Ugly Drum Smoker

Mine is a open top. It has a lip on it. With the lip it sits just on top. Still trying to figure it out. Thanks for the reply.

HawkeyeQue said:

Pick my tool of choice, to cut the end of my 55 gal I have a Sawzall, a rotozip, or an angle grinder. Which of those 3 would you recommend to make the cleanest cut on my closed ended barrel?

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If those are your choices, a Sawzall.

You lost me here, "check side temps"?

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Sliding gauge out a little to check grill temps in different areas of the grill. Like I said It doesn't matter much at least on mine but when I was learning the UDS it gave me an idea of what was going on with the drum inside. My temps are fairly uniform from center to edge of grill once the UDS settles into it's groove. I was bored of just watching the UDS cook and not having to do anything to it, so I played a little.

Mark said:

If those are your choices, a Sawzall.

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grinder hands down most chaps cant cut metal with those things and waste blades, disc's are cheap.


:smile:

I've never used a grinder and only had a Sawzall to cut mine with. Used a 24 tpi blade and it cut the top like melted butta. It was pretty easy to keep the blade right flush with the side and made a real clean cut with minimal clean-up.If you feel more comfortable with the grinder it'll likely work real good too.

recipes?

Still looking around on what type of drum I want to go with.

My question is this:

Right now I have a small propane with water pan vertical smoker. I have never had to flip the meat for brisket, ribs and butts for pulled pork. I have seen a few posts that mention flipping the meat. Could you post what you have had to do to the meat during cooking? Ie if I am doing some butts I have always heard to keep the fat cap on top so that it sort of bastes the meat as it cooks and ribs I always put bone side down. How will this need to change once I build a uds?

Also I was thinking instead of having a huge modification for a water pan thats integrated into the charcoal box and one that is easily changed I was going to add another grate just above where the coal basket ends and then if I want water I can put disposable tin foil baking dishes on top and fill them with water. If nothing else I could experiment (the engineer in me) with different size/configuration of water pans such that I diffuse the heat and smoke from being just in the center with a small water pan or along the perimeter etc. Anyone tried this?

Obnepec

Thanks to all for the valuable info. Once I realized I didn't need to weld, the rest was easy. Well, to a point. Drill holes, no sweat. A friend found a weber kettle on the sidewalk to be given away. Lip was cut off with no problem. Even the barrel burn went fine after my wife left for the weekend (something to do about now getting caught).

But the thought of the noise, the dust, and the dark (It would be a tight fit in there), just wouldn't cut it. For a minimal amount, I had it sandblasted and powdercoated. My wife just won't go for ugly.

A friend noted it was the best chicken she ever tested. The got her husband riled up and a week later, he issued a throwdown challenge. I guess I'll just have to rough him up...

smily said:

grinder hands down most chaps cant cut metal with those things and waste blades, disc's are cheap.


:smile:

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metal cut-off disks on grinders are great for straight cuts but suck at curved cuts.

WOW!!! This is one crazy thread. This thread alone, though I didnt read the entire thread, has helped me to better understand the UDS concept and all I needed to know about it. You guys are so much more than informative in all the best ways to not only build, but effectively use and cook a fabulous range of meats. My UDS is coming home this saturday. I didnt make it, but I will in fact upgrade it to best suit my likes. And I am sure if I have any problems, I simply need only to span this encyclopedia of knowledge in this thread.

Rob

Bugnasty said:

My UDS is coming home this saturday. I didnt make it, but I will in fact upgrade it to best suit my likes.
Rob

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Yeah some people marry pregnant women and miss most of the fun.:biggrin: Welcome to the Drum Corps. Remember to post pics.

Awwwwwww.....C'mon!!!!!

I keep reading this thread (I think I'm on like page 35) and you guys just keep making it LONGER!!!! At this rate, it'll be Christmas before I read it all!!!!!

LOL!! :lol:

Just kiddin.....all good stuff. I'm probably ready, but just afraid I'm gonna miss an important mod!!!

Wampus said:

:lol:
Just kiddin.....all good stuff. I'm probably ready, but just afraid I'm gonna miss an important mod!!!

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That's one of the reasons why I kept reading this thread.

Phubar said:

That's one of the reasons why I kept reading this thread.

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If you find the post regarding if and how a redneck would build it, you could skip over this extremely long 240+ reading as you're not missing a whole lot of anything above and beyond the KISS principle behind the UDS build assuming you're past the cleaning/burn stage.

1. Drill Intake holes at either 3/4 or 1 inch in size, use either capped nipple valves/ball valve or magnets to control airflow
2. Construct charcoal basket with at least 3 inches clearance below for airflow
3. install cooking grate at least 24 inches above charcoal pan/plate/basket (leaves about 6-8 inches of space if using the flat lid and 2 inch bung as exhaust port)
4. Install thermometer at or just slightly above or below cook grate level
5. Add 6 inch tall by 2 inch ID pipe to flat lid bung for exhaust
6. COOK BABY COOK!

Get the concept build down first and cook with it a few times to see how it runs then either modify it or build another using the first as your template then modify. Don't need to read 240+ pages to learn how to do 6 things that take probably less than an hour to do. Don't mean this to sound rude or anything, but after the first 160 pages, several thread hijacks and off track what nots, you pretty much have about all the information you need, everything else is someone's else's custom mod/enhancement unless you just enjoy the reading.

helljack6 said:

Don't mean this to sound rude or anything, but after the first 160 pages, several thread hijacks and off track what nots, you pretty much have about all the information you need, everything else is someone's else's custom mod/enhancement unless you just enjoy the reading.

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Thanx Helljack!
I hope a lot of other reading this because I have the feeling lately that people are asking questions before reading.
When I saw Norco's tutorial and read on the forum that many guys follow his kind of build a thoughtk,this is it!?
I'm gonna build me one of these!
I love this thread very much and the reason why I said I don´t wanna miss out on any mods that are posted is because I´m still busy with the build.
Plus I like the ammount of info in the off track discussions too.
Most important of all is that I used Norco´s tutorial and did a couple of mods which I think will work for me.
Here are some pics if you haven´t seen em yet in this thread.
Norco´s tutorial rules!

OK, I have a pretty stupid question. My barrel had extra virgin olive oil in it. once I open it up can I just take it to the car wash and use the soap that comes out of that gun to get all of the oil out or do I need to use some sort of degreaser?

It's pre-seasoned. You're golden!

Norcoredneck said:

Yeah some people marry pregnant women and miss most of the fun.:biggrin: Welcome to the Drum Corps. Remember to post pics.

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Awesome!

good looking UDS you've built there phubar. good luck and Smoke on Bro.:-D

schoonch said:

It's pre-seasoned. You're golden!

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He´s right!
Mine had palmoil,I let it stand in the hot sun upside down so I could drain it through the hole,let it drip in a bucket and washed the barrel with a degreaser.

deeque said:

good looking UDS you've built there phubar. good luck and Smoke on Bro.:-D

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Doing my best bro´!
Hopefully you´ll see the end results soon.
Can´t wait till my first smoke!