Ugly Drum Smoker

smoking a brisket on my USD

Many thanks to the people on this forum, with your help I build my own USD smoker. Got a drum from a home builder across the street, they only used it to store trash in. Burned it out, and put 2 nipples and a valve in it. Had to cut the top ring off to fit my old webber lid and put the grate in. Cooked a few small things in it to see how it holds up, and now it's time for my first brisket!

Here the smoker finished:
iZqXts.jpg


and the basket that I bolted together from 2x24x24 sheet metal from homedepot, and a pizza pan below it:
pxpGps.jpg


I had to cut the top ring off the barret to make it fit my webber lid:
jIe5Ns.jpg


And my first 12lbs brisket, going for a 18 hour smoke hopefully:
l8MuXs.jpg


Here is the imgur album with bigger pictures:
http://imgur.com/a/RAirH#0

Thanks! Robbin
 
UDS Just Painted

I am only to page 350 of this thread but do have my UDS built. I used the Drum kit from Big Poppa Smokers a Brethren member. Found a closed top stainless drum , which is why I have the Weber lid on it. When it was done and not painted it just didn't look right without paint. So today It got a coat of black paint. Still not sure where or if I will put the handles on. Will be breaking it in all week for a party next weekend.

IMG1622-XL.jpg
 
Why ugly

RPOETI: that is one fine looking drum you constructed! your attention to detail should be applauded as well as your access to machining equipment . All of those custom mills in the vent and basket are something I truly envy. You have thrown down the gauntlet for us Yanks for sure!
 
zimm226 said:
Hey Everyone,

This thread has been doing me a lot of good but one thing I am still confused about is the burn out. If you buy a brand new unlined drum do you need to do a burn out or can you go strait to rubbing it down with oil and seasoning?

Thanks,
Dave
Click to expand...

I cleaned mine with dish soap and water, then wipped down the inside with vegetable oil and then lit some coal and wood in the basket and let it smoke away for a few hours. Everything gets lined with a black layer and then it's good to go.
 
That's some amazing stuff right there. After finishing mine and cooking on it this weekend, I want a flatbed trailer with a whole "drum set".
 
So I jumped on the bandwagon and built one of these mofos. Keep in mind that I have all the mechanical ability of a jar of mayonnaise, so this thing is definitely heavy on the Ugly. In fact my fire basket is such a travesty I think it may qualify as an abortion in some states. Here's a picture of the finished product:
7Ffv6l.jpg


HOWEVER....
This thing does what everyone says it would do. It holds temperatures like a champ. I loaded up my "special needs" fire basket and let 'er rip in order to season the drum and experiment to see just how long I could get the charcoal to last. Got it settled in at 5:30 last night using the ball valve and it held between 230-250 until I went to bed. Got up in the morning and the temp had dropped to about 200, but a slight adjustment brought it back into BBQ temperature range.

This is a picture of my thermometer TWENTY SEVEN HOURS LATER:
YwOF4l.jpg


Good lord that is efficient.

Thanks to everyone who posted in this thread. I just seasoned it using some scraps and some bacon. Gonna throw something good on there soon and will report back!
 
ROPETI- That is a SWEET barrel!!!! VERY nice hardware.:clap:
 
Smoked Leg Quarter on the UDS

Well I was going to smoke a brisket this past weekend but couldn't one I wanted and it was getting late so I opted for some leg quarters in stead. I know big difference. lol

Added some cherry and apple chips to what was leftover from my seasoning burn (almost a full basket of briquets). Started it with approx 15 briquets. Temp got up to 220 in a matter of minutes. But then it just sat there forever. I gave the basket a good shake and twist, closed the lid and away she went to 300 degrees. Put the legs on and sat back and relaxed.

My brother in law just purchased a COS from WalMart and called and asked me how do you control the temperature in this thing. I said thats easy, build a UDS!

Chicken turned out amazing, definetly doing a brisket soon.
 
Last edited:
Code 6 Chuck said:
So I jumped on the bandwagon and built one of these mofos. Keep in mind that I have all the mechanical ability of a jar of mayonnaise, so this thing is definitely heavy on the Ugly. In fact my fire basket is such a travesty I think it may qualify as an abortion in some states. Here's a picture of the finished product:
7Ffv6l.jpg


HOWEVER....
This thing does what everyone says it would do. It holds temperatures like a champ. I loaded up my "special needs" fire basket and let 'er rip in order to season the drum and experiment to see just how long I could get the charcoal to last. Got it settled in at 5:30 last night using the ball valve and it held between 230-250 until I went to bed. Got up in the morning and the temp had dropped to about 200, but a slight adjustment brought it back into BBQ temperature range.

This is a picture of my thermometer TWENTY SEVEN HOURS LATER:
YwOF4l.jpg


Good lord that is efficient.

Thanks to everyone who posted in this thread. I just seasoned it using some scraps and some bacon. Gonna throw something good on there soon and will report back!
Click to expand...

As long as it does the job don't worry about the looks. We all dated ugly people at one time or another :laugh::laugh:
 
Hey!

brewerjamie15 said:
Working on mine right now. I got a drum for free, I forget the height but it was supposed to be used for oil waste. It is Dept of Trans certified, which means it is thicker metal, has an extra rib for strength, and a hell of a lid. It was not used much at all, mostly sat in my step-dad's warehouse.
I burned it out twice, (man that thing is heavy as heck) and sanded it to bare metal. If I were to do another build, I'd pay to have it blasted clean. The money spent on sandpaper the time I put into it, and the filth caked all over me says blast it.
I have the holes drilled out for the intakes. I made them 7/8" and placed them every 18 inches. My drum measured out at 6' total diameter, so that's 4 intakes. I'm using the 3/4" pipe nipples with caps.
I am going to have my top grate 4" from the top, the second grate will be at 10". I drilled those holes and will use stainless screws and nuts and washers as the pins to hold the cooking grates.
I have two coats of paint on the drum so far. This drum will be two colors- green and gold. the ribs of the drum will be gold as will the lid. Flat parts are green. I want the smoker to work correctly so it'll be Green Bay Packer colors.
I think I'm going to use a sheet of rolled aluminum as the smoke stack.
I still have to build the charcoal basket, a heat shield (probably wait for that until after a few cooks) and tweak what ever needs doing.
I think I'll use a valve on one of the intakes for closing valve half way or less)

------------

Lessons learned the hard way:

GET YOUR DRUM BLASTED. IT'S WORTH IT.

Do NOT rely on the "guy at Home Depot" to tell you all the right bits for yer pipe nipples. Rely instead on THIS HERE THREAD.

Do NOT sand the snot outta your drum and then wait two days to apply paint. Even though it's in the garage, the humidity will put some rust on there.

Perhaps most importantly-
This thread is a guide. Not spoken gospel. (ok maybe it actually is gospel) Do what YOU think is best for YOUR drum. All of us are doing the same general thing, but there are neat differences. My drum is not like yours. Yours is not like that dude's. His is not like mine.

If you don't want to spend a lot of time carefully taping out lines for your smoker, paint it all one color.
Taping took me a long time and I still loused it up I bet.

More to follow as I progress.

Oh- maybe the hardest lesson for me in this and in all things. BE PATIENT. Ya can't get ahead of yourself and expect not to make mistakes. I get all bent outta shape and want to see progress. I make dumb errors that way. GO S-L-O-W-L-Y.
Click to expand...


Hey! I'm the "guy at Home Depot" and i read these threads. lol Some of us you can trust to know what you need. :boxing:
 
Ok, so after making my way through over 6,000 posts, I finally decided to start my UDS build. (I'm not going to go for the "I Read the Entire Thread" merit badge.)

A local oil company has reconditioned open-top barrels for $45. These have been through a caustic dip tank, thoroughly washed and repainted. No rust inhibitor lining, just bare steel on the inside. They say they keep some of these on hand at all times. In fact, the guy I got it from is looking to make a cold smoker with one.

Anyway, after picking up the barrel, I swung by Steel Mart here in Dubuque and they had cutoffs of 3/4 x #9 expanded steel that I could look through. I found a nice piece and they cut it to size for me. Cost me $13 with tax.

Now it's off to the hardware store for the various and sundry parts I need for the rest of the build.

Thank you for all the informative posts you folks have made. It was interesting to see all the advancements in UDS tech over the years. I'll posts photos of my build when I get farther along.


---
I am here: http://tapatalk.com/map.php?xrbrct
 
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1341106390.452632.jpg

Completed charcoal basket with attached ash pan made from cheapie tabletop grill pan.


Sent from my iPhone using My Fingers.
 
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