg's secret recipe box. I bought some 3/4" disk magnets to cover the 1/2" holes on the lid for when I want to shut it down. I also added a 3/4" NM/SE Cable water tight connector to run my meat thermo probe wire through. Other than that, I won't be messing with the tried and true parts of the UDS, just maybe adding a bottle opener, a table, and a metal piece to keep the meat thermo on. I also have an idea to paint the piece of wood with chalkboard paint (leftover from another project) to keep track of times for the meats. But, right now I have the basic UDS, and that's all I wanted! I'll be competing on this drum this year, too. Wish me luck! Thanks.

Built my first smoker this week. I will post pics tomorrow of my UDS and how it turns out!