Ugly Drum Smoker

[mikeylikesit5805]

Well Gents,

My time has come for my build! I picked up this barrel for free from a local machine shop in town. It had mineral oil inside, that should be ok for smoking in right? Also do you drill holes before the first burn to help it out?

Im sure this was answered somewhere already but I havent seen it yet, and im only on page like 120.

[ebijack]

Yep, you need to decide what your going to do for your intake/intakes, drill your holes so you can enough air flow to burn hot. Everything is answered in this thread, take your time, take notes while you read, get a game plan together. Copy/paste notes from the pages, also put the page number with your notes so you can go back and look at photos etc. Decide what type lid your going to use. And have fun and do some awesome cooks!

[smoking bear]

nice looking drum. Really like the spike collar and the side pipes

[knitmar]

Can you describ and tell us about the seal between the drum and dome lid. Looks like red RTV. And how did you apply/form the seal. I've got the 1/8" X 2" aluminum plate around my drum and the doome llid is a bit loose. How did you do it and make such a neat, attractive job?

[Zombalini]

Originally Posted by jcinadr

I guess I need to move forward with the eternal quest of perfecting my UDS. My drum already has a very effective air intake diffuser, great fire basket and ash pan and a DigiQ II. I don't think any changes will really improve the quality of the cook...

1) improve air management system with CyberQ Wifi and a removable blower
2) improve convenience and mobility with casters or cart (currently sitting on bricks)
3) improve water management with water shedding lid (current lid holds water)
4) improve bbq'er attitude by adding bottle opener.
5) improve capacity by adding additional grid
6) improve capacity by adding removable smoker box (for making smoked sausage)
6) improve aesthetics with powdercoat

So many little things to make life better.

Curious about the removable smoker box. I just completed a uds and have two smokes thru it. I would love to know how to use for smoking sausage.

[Uro]

I just got a stainless barrel to begin my UDS build. I noticed when I placed my weber 22 inch lid on top of the barrel it was to big. Almost like the barrel top is warped or my lid is. My barrel did not come with a lid. When I place the webber lid on it I can feel about a 1/2 inch gap between barrel and lid. Any suggestions to obtain a good seal without welding and fancying fabrication. Thank you

[jcinadr]

If you want a great burn, used forced air injection though your vent holes.. Shop vac exhaust comes to mind. Turns your UDS into a blast furnace.


Removable smoker box - I make my own sausage. Most of the sausage I make is at a "sausage party" every year. The advantage of the party is that we have 2 very modern 500lb capacity smokehouses available (they are the result of much research and evolution over decades). We have smoked as much as 3000lbs of sausage in a weekend. My idea was to use the UDS as a smoke generator for a 100lb capacity mini smokehouse. I would either use flexible hose to channel the smoke to the smokehouse from the chimney, or just put the smokehouse on top of the uds instead of a lid. Key to my design is using an electronic draft control - using a high tech smokehouse really spoils you.

fwiw the smokehouse master at our party has tried to convince me to get an old metal refrigerator to build out into my smokehouse. That said, I suspect I will stick with wood.

[Dr. Trout Bum]

What kind of place did you guys find to sandblast your drums? I've called around my area and no one really wants to do it because of the blowback they'll get shooting into the closed end of a drum.

[kloenie]

Just got my UDS done.

Thanxs tot everybody for this awesome topic.
Wil make a new build topic when i am at home.

Done

[mudderfudder77]

Originally Posted by kloenie

Just got my UDS done.

Thanxs tot everybody for this awesome topic.
Wil make a new build topic when i am at home.

Done

Love the extensions for your ball valves. Looks great, nice work!

[mslauver]

jcinard,

I was in the same boat as you. I was not happy with the typical rattle can paint job...spent some money on a low end paint gun and found out I am not much of a painter. I did some research on powder coating, bought a gun and built an oven that I could fit a 55 gallon drum in.
I have found that the prep time is about the same for powder coating compared to painting, but the end results are so much better.
The cost for a pound of powder is anywhere from $8.00 to $20.00 depending on how fancy you want to go.
I have built about a dozen of these smokers and can almost coat two barrels, lids, 3/4 caps and ball valves with a pound of powder.
I used a hammered black powder coating that looks really good on these barrels. I am getting ready to build myself a "top of the line" smoker with all the bells and whistles that I think I need, and I am planning on using two different colors on the barrel and intake pipes.

I am not that far away from you, and would be happy to talk you through the process.

[grillinguy247]

Originally Posted by kloenie

Just got my UDS done.

Thanxs tot everybody for this awesome topic.
Wil make a new build topic when i am at home.

Done

Where'd you get the extensions for those ball valves? I like that better than putting a 90 degree angle.

[kloenie]

Originally Posted by grillinguy247

Where'd you get the extensions for those ball valves? I like that better than putting a 90 degree angle.

I made it myself.... Wil make a topic now with beter pictures.

[RT]

Nice job kloenie...........

[Adubree86]

Finally completed my uds. Been creeping around here for about a year now but never posted. What I did for my ball valve extension was remove the handle from the ball valve and connect a piece of threaded rod with a coupler and epoxy it all together. Worked out great. My UDS is currently on its mayden voyage smoking a fatty and some beans. Can't wait to try the food.