Ugly Drum Smoker

I think the real variable is how air-tight the rig is. I know someone whose drum runs a perfect 225- with all of the intakes closed. That means air is getting in somewhere. If all else is equal, I think intake is the most critical, and why it needs to be adjustable. I have found that a 2" exhaust, such as the 2" pipe fitting found in many drums is too big. I added a 9" stack, which helped, but still had to add a baffle. If the exhaust is too big, air can enter as well as exit (especially if its windy), and the fire runs hotter. I think (and its only a guess) that the exhaust could be as small as the intake without causing trouble. Air in, air out, right?

My UDS has silicone rubber seals on toggle clamps for the intakes. They are virtually air-tight when closed. I built one with a BGE vent, but it's not as tight.
 
Long time kettle smoker, < $10 UDS

So,

After making ribs and butts on a kettle for years I read this entire thread and built a UDS over the last week or so.

before:

ribs.jpg


after:

CIMG4251.JPG


I got the closed top drum from a tractor dealer, it had motor oil in it. Cleaned the crap out of it, took the weed burner to it and then finished it off with a snowmobile crate burn. Needless to say it's CLEAN!!

CIMG4256.JPG


I have a Weber kettle that I "borrow" the lid and grate from. I used a knockout to put 1" holes in the bottom of the basket, I am a lump user so the ash choke isn't too much of a concern yet, but the holes will help.

CIMG4252.JPG


As you can see I took the lip off the drum, as a first try I will see how it works, I put a bead of high temp silicon on the lip of the kettle lid and it seals tight, and I can still use it on the kettle as needed.

The drum was free, the basket and pizza pan were in the basement, the stainless hardware was a "gift" from work and the kettle donor was already in the garage.

I am seasoning it today, it's currently -1 outside. Not sure if I will smoke anything for the game but I am looking forward to many smokes coming up.
 
I wish I knew a thermodynamic engineer. These just might make him loose his mind.

There should be more exhaust than intake, the cool air expands from heat before leaving. However if intake and exhaust are the same size would it force the hot air to circulate a little longer before leaving? Or possibly smolders itself.

I would think a little air from the 3 intakes would burn more even than from only one "side".
Just a thought
 
That's true about the air expansion, so I guess the exhaust should be bigger. I know if you choke the exhaust down too much, you get creosote on your food (yuck!).

As for the location of the intakes- I usually only have one open, which gives me 225. It always burns evenly, from the center out.
 
MushCreek said:
you get creosote on your food (yuck!).

As for the location of the intakes- I usually only have one open, which gives me 225. It always burns evenly, from the center out.
Click to expand...

Good point, rough way to find out your exhaust is to small!

Good to know your burning even, what size intake/exhaust?
 
My single intake is about 3/4". The other two are one inch. If I open the second one, I run about 350-375, although the temp keeps creeping up. My exhaust is like a Weber lid. My other lid has a 2" pipe, which is over 2" ID. I had to add a 1/2" wide baffle in the stack to keep the temp down for smoking.
 
This thread provided a lot of info for my build. I thought it only fair to post pics of my progress. Hopefully I can show you the completed unit in a few days.

SCOTTIE

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Used my UDS (built in early Jan 2012) for the first time on a long cook. Been doing mostly moink balls and ABT's on it, but did a pork butt for Superbowl. Not only did it cook a little faster than my old offset, but it held 235-240 perfectly even for close to 10 hours. I finished an almost 8 lb pork butt in about 9.5 hrs. I opened it a couple times to spray with apple juice, and it dropped to about 215. Within 30 seconds of removing the caps off of the other three intakes, it started going back up quickly. Capped them back off and it just kept on cruising at 240

MAN I LOVE MY UDS!!!
 
kevine said:
Used my UDS (built in early Jan 2012) for the first time on a long cook. Been doing mostly moink balls and ABT's on it, but did a pork butt for Superbowl. Not only did it cook a little faster than my old offset, but it held 235-240 perfectly even for close to 10 hours. I finished an almost 8 lb pork butt in about 9.5 hrs. I opened it a couple times to spray with apple juice, and it dropped to about 215. Within 30 seconds of removing the caps off of the other three intakes, it started going back up quickly. Capped them back off and it just kept on cruising at 240

MAN I LOVE MY UDS!!!
Click to expand...

You shouldn't really have to give it more air after you take the lid off. In fact the opposite should be true.

If you think about it, before you take that lid off, you only have a very small amount of combustion air coming in through your intakes. When you take that lid off, the fire gets a huge gulp of combustion air (by comparison). It will burn through that air hotter than if you had not taken the lid off.

Your temp gauge drops only because there's some cool air in there at the moment, but the fire isn't running at that new cooler level, it's still hot as it was and even hotter now due to the extra air.

It will easily catch up on its own. In fact, I think most drums will actually run up in temp after taking the lid off. Many turn their intake air off before taking the lid off to prevent too much air from getting in and causing a temp spike.
 
kevine said:
Used my UDS (built in early Jan 2012) for the first time on a long cook. Been doing mostly moink balls and ABT's on it, but did a pork butt for Superbowl. Not only did it cook a little faster than my old offset, but it held 235-240 perfectly even for close to 10 hours. I finished an almost 8 lb pork butt in about 9.5 hrs. I opened it a couple times to spray with apple juice, and it dropped to about 215. Within 30 seconds of removing the caps off of the other three intakes, it started going back up quickly. Capped them back off and it just kept on cruising at 240

MAN I LOVE MY UDS!!!
Click to expand...

Works pretty well, huh? I love mine too.

One thing I've found is that if you cut the pork butt into ~3" slices and cook them like big steaks, the pork still comes out just as tender, but it takes MUCH less time to cook! Gotta go a bit easier on the rub though, because the surface area is so huge.

Good thing to know when you only have ~5 hours to prep and cook some pork, and you'd otherwise decide against it. Possibly less moist pork is better than no pork at all... that's what I say. :thumb:

I'm using Chris Lilly's recipe, by the way. Best I've tried by a long shot, and those who try it enjoy it nearly to the point of what I'd call arousal... :wink:

-Rodney
 
I hoping that this week I will have time to start mine. Cant wait to get it built and smoking.
 
mild rust inhibitor??

I've been looking at the grainger barrels labeled as "unlined" though coated with a "mild rust inhibitor". I live in an area where I wouldn't be able to burn out the barrel for hours.

Since this is a new barrel do I need to do a big burn out? Can I have the barrel sandblasted or get the coating off with a mild fire like with a 20lb bag of charcoal?

I'm thinking of getting the 96 gallon drum because its 16 gauge (vs 18 on the 85).

Thanks,
M
 
maliclipse said:
I've been looking at the grainger barrels labeled as "unlined" though coated with a "mild rust inhibitor". I live in an area where I wouldn't be able to burn out the barrel for hours.

Since this is a new barrel do I need to do a big burn out? Can I have the barrel sandblasted or get the coating off with a mild fire like with a 20lb bag of charcoal?

I'm thinking of getting the 96 gallon drum because its 16 gauge (vs 18 on the 85).

Thanks,
M
Click to expand...

If you can't do a high temp burn out then avoid anything in the barrel. some places maybe have factory burned out used barrels or get a new one. then clean it by scrubbing with a tough scratch pad or sponge perhaps with some alchohol like denatured or rubbing? and clean again with dish soap. Then dry it soon and rub it with an oil like olive oil all over inside plus pipes on the outside. burn that at a high cooking temp (350 at least) for a few hours before any food goes in. This will create a nice protective coating on inside.
 
Rodney said:
Works pretty well, huh? I love mine too.

One thing I've found is that if you cut the pork butt into ~3" slices and cook them like big steaks, the pork still comes out just as tender, but it takes MUCH less time to cook! Gotta go a bit easier on the rub though, because the surface area is so huge.

Good thing to know when you only have ~5 hours to prep and cook some pork, and you'd otherwise decide against it. Possibly less moist pork is better than no pork at all... that's what I say. :thumb:

I'm using Chris Lilly's recipe, by the way. Best I've tried by a long shot, and those who try it enjoy it nearly to the point of what I'd call arousal... :wink:

-Rodney
Click to expand...



...so what is so special about Chris Lilly's recipe? Do you mind to share it? :clap2:
 
maliclipse said:
I've been looking at the grainger barrels labeled as "unlined" though coated with a "mild rust inhibitor". I live in an area where I wouldn't be able to burn out the barrel for hours.

Since this is a new barrel do I need to do a big burn out? Can I have the barrel sandblasted or get the coating off with a mild fire like with a 20lb bag of charcoal?

I'm thinking of getting the 96 gallon drum because its 16 gauge (vs 18 on the 85).

Thanks,
M
Click to expand...

I would have it sandblasted.
 
coewar said:
If you can't do a high temp burn out then avoid anything in the barrel. some places maybe have factory burned out used barrels or get a new one. then clean it by scrubbing with a tough scratch pad or sponge perhaps with some alchohol like denatured or rubbing? and clean again with dish soap. Then dry it soon and rub it with an oil like olive oil all over inside plus pipes on the outside. burn that at a high cooking temp (350 at least) for a few hours before any food goes in. This will create a nice protective coating on inside.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the note back.

The grainger drum is brand spanking new direct from the factory. They have two options, one lined with the redish epoxy stuff and an unlined that has a 'mild rust inhibitor' coating. What I've read is that this mri is a lite oil of sum sort to prevent the inside of the barrel from rusting during shipment.

I'm trying to verify what that oil is and can it be removed safely without doing a 4 hour burn. I'd love to leave the paint on the outside of the barrel intact to save an extra step

The other question I have is can I achieve this hard burn using charcoal instead of wood to keep the smoke down/fire low - I don't want to scare the wife or the neighbors.

Thanks much and best regards,
Michal
 
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