Ugly Drum Smoker

I use a Weber kettle lid with the four holes that are about 1/2 inch. It works fine. For intake I have four 1/2 pipe nipples. Three have caps and one has a ball valve. Usually, I only need one of the caps off and the ball valve open about 1/2 the way to get it to chug along at 220-230.

I know Keale had some problems with too much exhaust opening. He had to stick foil in some of openings.
 
I am trying to gather all the best suggestions before I begin my build of the first uds. So my first question about the air vent holes: would magnets big enough to cover the holes and then slide open as you needed be a good cheap otion for air control?

Rob
 
Drycreek, I think n8man has a post w/ magnets. Looked pretty slick.
 
gotwood said:
it has a 26 inch inside diameter...anyone know if there are grates that can be bought that are 25-25.5 inch in diameter??
Click to expand...

Sears and I think Ace Hardware sells a 26" round charcoal grill... you should be able to find replacement grates that would work...

James.
 
DryCreek said:
I am trying to gather all the best suggestions before I begin my build of the first uds. So my first question about the air vent holes: would magnets big enough to cover the holes and then slide open as you needed be a good cheap otion for air control?

Rob
Click to expand...
Sheet Magnets work for me:
attachment.php
 
Thanks n8man, that was what I was thinking of doing. One more question; Is it necessary to extend the bottom air pipes into the barrel, or does that just give you a place to rest the charcoal basket? I was wondering if it helped the ignition of the coals.
 
On most of mine that I have built I have used a close nipple (all thread). On one I used approx a three in nipple and have seen no difference.
 
DryCreek said:
Thanks n8man, that was what I was thinking of doing. One more question; Is it necessary to extend the bottom air pipes into the barrel, or does that just give you a place to rest the charcoal basket? I was wondering if it helped the ignition of the coals.
Click to expand...
My pipes are flush with the inside wall of the drum, but some have extended the pipe so that the charcoal basket can rest on top. Mine burns fairly well as is but your mileage may vary:grin:
 
I'm sorry if this is a dumb question, but I need to know. The intake on these UDS smokers is always set up from the bottom of the smoker. Now, since hot air rises and cold air sinks, then what is the point of this? The hot air should rise and go out of the exhaust pipes on the lid, and this would draw in air from the intake right? Why does the intake have to be moved up?

This may have been asked before, but this thread is f'in HUGE and it is not THAT nagging to me to read through every post to find out.
 
My take on it is that if they were right on the bottom the fallen ash could block the intake on a longer cook. On mine though the 4 pipe nipples hold the fire grate so they have to be off of the bottom so there is room for the ash to fall.
 
bigabyte said:
I'm sorry if this is a dumb question, but I need to know. The intake on these UDS smokers is always set up from the bottom of the smoker. Now, since hot air rises and cold air sinks, then what is the point of this? The hot air should rise and go out of the exhaust pipes on the lid, and this would draw in air from the intake right? Why does the intake have to be moved up?

This may have been asked before, but this thread is f'in HUGE and it is not THAT nagging to me to read through every post to find out.
Click to expand...
Chris, I set mine up with the extended vertical air intake because I'm 6'6" and bending over to tend the air intake would be a real PIA! My build was inspired by a video I had saw about Snail and his DrumSmokers in which he had a single vertical air intake and a single exhaust. And I had a Viola moment....Or are we talking about placement of the horizontal intake at the bottom of the drum?
 
N8man said:
Chris, I set mine up with the extended air intake because I'm 6'6" and bending over to tend the air intake would be a real PIA! My build was inspired by a video I had saw about Snail and his DrumSmokers in which he had a single vertical air intake and a single exhaust. And I had a Viola moment....
Click to expand...
Aha! Now THAT makes SENSE! Suddenly it has gone from a quirky thing I didn't understand, to something BRILLIANT!
 
N8man said:
My pipes are flush with the inside wall of the drum, but some have extended the pipe so that the charcoal basket can rest on top. Mine burns fairly well as is but your mileage may vary:grin:
Click to expand...
My take on this is the more you have inside the harder it is to clean out. The ash and grease build up and has to be scraped from time to time.
 
I finally got me a drum and have started on my build:cool:. I am trying to use as many parts off my cookers that I already have as possible. I'm wondering if anyone has tried using the charcoal pan out of a Brinkman Gourmet ECB? It will hold 15#'s of charcoal and the deminsions are within the range of what I've seen you guys make. I'm just wondering about the airflow.:confused:

Anyway, here are some pics of what I've got so far. All I've been able to do is cut the roll off the top so my kettle lid will fit, then it started pouring down rain so I can't do the burn off of the coating inside.:mad:









I'm planning on using 2 - 1"x4" black iron pipe nipples with elbows and 30" risers and full port ball valves for the intake air. If it will work I want to put 4 evenly space pieces of 3/8" all thread rod in above the intakes to set the charcoal pan on so the bottom of the pan is just above the intake nipples.

What do you guys think about that plan?

Another ?, has anyone found any hi temp paint that can be mixed in colors? Thinking seriously about a purple and gold LSU can:grin:
 
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