Ugly Drum Smoker

[RT 89A]

I'm going to start building mine soon. I've found a person locally that sells drums that used to house ethanol for about $20. Hopefully they aren't lined, but since they're food grade I'm guessing they are.

[rem40x]

you guys have been a real inspiration. Have pages of notes for a newbie and will be starting soon as I acquire parts.

[DMP]

Man, you guys are killing me. Have been reading through this entire thread and can't wait to start building. Just got to find some time.

Picked up a drum last weekend. Have all the 3/4 nipples I will need. Have one grate for the bottom of my basket. My parents got a new gas grill so I took their old one to sit the UDS in. This will give me wheels and tables on both sides. Still need to get one, maybe two grates for cooking, expanded metal for the charcoal basket, thermometer, handle for the lid and nuts and bolts. Hope to run across a weber lid somewhere. I have been looking at every grill I see on the side of the rd and snatching old grates out of them for future projects.

[Mrwokn]

Heres my completed UDS. Salmon in the fridge curing.

[Wahoo95]

More info on the shelf and the legs?

[Sweat'in Pig]

A dome lid would loof nice! IMHO

[Mrwokn]

The legs are welded in L bars. I wish I would of put 4 legs instead of three because the shelf wanted to tip the barrel over at most locations I preferred to attach it. The shelf is from big poppa smokers, along with vents, handles, etc. I had a cheapo lowes smoker that I canibilized for parts to hold the grates. I found a used weber dome lid on CL. I'm sanding and respraying this weekend.

[Grimzly]

My UDS build, I recently finished building this and have cooked Ribs and some beer can Chickens on it the first Butt test is in the fridge. I'm keeping an eye out for a dome lid.

The racks are at 5", 9", 13" from the top with the lowest one being mostly a direct grilling or a water pan or a heat deflector. The only thing I would change is adding another wheel to the bottom 3 works but 4 would have been better.

The temp is so rock solid and the efficiency of the fuel usage is great.

[Carbon]

Problem with adding a 4th wheel or leg is, unless the ground is perfectly plane, the drum will rock slightly. You'll end up shimming under that 4th leg or wheel.
Three legs will give you a rigid stance, but they should be placed at or beyond the perimeter of the drum for max stability.

[DMP]

Started my build this morning. Costing me more than I had planned. Can't find any good cheap deals around. Have shopped all over for items. Looks like the entire build is going to run me around $150. Going to use the original lid till I can run across a kettle lid.

Got all the holes drilled. Waiting on the rain to get out of here so I can burn it out.

[DMP]

If I get a chance to burn it today, will it be okay to clean and paint it tomorrow?

[woodbutcher1]

sure,why not.

[DMP]

Originally Posted by woodbutcher1

sure,why not.

Wasn't sure if I would find it covered in rust tomorrow.

[bstomper]

some good looking uds's being built

[bstomper]

Originally Posted by Atos

Inspired by this monster UDS thread i've build my own drum smoker.

The drum:


The charcoal basket is made from washingmachine parts, the ash collector was a paella pan:



Air outlet in the lid made from scrap metal I found:







The setup from inside:



Home made lid handle:



Easy transport:



Stuff it with ribs...



Stuff it with butts...



And controled by Guru.



Thanks!!

Atos!

Holy crap thats a crap load of ribs in one uds