Ugly Drum Smoker

[darthtrader]

Thanks for the advice guys. Didn't even think about any chemicals like that.

[stl-rich]

In the St Louis area you can buy Refurbed Unlined Opentop 55 drums from Container Distributors, Venice, IL $30. Why mess around?

Any one know a source of Expaneded Metal for my Charcoal Container in the St Louis area?

TIA

[Sammy_Shuford]

Originally Posted by stl-rich

In the St Louis area you can buy Refurbed Unlined Opentop 55 drums from Container Distributors, Venice, IL $30. Why mess around?

Any one know a source of Expaneded Metal for my Charcoal Container in the St Louis area?

TIA

You have local "box" stores? Home Depot, Lowes, they all have expanded metal. Not a lot, but my fire box was made from it.

[Norcoredneck]

Found a stainless drum for $70. All I need is another project.

[stl-rich]

If I email you a stamp, would you ship it to me? I'd love to have a Stainless WTS

[stl-rich]

Originally Posted by Sammy_Shuford

You have local "box" stores? Home Depot, Lowes, they all have expanded metal. Not a lot, but my fire box was made from it.

I went to HD - they didn't even know what EXPANDED METAL is. I hate HD, I'll try Lowes.

[darthtrader]

Originally Posted by stl-rich

I went to HD - they didn't even know what EXPANDED METAL is. I hate HD, I'll try Lowes.

If HD and Lowes doesn't have it, then try googling "St Louis, MO metal supply." I tried and got lots of listings for possible sources. If that doesn't work, try a welding shop.

[Gonesledn]

stl-rich,

here is the part numbers for what you need at the home depot in st louis. shows them in stock for sale at the store

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...atalogId=10053

[Norcoredneck]

It is usually in HD where the hardware/bar stock is. It is in a flat box with a viewing hole in the center.

[Howtobrew]

Here are pictures of the expanded metal basket I just made.
I used the Weber 13.5" diameter charcoal grate, and then 12" x 48" piece of expanded metal that I bought from McMaster Carr (had to buy a 48x48 piece and cut it).
I then took baling wire and tied the grate to the EM every other diamond, setting the grate two inches up from the bottom, leaving me 10" high of basket. I then brazed the EM to the grate using MAPP gas and Bernzomatic copper/bronze brazing rods. (I forget which they were, whichever melts at 1650F). The brazing worked quite well and the baling wire ties got incorporated into the joint for added strength.

Next, I am waiting for my 20" deep dish aluminum pizza pan to arrive from Amazon for the ash tray.

[smokindave74]

Did my maiden UDS cook yesterday.....I have a basic Norcoredneck design, will have to post a pic or two later on.

I probably overdid the cook........6 racks of baby backs and about 18 buffalo wings.....things were a little crowded, to say the least.

Read a lot of this thread, but did not read enough about temp control and lid removal for meat tending. I will have to adjust my cooking procedure, and take the loaded grates OUT to baste and shuffle meats, with the lid still on. I took the lid off a couple times for about 2 minutes or so, and things really fired up, and I got too much smoke and I suffered some pretty major temp spikes.....up over 290-300 about 2 or three times.......was really hard to get the thing back down under 240 or so. I did shut down the intakes before pulling the lid, but it still spikes. The key is to leave that lid on 99.9% of the time.

Ribs turned out okay, but did have a little Kingsford taste and were not as tender as on my other equipment.....my guess was that I had too much smoldering/creosote when I shut the thing down to bring down the temp spike.

Next time I think I will probably use the top rack only, and only cook about half as much meat. Keep the air moving. I noticed a lot of thicker white smoke whenever I pulled lid to shuffle things around.

Firing the thing up, loading the meat, and leaving it alone......are key steps. Maybe I need to just sauce and then cook in the sauce, with the lid off, right at the end, before pulling the meat.

Any thoughts or observations?

Thanks,

SmokinDave

[Sammy_Shuford]

Originally Posted by stl-rich

I went to HD - they didn't even know what EXPANDED METAL is. I hate HD, I'll try Lowes.

You have to look for it! The kids at the stores only know games, not materials.

[McGurk]

If you are in the midwest and have a Menards chain store nearby, they have cheapo tabletop grills on sale for $5. They have an 18" pan that will work perfectly for an ash collector on the bottom of your drum. I'm also going to trim the grate down and set it inside my coal basket on top of my existing coal grate to reduce fall-through.

I know people have found these cheaper elsewhere, but this is as cheap as I've seen them at Menards, and they have pallets of them to sell. I'm sure they'll be cheap around Labor Day, too.

On a side note, boys and girls, we have hit over 1,000,000 views of this thread. I wonder if that's also how many bites of good food have been taken from cooks on UDSs built here! Imagine all of the drums used, lined up side by side, and all fired up at the same time. That would be one impressive cook!

[toddrod]

I have a used closed head mineral oil barrel now and I think once I cut the top off I will sacrifice my cheap Lowes Uniflame charcoal pit and weld it to the top, after I cut it to the approp. size. That way I will have a nice domed lid.

[righteousdog]

update on the twins...