Ugly Drum Smoker

[wayner123]

Thank you for the concern guys. I am aware of the dangers and carcinogenic nature of Cadmium. I was more wondering if you guys have seen barrels like this and if so, what did it turn out to be? Or if you had any ideas on what it might be. I wouldn't think that something that previously held apple juice concentrate would be cadmium plated. But I have been wrong before.

[Sterling]

I'm not a chemist or a materials engineer, but it sure has the look of cadmium plating. Whether or not anyone would ship apple juice in a cad plated barrel is out of my area of expertise.

SS

[h20loo]

Originally Posted by jkstone

OK, so despite my blasphemous disregard for the K.I.S.S. method, On another note, after making my charcoal basket... it is 6" tall and made of expanded metal 4' in circumference... I may cut a notch out that fits my firplace shovel so I can add wood or charcoal as needed. I haven't needed to fill it so I don't see a notch being an issue. Any thoughts?

So do you set your barrel in the charcoal basket?

I was wondering if you're going to keep the UDS going all week long or what is the purpose of adding wood or charcoal?

So here are my thoughts. It's fun to make your barrel your own but there are thousands of barrels out there turning in good Q and the design has stayed fairly simple. No one that has been smoking for a while has felt the need to go back and retrofit their barrel with a door. I think you will find that the door was an exercise in engineering but not a necessity to turn out good Q.
Here is another thought. When adding fuel on top of a fire you are creating a situation of lighting too much charcoal(burning up and down) and then you end up struggling to control your low and slow temps. Inevitably you end up choking down a fire, creating creosote from the wood and a nasty environment in your UDS(nasty tasting food)
Use what you agree with and dismiss the rest!

[h20loo]

Originally Posted by wayner123

Thank you for the concern guys. I am aware of the dangers and carcinogenic nature of Cadmium. I was more wondering if you guys have seen barrels like this and if so, what did it turn out to be? Or if you had any ideas on what it might be. I wouldn't think that something that previously held apple juice concentrate would be cadmium plated. But I have been wrong before.

I didn't realize that Cadmium had such a low melting point(600 deg F). I wonder if it could be sandblasted so as to save the outside appearance. If that could happen then the outside would be safe for use as an UDS. I like the look of that drum.

[jkstone]

Originally Posted by h20loo

So do you set your barrel in the charcoal basket?

I was wondering if you're going to keep the UDS going all week long or what is the purpose of adding wood or charcoal?

So here are my thoughts. It's fun to make your barrel your own but there are thousands of barrels out there turning in good Q and the design has stayed fairly simple. No one that has been smoking for a while has felt the need to go back and retrofit their barrel with a door. I think you will find that the door was an exercise in engineering but not a necessity to turn out good Q.
Here is another thought. When adding fuel on top of a fire you are creating a situation of lighting too much charcoal(burning up and down) and then you end up struggling to control your low and slow temps. Inevitably you end up choking down a fire, creating creosote from the wood and a nasty environment in your UDS(nasty tasting food)
Use what you agree with and dismiss the rest!

4' in circumference, not diameter... A 15" diameter circle is about 4' in circumference.
I am sensing a lot of resistance to my doors. I'm not asking anyone to follow suit... just putting my own spin on the UDS. Sorry if I offended anyone with my design...
I get the feeling I should retract my posts from some of the reactions!
Thanks for the compliments from those who gave them... so far my UDS works wonderfully despite the obvious design flaws I incorporated.

[BadHorsieBBQ]

Originally Posted by jkstone

4' in circumference, not diameter... A 15" diameter circle is about 4' in circumference.
I am sensing a lot of resistance to my doors. I'm not asking anyone to follow suit... just putting my own spin on the UDS. Sorry if I offended anyone with my design...
I get the feeling I should retract my posts from some of the reactions!
Thanks for the compliments from those who gave them... so far my UDS works wonderfully despite the obvious design flaws I incorporated.

No offense taken here. Build it they way you want it and enjoy.

[h20loo]

Originally Posted by jkstone

4' in circumference, not diameter... A 15" diameter circle is about 4' in circumference.
I am sensing a lot of resistance to my doors. I'm not asking anyone to follow suit... just putting my own spin on the UDS. Sorry if I offended anyone with my design...
I get the feeling I should retract my posts from some of the reactions!
Thanks for the compliments from those who gave them... so far my UDS works wonderfully despite the obvious design flaws I incorporated.

LOL- I wondered if I confused that after I posted and left the computer!
No resistance to your doors. I actually like seeing new ideas. My favourite at the moment is the BGE intake. Feeling better?

[jkstone]

It was my bad for putting circumference... looking back through other posts almost everyone used diameter. What is a BGE intake?

[Boshizzle]

It's the stainless steel sliding draft door from a BGE. You can buy them from BGE repair parts suppliers for about $35.00.

http://www.biggreenegg.com/artwork/Diagram.jpg

[HeSmellsLikeSmoke]

Here is the large/medium sized BGE intake on my UDS.

[CmdCtrl]

Jkstone, If my recollection serves, memory not withstanding, my firebox is about 52 inches in circumference so yours should be fine.
With regards to your UDS customization - I think it's a great/clever idea but like some others have stated, isn't at all necessary based on my albeit limited experience. BUt I shall still share it hehe.
Like I said my, firebox is roughly 14-15in diameter, whatever the weber replacement charcoal grate is... and it's 8 inches high. I have a 3 in air gap between the bottom of the firebox and the ash catcher. I've loaded it with as little as 7 lbs of Stubbs or Royal Oak Brickettes which fill about to the middle of the box and then poured a 14- to 1/3 full chimney of lit charcoal in the middle (I use a generic chimney which is smaller than the weber genuine one). I have never run out of charcoal. I have always had coals left over. I haven't had a cook last less than 10 hours. I'm fully confident I have the capacity to run 20 hours before considering adding charcoal. So that's my experience. Hope it helps. Still, looking good mod there and hope you get some great cooks outta there!!!

[Rich Parker]

Originally Posted by jkstone

OK, so despite my blasphemous disregard for the K.I.S.S. method, I am on my second cook and have been holding steady at 225 degrees (give or take 5 degrees either way) for over 4 hours in 35 degree weather. My doors are sealed and not letting any smoke escape so far. I also don't notice any spike in warmth around the doors (holding my hand to the barrel in various places including the door seals).
In other words, "to each his own"! Whether you create the most basic UDS or elaborate on the design... as long as it works, there are no objections on my end.
On another note, after making my charcoal basket... it is 6" tall and made of expanded metal 4' in circumference... I may cut a notch out that fits my firplace shovel so I can add wood or charcoal as needed. I haven't needed to fill it so I don't see a notch being an issue. Any thoughts?

There is another member of the brethren that uses a door on his because he only burns wood in his drum and needs to continuously add fuel.

If you only plan on burning charcoal then a door won't be useful and will only give you grief with air leaks. I use a charcoal grate from a 22 1/2 kettle with 6" of expanded metal which will hold enough charcoal to keep it going 18+ hours.

If you go for it post some pics and how it works and if you would suggest the idea to others.

[Rich Parker]

Originally Posted by HeSmellsLikeSmoke

Here is the large/medium sized BGE intake on my UDS.

Did you make the panel for the intake or buy it?

[Rodney]

Originally Posted by chikenskin

Well I finally got 'er built and seasoned.

I thought I would post a few pics of the fire basket I ended up with.
I used a piece of expndo and welded it to a Weber 18.5" Kettle carcoal grate.
As you can see, I have no legs.
When I bought the expando, it was a "drop" from the steel supplier and it was already 12"wide.
I knew it was going to be a pain to trim it down to 9" so I just welded the charcoal grate up 3" from the bottom and I didn't need the bolts for the legs.
I used the cheap $12 grill from the dollar store for the ash pan.
I couldn't figure out how to secure the pan to the fire basket so I ended up drilling 2 holes opposite each other an running a metal rod all the way through the grill and fire basket to make it all pull out of the UDS as one unit. Now it easy to detach the ash pan from the fire basket for emptying the ash.
I have had a lot of fun building it. This forum is definitely the "Mother of all UDS" threads and has been great inspiration for me to build one. Thanks to you all.
I'm smoking ribs tomorrow...

VERY nice solution! I like it! Maybe I'll do this instead of folding up a 24x24 piece of expando into a 12x12x6 box...

-r

[Rodney]

Originally Posted by wayner123

I am having the hardest time find the proper barrel. Here is the latest one I found:



However, it looks like it's cadmium plated or something. It is being sold as "unpainted inside and out" but it only rusts where the "plating" has been scratched. Any of you have experience with this?

Could be zinc chromate...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:St...on_coating.JPG

-r