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Diamond State Smoker
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i've been trying to locate one of those bottle openers. nice mod.
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Ugly Drum Smoker
- Thread starter jgh1204
- Start date
chip32
MemberGot rid of the matchlight.
OK, I'm doing my first burn right now in my just completed UDS. I hope to cook in it tomorrow for the first time. Any tips?
Meat Burner
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Yeah chip, have a great time and let us know how it works out. The best tip is be PATIENT!!!! The drum takes time to catch up with adjustments so give any adjustment 20 minutes or so to settle in. Have fun bro.
Unfathomable Bastid
Full Fledged Farker
Charcoal lighting strategy?
Hello brethren!
Finished the UDS yesterday. Decided to name her "Black Magic." The wife seriously thinks I'm insane now.
On to my question. Getting the baby lit. I've seen a few different strategies. Assuming I'll need a 7-10 hour burn at 225 degrees, whats the best way to get it started, using how much charcoal (and wood chunks)? Has anyone created a basic guide?
I'm planning my first burn with 5lbs of charcoal and a few wood chunks, but I can't imagine I light an entire charcoal chimney to start it.
Thoughts?
-Bastid
Hello brethren!
Finished the UDS yesterday. Decided to name her "Black Magic." The wife seriously thinks I'm insane now.
On to my question. Getting the baby lit. I've seen a few different strategies. Assuming I'll need a 7-10 hour burn at 225 degrees, whats the best way to get it started, using how much charcoal (and wood chunks)? Has anyone created a basic guide?
I'm planning my first burn with 5lbs of charcoal and a few wood chunks, but I can't imagine I light an entire charcoal chimney to start it.
Thoughts?
-Bastid
chip32
MemberGot rid of the matchlight.
Hey Bastid, here is the advice I got in my Cattle Call thread and it's what I'm going to try later this morning.
Formula One race is over and now it's time to start cooking for the football games.
Cheers.
Unfathomable Bastid
Full Fledged Farker
Thanks Chip!
Yeah, that was the method I went with, but am still unsure on how MUCH charcoal to have in the basket to support that long of a burn. My fire basket is very large (18" in diameter) and also deep (about 15" in height), so filling my basket "nearly to the top" would be close to 20 lbs of charcoal! Probably not very reasonable for a 7-10 hour burn.
I got "Black Magic" humming along at 225 for the last 90 minutes on 4-5 lbs of charcoal. We'll see how long it will hold that temp.
-Bastid
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MushCreek
Full Fledged Farker
I start with about 12-15 lit coals. Too many lit coals will set it up too hot. I would say 10 lbs will handle up to 12-15 hours or so if the temperature stays put. High temps= faster fuel consumption. Once you're cooking, leave the lid ON! Opening the lid allows an inrush of oxygen, which will cause a temperature spike. Too much coal in the basket is better than too little. What doesn't get burned can be used the next time. When you're done cooking, close all of the vents, including the exhaust, and the coals will go out. Next time, knock the loose ash off of the remaining coals, and add enough new fuel for the cook. I've run mine for 13 hours, and still had charcoal left. My basket is 16" in diameter, and 8" high. I've never filled it to the top.
Meat Burner
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Bastid, I would agree with MushCreek. Maybe 8 - 10 lbs of charcoal and only a 12-15 lit placed in the middle of the unlit. Make SURE you catch the temps short on the way up like Harbormaster mentioned. Also, if you leave the lid off for any length of time, you will have a major temp spike that may take hours to get back down. Good luck bro and keep us posted!!
Edit: Bastid, I actually start my drums 55-60 minutes early to make sure the temps are stable. 200 degrees on the side thermometer should be around 225-235 at the center of the grate.
Edit: Bastid, I actually start my drums 55-60 minutes early to make sure the temps are stable. 200 degrees on the side thermometer should be around 225-235 at the center of the grate.
Rodney
Full Fledged Farker
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Comin' in a bit late here, but I wholeheartedly recommend Chris Lilly's recipe, smoked over apple wood. INCREDIBLE. Search the forum for his name and you'll find it.
Unfathomable Bastid
Full Fledged Farker
Thanks Meat Burner/Mush Creek,
Just got back from an afternoon at the mall. When I left at noon I was steady at 225. When I came back at 4:00pm, it was down to 150 - having burned through the charcoal pretty significantly.
Lesson learned? I didn't put nearly enough charcoal in my basket. I probably under-bid by at least half. And it occurs to me that it really shouldn't matter how much charcoal is in the basket. So long as the oxygen flow is maintained appropriately, I should be able to steer it to 225 degrees regardless of how much fuel is in there.
Burning the rest of it off now so that I can start fresh again for another test. Gotta have this down since I'm having 30 idiots over for Thanksgiving and I want to have at least a LITTLE confidence. Btw - anyone have a good smoked turkey recipe?
-Bastid
colonel00
Quintessential Chatty Farker
You are almost always better off with more charcoal than you need. Usually I start with my basket close to 3/4 full which is probably close to 20lbs if not more. Worst case, you have leftover charcoal. Just shut off your intakes and the fire will go out. Use leftover charcoal for next cook.
colonel00
Quintessential Chatty Farker
I finally had a chance to get pics of this UDS and cart I built for a co-worker. Its another fairly simple build that people could emulate with minimal tools and skill. The shelves are obviously from some commercial shelving that was being thrown out. I also used some scraps as the arms that swing out to hold racks when not in the drum. I did this so you could stack the racks and have them full of meat without them dripping on anything on the cart.
Unfathomable Bastid
Full Fledged Farker
Distance from charcoal to cooking grate
Hey all,
Another question for you.
The barrel I bought is a bit shorter (34" height) than most. Consequently I don't have as much usable space in the drum. I built my cooking level at 7 inches below the lip, but after I had the fire basket fabricated -- I realized that the difference between the bottom of the fire basket is only 22" from the cooking grate. It seems that the experts maintain I need a minimum of 24" separation. So, I'm two inches short (insert joke here). This is further exacerbated if I'm using 15 lbs of charcoal that are 4-5 inches of height in the basket.
Will the missing two inches cause significant adverse effect? I wouldn't think 22 inches would be so much different than 24.
Thoughts?
-Bastid
Hey all,
Another question for you.
The barrel I bought is a bit shorter (34" height) than most. Consequently I don't have as much usable space in the drum. I built my cooking level at 7 inches below the lip, but after I had the fire basket fabricated -- I realized that the difference between the bottom of the fire basket is only 22" from the cooking grate. It seems that the experts maintain I need a minimum of 24" separation. So, I'm two inches short (insert joke here). This is further exacerbated if I'm using 15 lbs of charcoal that are 4-5 inches of height in the basket.
Will the missing two inches cause significant adverse effect? I wouldn't think 22 inches would be so much different than 24.
Thoughts?
-Bastid
abigphish
Well-known member
Well got my first meal off the UDS today. I used "Stubbs" charcoal and hickory chunks. What a difference using a good quality charcoal and wood chunks. I have been smoking on a Brinkman electric smoker for about 15 years. I never wanted to use anything else, until I stumble upon this UDS thread. Took me two weeks to make one and WOW. I AM LOVING IT. I will admit I have some learning to do and look forward to enjoying the Q that will come from burning more charcoals. (I have no patients when I adjust the intakes I want to see results right then. That just aint happening when smoking.)
I had a leap of faith in my ability to use the UDS and invited my bud and his wife over for smoked chicken. Well he had the faith. I cook the chicken for about 3 ½ hours and they came out great. I kept the spices simple, salt, pepper, and a little butter. I also tried my hand at ABT for the first time, I’ll be making a lot more of them. Made a few with bell peppers for my wife (she don’t like no hot stuff) and they were good as well.
I have pron but my card reader is messed up so that means another post at a later time.
Thanks for all the good ideas and reading material. I could not have been successful without it.
J
I do have a question, HOW THE HECK DO YOU GUYS GET ROUND CHARCOAL BASKETS? The smallest I could get mine was about 17 inches and it looks like crap. So I built a square one.
I had a leap of faith in my ability to use the UDS and invited my bud and his wife over for smoked chicken. Well he had the faith. I cook the chicken for about 3 ½ hours and they came out great. I kept the spices simple, salt, pepper, and a little butter. I also tried my hand at ABT for the first time, I’ll be making a lot more of them. Made a few with bell peppers for my wife (she don’t like no hot stuff) and they were good as well.
I have pron but my card reader is messed up so that means another post at a later time.
Thanks for all the good ideas and reading material. I could not have been successful without it.
J
I do have a question, HOW THE HECK DO YOU GUYS GET ROUND CHARCOAL BASKETS? The smallest I could get mine was about 17 inches and it looks like crap. So I built a square one.
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colonel00
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Depending on the type of expanded metal you get it can be tough. If you get the stuff from Home Depot or Lowe's you can usually for it into a circle. One tip is to use (very carfully) a propane tank. If you have thicker metal, it can be even tougher. If you look at the pics above, I used a tank to roll that basket but still didn't get the ends to bend well. If you do have the thicker stuff, where did you get it? If it was from a metal fab/welder as a drop, you might ask them if they can form it for you.
samiam
Knows what a fatty is.
There is a "grain" to the expanded metal. If you bend it with the long points of the diamond shapes vertical it will bend much easier than if they are horizontal, allowing you to get a tighter radius.
caliking
is Blowin Smoke!
I had the same problem. What I found worked best was to measure the circumference (= 3.14 x diameter) needed and divide by 2. Measure the expando so you have two equal lengths ( each one should equal half of the circumference needed. Bolt up the expando end to end, then carefully approximate the other ends into a circle and bolt them together. Somehow this worked much better than trying to roll the expando around a propane tank.
R
redbandit98
Guest
I went to a local fab shop to get my baskets rolled. I used the thick expanded metal...your not bending this stuff without a machine or a torch and lot of your time. I told the guys I needed two pieces of some "scrap" expando rolled into a basket. They looked around and found a few pieces, sheared it on the machine and rolled it into a basket. I then wen to the corner store and bought two 30 packs of beer and took it back to them. I took the baskets home and tack welded them together. They will last forever since I went with the heavy duty stuff. The home depot expando is too thin for my tastes.
SmokerKing
is One Chatty Farker
I use a Weber charcoal grate as my "form" for the charcoal baskets. I weld a 1" x 1/8" x 8" vertical to the grate and proceed to form the metal to the grate as I weld it.
Comes out about 18" diameter and 8" high. Can hold up to a 10 lb bag.
Comes out about 18" diameter and 8" high. Can hold up to a 10 lb bag.
Southern Home Boy
is Blowin Smoke!
I think you should be fine. The closer you get to your fire, the hotter your cooking surface obviously but you should be able to control your temps sufficiently to account for that. It's been my experience that there's about a 50 degree temperature gradient for every 3"-4" distance from the fire. I have two grates on my drums. The bottom is between 23" and 24" from the bottom of the fire basket. The grate above it is 4" above and consistently runs 50 degrees cooler than the bottom grate.
I'd think that dropping your cooking grate to just 22" would only mean that you'd need to dampen your fire down a little more.
