Advise on New UDS Build

T

The Smokin Texan

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I am going to build my first UDS after seeing it and using it with great success at Ungawa (Lake Travis). I am going to buy a 55 gallon unlined open top barrel and put 3 to 4 3/4" holes an inch from the bottom and 6 to 8 1/4" in the top. The top holes will placed evenly in a circle with a diameter of about half the lid diameter. I going to put one grill about 6 inches from the top and another about 10 inches from the top. I am going to build a coal basket out of expanded metal. I will also put a thermostat and a handle on the lid.

Please provide any advise or changes on my design that yall think will be helpful. Also should I strip the outer paint and paint the barrel with high temp BBQ paint? Do not plan on cooking any higher than 350.
 
There is a thread with 7793 posts of advise. Scroll down the q talk page
 
The holes on top should be the same size as the holes on bottom. Do 8 of them. 3 holes will work fine on bottom as intakes. 1" holes take 3/4" pipe nipples perfectly and they thread right in.
 
Unless you are buying a new drum,ya need to do a burnout which will remove most of the paint on the outside. Ya can also use automotive engine paint if you are looking for something besides the basic BBQ colors.Good luck on the project. Looks like another drum head is born :clap2:
 
Thanks for the link and advise. I am headed out to the little know town of Refugio this weekend for Easter. We will be firing up my fathers in law mammoth pit made from oil field piping. I will take some pictures and post and show you a Texas pit:-D
I did love the way the oil drum cooked. I put a rub on some pork ribs put them in the pit and flipped 3 hours into it and pulled of perfectly cooked ribs 1.5 hours later. It was effortless
 
Were you using it at Hippie Hollow or were you at some other location? I love Lake travis and would love to live there (God's Country). Some of my friends from diving school and I did our first open water deep dive (100') at that lake. Pitch black total darkness below 40-45 ft.
 
I prefer a smaller, centralized exhaust that I can close up easily to save the charcoal for the next cook. I've never used all of the charcoal in a smoke- even a 20 hour brisket. The exhaust size of a Weber kettle works well. On mine, I use 1/3 of a drum for a lid- the end with a 2" pipe bung. 2" pipe is actually a little big for an exhaust- I had to restrict mine a little to control temps. When done cooking, I close my intakes, remove the rain cap, and put a solid cap over the pipe. Fire goes out quickly.

IMG_0252.jpg
 
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