Ugly Drum Smoker

well now that I have read this post upto 4000 +and have everything together I have stated my UDS
growned outside edge of lid with grinder after 3/4 way around lid was seperating from drum
lid fits tight
sandblasted rust inhibiter liner and outside took a whole 35 mins
drilled with step bit 4 - 1" holes it does get cold here in Ohio ( I grill year round )
followed all the advice from nebies to The Pro-Guru~s for my fire basket and grill ht
got to grease up indide after I find some Lard then fire it up with brickets for test burn
hope I can post some pick of my first fattie sacrifice and of course I Love Pork Butt and I can Not LIE

So I'm actually on page 239 of this thread but I feel like it's gotten to the point where it's just new people asking questions that have already been answered. So I'm going to ask a questions that probably have been asked before haha.

The picture I posted is a baking rack. I thought it would work perfect for the base of my charcoal basket. It has a lift of 3" on it already which I liked. My question on that is do you think I'll be struggling with my ash falling threw? More than usual? I only plan on using briquettes and realize you already have to kick it or shake it at times to get the ash off from time to time but wonder if this will enhance blockage?

Other question is about my 55 gallon drum. It was an open top, but my kettle lid non weber would only fit perfectly on the bottom end. I had read earlier in this thread someone had opened the bottom used it as the top and used the now bottom with removable lid as kinda an easy access to clean out the bottom and such. So I proceeded to remove my base and a few more hundred or so pages later I read one guy didn't like this approach because it made his intake air hard to control, and another guy liked it and said after awhile the seasoned drum will plug up any cracks or leaks. I believe what the guy said about a seasoned drum but that kind of defeats the purpose of having an easy access clean out base if you never open it. I guess my question is if anyone still uses this approach or has tried it and their opinions or suggestions on it.

BTW, thanks for all of the great info I already have from this thread. I have a crap ton of notes. I do plan on reading more from page 239, it's kind of like a good book, hard to quit once you get started!

That should work fine, but you will probably have to brace the legs, they look like they could fold on you. I built mine "upside-down", but I also welded on an outer lip that the the lid fits into, to avoid the drips down the outside that you get with the lid sitting on the outside of the drum. Good luck!!

pitbossJB;3123763I also welded on an outer lip that the the lid fits into said:

to avoid the drips down the outside that you get with the lid sitting on the outside of the drum[/U]. Good luck!!

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That adds to the ugly, doesn't it? :shocked:

pitbossJB said:

That should work fine, but you will probably have to brace the legs, they look like they could fold on you. I built mine "upside-down", but I also welded on an outer lip that the the lid fits into, to avoid the drips down the outside that you get with the lid sitting on the outside of the drum. Good luck!!

Click to expand...

Did you also weld the bottom shut or does it not really effect your cooks? I was thinking about putting a stove gasket in the rim to replace that gasket they come with. Worried that may get all dirty/greasy though.

jaimehelm,

Mine has a band that attaches the "lid" and it seals just fine. It makes it very easy to clean out.

Right on, that's what I have as well. Good to hear! I'm pretty excited about getting mine done, but the wife says to quit messin with it until after Christmas haha.

jaimehelm said:

The picture I posted is a baking rack. I thought it would work perfect for the base of my charcoal basket. It has a lift of 3" on it already which I liked. My question on that is do you think I'll be struggling with my ash falling threw? More than usual? I only plan on using briquettes and realize you already have to kick it or shake it at times to get the ash off from time to time but wonder if this will enhance blockage?

Click to expand...

Like mentioned, those "legs" should be at least braced. If you end up filling your coal basket as most of us do, it will weight quite a bit depending on the size of your basket and you wouldn't want that thing tipping over. IMHO I used 2 grates before on the bottom of my coal baskets to stop the small pieces from falling thru. I have since removed the cross grates as it does inhibit ash fall thru. I don't care about the small pieces falling thru anymore as I can cook for 15+ hrs and not have to kick/nudge the drum to assist in ash fall thru. I never have to touch it during any smoke/cook ever.

ebijack said:

Like mentioned, those "legs" should be at least braced. If you end up filling your coal basket as most of us do, it will weight quite a bit depending on the size of your basket and you wouldn't want that thing tipping over. IMHO I used 2 grates before on the bottom of my coal baskets to stop the small pieces from falling thru. I have since removed the cross grates as it does inhibit ash fall thru. I don't care about the small pieces falling thru anymore as I can cook for 15+ hrs and not have to kick/nudge the drum to assist in ash fall thru. I never have to touch it during any smoke/cook ever.

Click to expand...

I had originally planned to tie the supports down to a pizza pan. Have been debating if I still wanted to do that since I'll be able to open the bottom up for easy cleaning. Not very expensive and easy to do so I don't see why I couldn't still do that. That was my original thought as well with the tight boxed pattern on the baking rack, that it'd let less Charcoal fall threw but didn't think about the ash. Still pretty new to this all so I'm learning quite a bit all the time. I already have it tied to some expanded metal I did real fast yesterday. So I guess I will be finding out how well it works hopefully sooner than later!

I have to burn a painted on liner still though. I'm hoping it's not one of the hard liners.. Has a kind of burnt redish orange look to it. My next drum will be a unlined former oil container. Another thing I kinda jumped the gun on and bought early in the process of reading this thread.

Also curious as to what kind of charcoal you use?

jaimehelm said:

Also curious as to what kind of charcoal you use?

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Everyone has their favorite. I only use lump for high temp cooks anymore as I do not like all the dust and waste I get in every brand of lump I have ever tried. And really hate the pieces of non coal that I get in about 1/3 of them. Embers briquettes are the easiest for me to acquire, fairly cheap ( made by Royal Oak ) I really like Stubbs but it can be tough to find on a weekly basis. The Embers and Stubbs bags are smaller than some of the other brands which I also prefer, just easier for me to wrestle around ( had surgery on both hands).
Use what you like, try out different brands both lump and briquettes to see. You can't go wrong with either, you will just find what you prefer after awhile.

So I know I've read a bunch of times of people not sure if their drum is properly burned out. I'm gonna be one of those guys too. If it was just me eating out of it I wouldn't be so paranoid.

The lid is what the liner pretty much looked like. The drum is after I've used like an entire bottle of propane(and very quickly wire brushed) in my newly acquired 500,000 btu weed burner. Theres snow on the ground here so a lot of moisture.. seems to be rusting very quickly? I'm going to get some more propane but not sure what my next step(s) should be.

well finished my UDS and fired it up using Frontier lump lota small pcs 10 briquetsfor start up and temps werte all over from 5 mins stating at almost 400 degrees to all but out I have 1 -2" bunge with 8" stack and 1 -3/4" 6" stack 4 - 3/4 " nipples with a valve (full bore)worked on it for 5 hours before shutting it down.
Will try more briquets tomorrow with a couple of fatties for first cook
any ideal why I am having temp control was easy on adjustment
also I have duel remote temperature gage with prob center of cooking grill under it
thanks still reading and see others with same prob thats why I am using both bunges for exhaust

So after burning the lid and hitting it with the wire wheel(cheapo black and decker from walmart). I've decided I have that piece o' crap red liner. So other than buying that expensive but nice wire wheel, what else can I do to make cleaning this thing easier? Paid $40 for this thing..

Money spent on good tools is rarely regretted

jaimehelm said:

So after burning the lid and hitting it with the wire wheel(cheapo black and decker from walmart). I've decided I have that piece o' crap red liner. So other than buying that expensive but nice wire wheel, what else can I do to make cleaning this thing easier? Paid $40 for this thing..

Click to expand...

Have it sandblasted.

I live in a small town. Not really options for sandblasting. I did take a shot of Jim Beam Black and plugged in the headphones tuned into Pandora Rob Zombie station though. That helped some. Here's where I'm at now. Does it need to be shiny? If so I'm going to need to buy atleast five more flap discs for my angle grinder..

I think you're ready to rock.

wdpope1

finished my UDS cooked yesterday 1- naked 1 -stuffed w/ onions and swiss cheese wrapped in bacon
I kinda like the naked a little better will have to try jimmy deans they had tenn pride on sale



now my cousin wants to build one too

Fatties Rule

I almost forgot something very important
Thanks to all who have gone before me and told of their journey from first post which I have now read all of the post should have taken notes many, many, many things I now have to re-read but cant smoke everyday I do have to work
thanks again for all the love you have posted
Wayne

Finished my UDS today after 2 years. Yes, I know what you're thinking. 2 years!!!! Well let me explain 2 years ago when I started we were expecting twins. Since then it has been a very slow project. Anyways here is the final product. Roll Tide!!!!!!:-D