Ugly Drum Smoker

[Pit Boss Honeycutt]

Originally Posted by 5laps2many

Schweet lookin UDS's Pit boss. So, who's the lucky recipient of the other one?

Thanks Man!.. Actually for a friend of mine that I work with.. Think he will like it?

[NASCARican]

Originally Posted by brentb

Wow, this is the mother of all threads!

Took me a month to read this thing. UDS 1 is built and smoking a brisket right now. Just got the rest of my baskets from the welder for the fleet.

Note to those about to build. KISS, KISS, KISS. Get a simple one working first. Leave the bells and whistles for the subsequent builds.

Thanks for all the great posts. The BBQ that this drum makes is out of this world.

What's the dimensions on your baskets....They look awesome!

[brotherbd]

Hey Norco,
(or anyone else that may have comparison experience, it's just that Norco has made so dang many!)

Thanks for the tips and the video on the charcoal basket, but I got another question for ya.

I see that you have overlap when creating you basket and all you have to do is roll and bolt or weld bottom grate and side seam.

Here's the question,

Have you ever made the basket taller so that the grate could be inside 2 1/2" to 3" off the bottom and then welded, wired or SS zip tied into place?

Seems you could save the cost of the SS nuts, bolts and washers (about $8-10 here in Dallas, TX area). I know there would be a little more cost per expanded metal piece 'cause you'd be doing something like 11 or 12 in. vs. 8 but that SS stuff aint cheap.

Just wondering if you've tried it that way and decided that nuts and bolts are the better way to go.

brotherbd

[h20loo]

brotherbd that has been done many times and is reported to work well.

[JD McGee]

Here's my latest and greatest sliding air vent design... I also plan to use it on my SouthPaw Smoker (in the design stages)...

[HeSmellsLikeSmoke]

JD, that looks very good.

Have you thought of making the piece with the holes in it slide too -- sorta like the BGE spark screen. That would let you fully open it to clean out ashes and tap the fire basket. Just a thought.

[Boshizzle]

Originally Posted by JD McGee

Here's my latest and greatest sliding air vent design... I also plan to use it on my SouthPaw Smoker (in the design stages)...

Looks good! I was going to go with something similar but got a good deal on a BGE vent so that's what I'm going with on my 1st UDS. The holes work just as well as a rectangle cut but provides more strength and rigidity to the frame.

[armor]

Nice. I used the BGE vent on one of my drums but I like the looks of this. Planning on another build over the summer and I will copy this if you don't mind.

[h20loo]

Holy smoke-Looks good JD. I made a batch of BGE style vents on Thursday and will try them next week. That makes so much more sense then having little taps and nipples hanging off a barrel. Your design will add some bling to the lowly UDS!! What gauge did you use?

[JD McGee]

Originally Posted by HeSmellsLikeSmoke

JD, that looks very good.

Have you thought of making the piece with the holes in it slide too -- sorta like the BGE spark screen. That would let you fully open it to clean out ashes and tap the fire basket. Just a thought.

Yep...I thought of that but wanted to keep it simple and not copy BGE too much...this will be used on my SouthPaw Smoker as well (in design). I can still get a wiggle rod in through the 3/4 holes to shake down the basket if need be...

Originally Posted by armor

Nice. I used the BGE vent on one of my drums but I like the looks of this. Planning on another build over the summer and I will copy this if you don't mind.

Copy away brother smoker...

Originally Posted by h20loo

Holy smoke-Looks good JD. I made a batch of BGE style vents on Thursday and will try them next week. That makes so much more sense then having little taps and nipples hanging off a barrel. Your design will add some bling to the lowly UDS!! What gauge did you use?

These were made out of some 28 gauge stainless that was laying around the shop...I'll be making them out of 16 gauge for the SouthPaw Smoker as it will not have to be rolled to fit a drum radius.

[wheelterrapin]

Darn guys my 65 year old eyes gave away on me after reading about 2/3's of the way through all of these posts so I am just going to ask a stupid question that I am sure has been asked many times before and answered as much.

How do you get the grease out of these smokers after a cook? I see a lot of vent holes with ball valves, pipe caps, and other covers for air intake at the bottom of the drums but I have not seen a grease drain and I would think the grease drain would have to be right at the bottom of the barrel to be effective. Sorry for the ignorance but I have got to learn, thanks for the help.

Paul

[hath]

Originally Posted by wheelterrapin

Darn guys my 65 year old eyes gave away on me after reading about 2/3's of the way through all of these posts so I am just going to ask a stupid question that I am sure has been asked many times before and answered as much.

How do you get the grease out of these smokers after a cook? I see a lot of vent holes with ball valves, pipe caps, and other covers for air intake at the bottom of the drums but I have not seen a grease drain and I would think the grease drain would have to be right at the bottom of the barrel to be effective. Sorry for the ignorance but I have got to learn, thanks for the help.

Paul

From my short experience most of the dripping vaporize when they hit the coals. there is some that goes to the bottom and mixes with the ash to make sort of a sludge. I scrap on it and then shop vac it out. Others modify some sort of scoop and get it out that way and still others put a "false bottom" like a pizza ban on the bottom and lift it out. Im sure aluminum foil would work as well.

[wheelterrapin]

Thanks, I appreciate the response and information. This clears things up a bit for me. I am getting ready to build one and just wanted to be sure and have all angles covered.

Paul

Originally Posted by hath

From my short experience most of the dripping vaporize when they hit the coals. there is some that goes to the bottom and mixes with the ash to make sort of a sludge. I scrap on it and then shop vac it out. Others modify some sort of scoop and get it out that way and still others put a "false bottom" like a pizza ban on the bottom and lift it out. Im sure aluminum foil would work as well.

[JD McGee]

Originally Posted by wheelterrapin

Darn guys my 65 year old eyes gave away on me after reading about 2/3's of the way through all of these posts so I am just going to ask a stupid question that I am sure has been asked many times before and answered as much.

How do you get the grease out of these smokers after a cook? I see a lot of vent holes with ball valves, pipe caps, and other covers for air intake at the bottom of the drums but I have not seen a grease drain and I would think the grease drain would have to be right at the bottom of the barrel to be effective. Sorry for the ignorance but I have got to learn, thanks for the help.

Paul

Garden hoe...

[h20loo]

Originally Posted by wheelterrapin

Darn guys my 65 year old eyes gave away on me after reading about 2/3's of the way through all of these posts so I am just going to ask a stupid question that I am sure has been asked many times before and answered as much.

How do you get the grease out of these smokers after a cook? I see a lot of vent holes with ball valves, pipe caps, and other covers for air intake at the bottom of the drums but I have not seen a grease drain and I would think the grease drain would have to be right at the bottom of the barrel to be effective. Sorry for the ignorance but I have got to learn, thanks for the help.

Paul

Some things in life you just don't have to worry about. I remove my ashes every 60 to70lbs worth of lump and I never find any standing grease even though I do a lot of fat side down butts. No grease drain needed. Of course I don't have an ashpan either and I'm sure that fat that drips outside of the pan would cause a mess.