Official Start of the SS UDS

[Paul B]

Thanks for all the atta boys.....

Will get it dirty as soon as I get a handle on the temps. Did a first burn last night and couldn't controll the temps worth a hoot. I think I got off to tooo hot a start!! And my lid doesn't fit as good as I would like it to. On the plus side I did get a 12+ hour burn out of about a half a bag of kingsford char. And that with temps well above 220*!! If, or I should say when I get the temp dialed in super long cooks shouldn't be a problem.
The long temp gagues are turkey fryer thermometers. I have them about a 1/2 inch below each grate. I also have a digital them. for sticking the meat.
I have about $135 into it at this point. I think pretty cheap since a SS barrel is about $500+ by itself!!!!! Mine was only $5.00 at a garage sale.

Someone asked about how SS would hold up after a bunch of cooks. Let me tell you it probably will last forever. A friend of mine has one of those portable fireplaces on wheels made of SS and new costs around $350, his garage sale find for $50!!!! We have used it at his hunt camp for outside fires and cooking for well over 3 years now, and that's with roaring, flames coming outside the screen and licking above the domed lid. The thing looks damned near new with only the nicest patina to the SS. So, there it is, I think I will have a lifetime UDS!!!! Unless one of ya'll come by and make it grow legs LOL.

Again, thanks for all the encourgment and praises.........

I will continue to post as updates come, or questions are asked.

Paul B

[Paul B]

Originally Posted by Dr_KY

One beautiful cooker!!

As for your temps I would suggest using less raw fuel and catching the temps on the way up a bit sooner.

That's what I thought too. With only about 10 bricks lit it was getting almost too hot to put the grates in!!! Will go with less next time.

Paul B

[Phubar]

Originally Posted by Paul B

Well, ummmmm, YAAA!!!! Even picked up the weber measuring cup and baster for a mere $4 and some change!!!

Paul B

It was a retorical question.

[Paul B]

Some new pics of the build. I needed a fix for my lid that didn't quit fit, even after taking a ball pean to it!! I must have an odd size drum? So I added 4 small bolts to align the lid on the barrel. Only problem is that now it sits up about a lite 1/8th inch. Need some fire gasket material to take care of it.



Here are some pics of it dirty, no food yet just seasoning.




Here is a new use for a plant hanger:



A couple of more:




Will try to cook something next weekend.

Paul B

[Toploader]

Nice job Paul, that drum is pimp! I think you'll be fine with less fuel and get a handle on the heat. Also I insulated my fry gauge with a cork as when I tested it out it was getting the reading off the drum and not the inside temp. I ran my digi multi meter down to the grill and got a different reading(lower). Not sure if thats your case or not.

[anamosity]

That thing if nothing else is beautiful. Nice job, cant wait to see how it does on holding temps on a long cook.

[Babyboomerboy]

Iam sorry, but with that smoker, you will not be allowed in the Ugly Drum Smoker club. You'll have to join the WOW Thats pretty smoker club. Great job building and putting those parts together.

[Paul B]

Thanks guys. Should be able to hold temps. My mistake I think was starting with too many lit coals. This Sat. will do another run. After all I did run in excess of 300* for almost 12 hours. Still had a huge handful of smaller coals left.

I'm sorry it looks so shiney and beautiful(LOL), but SS is what it is....and I know ya'll are just seriously jealous!!!.

Dinner pron: (on a Smokey Joe )



Paul B

[Paul B]

I needed to add 4 bolts to the rim of the new SS lid to help center and keep it from sliding off!! That was a good fix execpt that now it sits about a lite 1/8th inch off the drum. So off to the fireplace store for some furnace gasket material. Here are a couple of pics:





The red stuff is high temp silcone engine gasket maker. I got a tube of stove gasket cement with the furnace gasket but is was too hard to squeeze out of the tube. Must have been old?? I wanted to get this glued on so I used the high temp gasket goo. Should hold.

Now I can't wait for either friday afternoon or sat morning so I can see how this thing will run temp wise. Had trouble with the first run, but got it seasoned. I think I need to start with fewer lit coals and let temps come up more slowly.

I'll report back................

Paul B

[Paul B]

Some new pics. Temps are now manageable, and you can see the furnace gasket between the lid and the drum.





And my first fattei:


Paul B

[MushCreek]

I'm starting a SS UDS- today, in fact! That's how I found this site- doing research about a drum smoker. I think the SS UDS needs a name of it's own- it definitely doen't fit into the 'Ugly' category!

I paid $40 for my SS drum- craigslist. I have most of the other stuff on hand. I'll start with the fire box first. I'm not going to cut the top out until I zero in on a cover. My Weber cover is just a little too small, although I can balance it on there. I've researched all over, and beside the arctic lids, I also found SS bowls and wok covers in the 22 to 22.5" range. If I go that route, I'll leave a lip inside the bead for the top to rest on. Another idea I had is to take a strip of 1/8" SS and wrap it around the inside of the bead, and have it stick up enough for the lid to sit on. If my Weber lid will work, I won't spend any more money on anything else.

Couple questions for you, Paul. Did you polish your drum, or did it come that way? Mine's not that shiny. Can you give me an exact inside measurement on the arctic lid? I'd hate to order one and have it not fit. How did you buy it? Their site said something about no direct sales- you have to go through a dealer? I tried rolling the bead inward on the drum- yeah, right! That SS is tough stuff!

The stainless steel should last forever. I have a friend with an offset smoker he made out of two SS drums, and it looks brand new after 10 years of use.

I'll try to take pictures along the way, especially if I do anything 'unique' on my build.

[Pole D]

Great looking!

Quick question - What are you use to hold the long thermometers?

[Paul B]

Originally Posted by Pole D

Great looking!

Quick question - What are you use to hold the long thermometers?

Somewhere on here someone suggested to use a Watts 1/4" barb x 1/4" MIP fitting ( A-192 ) found at Loew's in my case. I used a 1/4"barb x either 3/16 or 1/8" MIP. Smaller hole to drill into the drum. Then a couple of ss washers and a cap with a hole drilled in it. Just about the only thing on my SS UDS that isn't stainless!!

Paul B

[azkitch]

That's stinkin' b YOO tiful!!

[Paul B]

Originally Posted by MushCreek

I'm starting a SS UDS- today, in fact! That's how I found this site- doing research about a drum smoker. I think the SS UDS needs a name of it's own- it definitely doen't fit into the 'Ugly' category!

I paid $40 for my SS drum- craigslist. I have most of the other stuff on hand. I'll start with the fire box first. I'm not going to cut the top out until I zero in on a cover. My Weber cover is just a little too small, although I can balance it on there. I've researched all over, and beside the arctic lids, I also found SS bowls and wok covers in the 22 to 22.5" range. If I go that route, I'll leave a lip inside the bead for the top to rest on. Another idea I had is to take a strip of 1/8" SS and wrap it around the inside of the bead, and have it stick up enough for the lid to sit on. If my Weber lid will work, I won't spend any more money on anything else.




Couple questions for you, Paul. Did you polish your drum, or did it come that way? Mine's not that shiny. Can you give me an exact inside measurement on the arctic lid? I'd hate to order one and have it not fit. How did you buy it? Their site said something about no direct sales- you have to go through a dealer? I tried rolling the bead inward on the drum- yeah, right! That SS is tough stuff!

The stainless steel should last forever. I have a friend with an offset smoker he made out of two SS drums, and it looks brand new after 10 years of use.

I'll try to take pictures along the way, especially if I do anything 'unique' on my build.

"Couple questions for you, Paul. Did you polish your drum, or did it come that way? Mine's not that shiny. Can you give me an exact inside measurement on the arctic lid? I'd hate to order one and have it not fit. How did you buy it? Their site said something about no direct sales- you have to go through a dealer? I tried rolling the bead inward on the drum- yeah, right! That SS is tough stuff!"

No I did not polish it was that way....
Not any more as I have mashed it out some to try and get it to fit. I was told it was a scosh over 23" so I thought I could make it fit with some persuation. Didn't happen. It would stay on the drum but I wasn't comfortable that it would with any kind of breeze. So the remedy was to drill 4 holes evenly spaced and inserted 4 #6 or 8 bolts(skinny) in the holes and held with nuts. Can be seen in my build pics. After doing this the nuts held the lid a lite 1/8" above the drum so off to th furnace gasket store and problem solved.
Bought direct from the site. I called them and spoke to some wonder folks there and bugging them with taking measurments for me. I think since I wasn't ordering a complete unit(parts only) they sold to me direct. If I remember right it measured 23", my drum measures 23" so I thought I could beat it as some have done with weber lids of the same ilk and were sucessful. From all my reading though these drums have a slight difference in measurements from company to company and from region to region.
Where there is a will there is a way, and you are right this drum should last a lifetime...........
By the way my drum now works great, tomorrow I think I will try some ribs.

Paul B