Ultimate Drum Smoker build

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MushCreek

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I was going to wait until it's really complete, but I'll go ahead and get my build thread started. It may be a week or so before it's finished. I scored a stainless steel drum for $40, and that's where it begins. Post one shows some UDS bling. Everything except the fire basket is stainless steel. I get most of my stuff from McMaster-Carr, a great source for obscure hardware and other industrial stuff. The only drawback is that sometimes you have to buy like a hundred pieces of something.

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First, I built the fire basket. I had a piece of 3/4-9 expanded metal that was 8-1/2" by 48". I wrapped it into a hoop and welded the seam. I then added a reinforcing strap around the top edge. I cut another piece of metal to the 15-1/2" circle I got. I also made a disc of plywood the same size. I jammed the plywood down to the depth I wanted, 6" from the top, and use it to hold the basket in shape, and keep the bottom in place while I welded it. The 2-1/2" of metal below the bottom functions as the legs. In the next picture, you can see that I added 3 brackets to it, and each bracket has a stud sticking down. This is so I can place the basket on my lower grill rack when I want to do direct grilling, such as steaks. The studs keep it from falling off the U-bolts that form the grill racks. I also made a handle (not shown) so I can lower it into the bottom of the pit for smoking.
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This is a close-up of my thermometer mount. I used a stainless steel 3/8" diameter button head screw, and drill a hole through it to take the Wallyworld 12" thermometer. The second shot shows everything in place.
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Two more pics for now- one with my ugly old Weber lid on it (which doesn't fit too good) and one with the first sacrifice- some pork chops cooked on direct heat. I did a couple turkey breasts yesterday with the fire at the bottom, but the camera batteries were dead! I've ordered a SS lid from Arctic, and I'm working on a throttle system for my bottom vents to control the temperature. With no throttle, the drum held a very steady 375 for at least 4 hours on one chimney of Kingsford.
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Absolutely farking genius on the basket design and u bolts for raising the basket for grilling! Thanks. looking forward to the finished product.
 
MushCreek said:
With no throttle, the drum held a very steady 375 for at least 4 hours on one chimney of Kingsford.
Click to expand...

Just 3 intakes? With 4 I can go 450 easy for using the drum like an oven. Cook biscuits, cornbread, etc.
 
Hugh Jorgan said:
Absolutely farking genius on the basket design and u bolts for raising the basket for grilling! Thanks. looking forward to the finished product.
Click to expand...


bingo! i have 2 drums in the garage and i now see how i can do up the basket. brilliant!!!
 
That baby is beautiful! I saw a UDS last weekend that use Eye Bolts to hold the cooking grates and didn't ask why they were used instead of bolts. Now I know and am going to definitely steal your idea there.

If I can only find someone that could weld a basket as awesome as this....thats the hard part.

Great work!
 
Don't zoom in the welding, please! I don't have gas for my MIG yet, so I had to use cored wire- yuck! At least the basket doesn't show (except here). I'm a toolmaker by trade, and we only like to make things once, and build them to last. I spent a lot of time thinking about it, and reading great stuff here from The Brethren.

True, I only have three holes, but they're 1-1/4", which is bigger than normal. I have an idea cooking for the throttle, and now I have to figure out a clean way to block the other two. The fire started out at 425, and I think I could have kept that up with a full shot of coal. I only used a chimney-full- the basket was about 1/3 of capacity.

With the price of the drum and the lid, plus all of the bling and a couple Weber grates, I'll probably have close to $200 in it- kind of spendy for a home made, but it should last forever.
 
MushCreek said:
The fire started out at 425, and I think I could have kept that up with a full shot of coal. I only used a chimney-full- the basket was about 1/3 of capacity.

With the price of the drum and the lid, plus all of the bling and a couple Weber grates, I'll probably have close to $200 in it- kind of spendy for a home made, but it should last forever.
Click to expand...

That should be fine it's hard to tell the size.

$200 bucks doesn't seem bad at all. Go to the BDS page and check out the price for the stainless model.
 
That's a great looking build you got going on there. i like the U-bolt idea. Where did you score the SS Barrel? Can you get any more??...
 
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