Ugly Drum Smoker

Sampler said:

Anyone used a high temp silicon on the outside their smoker?

Let me explain. As I have posted I have modified the top to my drum to accommodate a lid I found from a charcoal grill. I secured the top and lids with self taping screw but now I have smoke leaking out around the contact points between the two. I was thinking that a thin bead of high temp silicon would solve this problem.

Any thoughts?

D

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I believe our brethren from Man Cave Meals used some on his Kamado to seal smoke leaks in one of his vids.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1vnAA_b2bk&feature=fvwp&NR=1"]Char-Griller Kamado Kooker (Akorn) Grill/Smoker Review Part 4 - YouTube[/ame]

I used it on a brinkmann style smoker to seal the sections together.

Nice idea with the Klean-Strip. I'm staring at a lid too with a tan liner and my drum is unlined. I think i will give this a try and was planning on doing a burn out to get the paint off on the outside but maybe I will do the the Klean-Strip as I live in a subdivision and dont want to give my neighbors a heart attack. But there is a lot of homes being built and plenty of scrap wood and my wife is going out of town in a couple of weeks with the kids and it would be bad ass to have some fire.

Also I have 2 questions. This will be my 3rd build and I'm sticking with the KISS method. But I want to add something to my lid (flat;not weber lid) so I can hook it to the drum when I'm tending to my food. I'm getting tired of putting it on the ground, etc. What do you use? A large bolt?

Also if I do go the burn out route; will I have to do anything inside the drum to get the black smoke off? Was hoping I could just season it from there but should I clean it out? Dont have a power sander or anything. Thanks.

wmarkw said:

Nice idea with the Klean-Strip. I'm staring at a lid too with a tan liner and my drum is unlined. I think i will give this a try and was planning on doing a burn out to get the paint off on the outside but maybe I will do the the Klean-Strip as I live in a subdivision and dont want to give my neighbors a heart attack. But there is a lot of homes being built and plenty of scrap wood and my wife is going out of town in a couple of weeks with the kids and it would be bad ass to have some fire.

Also I have 2 questions. This will be my 3rd build and I'm sticking with the KISS method. But I want to add something to my lid (flat;not weber lid) so I can hook it to the drum when I'm tending to my food. I'm getting tired of putting it on the ground, etc. What do you use? A large bolt?

Also if I do go the burn out route; will I have to do anything inside the drum to get the black smoke off? Was hoping I could just season it from there but should I clean it out? Dont have a power sander or anything. Thanks.

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At Home Depot in the same section I picked up my lid handle (Door Hardware aisle), they have multiple options for "robe hooks". I took a small propane torch to it for a bit so hopefully everything potentially toxic is burnt off. It came with 2 screws, but I used my own stainless steel bolts instead.

Smoked 2 fatties on mine, one sweet Italian sausage stuffed with pepperoni, mozzarella and pizza sauce for the wife. One breakfast sausage stuffed with sautéed jalapeños and onions and cheddar cheese, wrapped in a bacon weave for me. Have pics for proof, will post later when I'm on my laptop.

I followed the KISS method. Took some minor tweaking to get the temps stable, but I'm confident after a couple of more smokes that I'll be familiar with its personality and it'll be smooth sailing from there. A big thanks to all who submitted their failures and successes which helped save the late-comers like myself from waisted time and unnecessary headaches.

I'll use Kleen -Strip for sure on my next build. I can't believe I didn't think to try that.

Just finished a cooker that I plan to sell....

Remote temperature gauge.....

^^^..Thought I was only one using binos to check temps from my 2nd floor apt...Dont use em as much as i did with first few cooks on UDS...got er dialed in for any temp between 225 thru 350°...uds ROCK

Ugly, basic, and mine

After much delay (about a year), I finally finished my first UDS last weekend.
The unit was assembled from a free drum donated by a friend, some canibalized parts from 2 CL 22.5 OTS's, and a few other donated and purchased parts. It features 2 cooking grates, a 14" X 9" charcoal basket no-weld basket with attached pizza pan ash catcher, and for now a turkey thero fitted into a 1/8" X 1/4" brass hose barb. I'm planning on mounting a second turkey thermo probably next week, as well as investing in an ET 732 Digital with some anniversary money from my wife, part of which paid for my newly minted Brethren subscription.

Shown are: the finished UDS, the basket in progress and the aluminum rim added for seating the Weber lid.

Thanks to all the many Brethren for their insipring tips and recipes and the community attitude that makes this forum such a great place to be.

Matt Allen
Huntsville, Ontario, Canada

200 pages down......:wacko:

200 pages down......:wacko:

200 pages down....:wacko:

My apologies...laptop froze. . . mad rampage clicking created the triple post...im guessing :mmph:

alot of great reading in here guys thanks!

Peddler said:

The shelf is really simple, 4 1X4 treated attached to 2 1X2s and hinged to a 2X4 that's bolted to the drum. The brace is a 1X2 that is hinged and sets on a bolt.

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Nice shelf. Just don't put any food on the treated lumber. Bad stuff in treated lumber.

As I read through this thread a couple of questions come to mind that I have not seen answers too, or I should say, have not seen definitive answers too. I do realize that a lot of this is at user discretion and/or preference, that there may not be a right or wrong answer to many of the design elements.....many ways to skin a cat. . . etc

With that said I am looking for pro's and con's, recommendations based on experience more than what is right or wrong:

Charcoal basket size is one:
For those of you built you baskets on Weber charcoal grates, what are the pros and cons of using the grate from an 18" versus the one from a 22-1/2". I'm not looking for pros and cons of the build, but rather of fit, form and function. Does one clog easier than the other? Is the smaller that much easier to get in out of the drum that makes it a no brainer? Does one seem to achieve more consistent temp's from edge to center of drum?

The other thing relates to the 24" from bottom of charcoal basket to first cooking grate. I have seen some insist that this should not vary much from that. I do understand the importance maintaining distance from heat source to delectable flesh. But I'm not sure why that the 24" +/- generally accepted grate to flesh distance isn't, at least somewhat, charcoal basket or more specifically charcoal height dependent?

i.e. if you are running a 15" dia by 12" high charcoal basket and start will a full load, uncommon I know, you start you cook 12" from the heat source If you are running a 18" by 8" high basket (roughly same full load volume) you start your cook 16" from heat source.

If a 24" grate to grate height works for the first scenario why won't a 20" grate to grate height work for the second?

I'm not disagreeing with the general 24" rule, and I understand maintaining proper distance to prevent flare ups, over smoking, and maintaining consistent cooking grate temps is all part of it, just trying to figure out why that seems to be somewhat of a hard and fast rule regardless of basket size and distance from flesh to heat source when you start you cook?

Thanks,

wayada said:

The other thing relates to the 24" from bottom of charcoal basket to first cooking grate. I have seen some insist that this should not vary much from that. I do understand the importance maintaining distance from heat source to delectable flesh. But I'm not sure why that the 24" +/- generally accepted grate to flesh distance isn't, at least somewhat, charcoal basket or more specifically charcoal height dependent?

i.e. if you are running a 15" dia by 12" high charcoal basket and start will a full load, uncommon I know, you start you cook 12" from the heat source If you are running a 18" by 8" high basket (roughly same full load volume) you start your cook 16" from heat source.

If a 24" grate to grate height works for the first scenario why won't a 20" grate to grate height work for the second?

I'm not disagreeing with the general 24" rule, and I understand maintaining proper distance to prevent flare ups, over smoking, and maintaining consistent cooking grate temps is all part of it, just trying to figure out why that seems to be somewhat of a hard and fast rule regardless of basket size and distance from flesh to heat source when you start you cook?

Thanks,

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I've only built one and it hasn't even been alive for a week, so please don't run away with my answer as truth, as it's only an assumption. I'm not a pro at this.

Any way, I'm guessing the 24" rule has to do with being an absolute distance. You can start with different heights due to the amount of fuel you're using, but 24" will always remain constant throughout the life of your smoker. Save for any intentional adjustments on your part.

Surely someone with a bit more knowledge on the topic will come along and correct me if I'm wrong or touch up on why 24" is the magic number (lost/wasted heat any distances greater than that?).

wmarkw said:

This will be my 3rd build and I'm sticking with the KISS method. But I want to add something to my lid (flat;not weber lid) so I can hook it to the drum when I'm tending to my food. I'm getting tired of putting it on the ground, etc. What do you use? A large bolt?

Click to expand...

I just moved the 3/4" plug from the top of the lid to the bottom of the lid and left it standing out far enough to hang on the edge of the drum.

Hi.Iam new here and looking for some advice.I am going to build a UDS and have just bought a drum online which was used for transporting juice.I have just noticed that it only weighs 10 kilos and others weigh 18 kilos.As the drums are he same size i assume the one i have bought is thinner grade steel.Will this cause me any problems with construction or performance of the finished product.Many thanks in advance.