Ugly Drum Smoker

[sdb25]

Originally Posted by MariettaSmoker

I don't find a lot but I do find some. I'm thinking I'm losing it too as it burns, it settles and dropping through. It's making me scratch my head for sure. Maybe there was too much ash in it already before the cook. I didn't empty it out but there didn't appear to be a Loy of ash but maybe I need to empty after every cook?

just line that milk crate with expando, or ditch it all together and make a new one.

[AJP]

Originally Posted by MariettaSmoker

I don't find a lot but I do find some. I'm thinking I'm losing it too as it burns, it settles and dropping through. It's making me scratch my head for sure. Maybe there was too much ash in it already before the cook. I didn't empty it out but there didn't appear to be a Loy of ash but maybe I need to empty after every cook?

I did 4 cooks using 20lbs of lump before I cleaned it the first time for me.

I'd say fix up your basket a bit and see what that does.

[MushCreek]

Rodney- You want your exhaust open while you are cooking- otherwise you can get creosote on your food- tastes as nasty as it sounds!

As for U-bolts- M. Carr has them in SS or black oxide steel. You don't want galvanized or zinc coated in the cooking area. I used acorn nuts on the outside of the drum for a dressed appearance. The grate can move around a little on the U-bolts, but it won't fall.

[Rodney]

Originally Posted by MushCreek

Rodney- You want your exhaust open while you are cooking- otherwise you can get creosote on your food- tastes as nasty as it sounds!

As for U-bolts- M. Carr has them in SS or black oxide steel. You don't want galvanized or zinc coated in the cooking area. I used acorn nuts on the outside of the drum for a dressed appearance. The grate can move around a little on the U-bolts, but it won't fall.

Yeah, I know it should be open during cooking, just didn't know if throttling it served any purpose. So far I've deduced that it should be big enough to not act as much of a restriction to flow, but small enough that it ensures one-way flow, as opposed to (let's say) a 12" exhaust that would allow some air to swirl back into the drum and feed the fire. I guess a chimney would mainly just achieve this goal during very low temp smokes, and would also probably create a suction that would draw more air into the smoker (which you'd just throttle back anyway, so no benefit there, right?)

Good call on the acorn nuts... Yeah, I have a whole parts list put together for hardware and handles from McMaster, and it's getting pricey. ;-) Might downgrade to Home Depot hardware. As for the zinc plating, I would expect that it'd be fine everywhere but on the charcoal basket, as you're not going to get enough heat into the zinc to oxidize it anywhere on the drum... Right?

-Rodney

[AJP]

Originally Posted by Rodney

Yeah, I know it should be open during cooking, just didn't know if throttling it served any purpose. So far I've deduced that it should be big enough to not act as much of a restriction to flow, but small enough that it ensures one-way flow, as opposed to (let's say) a 12" exhaust that would allow some air to swirl back into the drum and feed the fire. I guess a chimney would mainly just achieve this goal during very low temp smokes, and would also probably create a suction that would draw more air into the smoker (which you'd just throttle back anyway, so no benefit there, right?)

Good call on the acorn nuts... Yeah, I have a whole parts list put together for hardware and handles from McMaster, and it's getting pricey. ;-) Might downgrade to Home Depot hardware. As for the zinc plating, I would expect that it'd be fine everywhere but on the charcoal basket, as you're not going to get enough heat into the zinc to oxidize it anywhere on the drum... Right?

-Rodney

For peace of mind I'd pay a bit more for stainless steel for anything that is inside the smoker.

[MushCreek]

I added brackets to my firebasket that allow me to mount it on the lower set of U-bolts so I can use the UDS as a grill for steaks and burgers. It gets pretty hot- so no zinc for me. You could always burn it off with a torch, I guess. I spent quite a bit on all SS hardware to go with my SS drum. Now all that bling is black with smoke (on the inside) so I guess black oxide would work just as well.

[Rodney]

Originally Posted by MushCreek

I added brackets to my firebasket that allow me to mount it on the lower set of U-bolts so I can use the UDS as a grill for steaks and burgers. It gets pretty hot- so no zinc for me. You could always burn it off with a torch, I guess. I spent quite a bit on all SS hardware to go with my SS drum. Now all that bling is black with smoke (on the inside) so I guess black oxide would work just as well.

Yeah, I'll put together a parts list with as much black oxide stuff as I can. I do know that black oxide steel will rust if left outside, so I'll probably end up with a bunch of stainless too. ;-) Oh well... Do it right, do it once...

-r

[brotherbd]

Knew that would get your attention.

I'm talking about nekid nuts bolts and stuff, not people.

I want to strip the galvanizing plating off the bolts and stuff for a UDS build.

I think I remember somewhere Norco talking about using muratic acid to strip off the plating. Is that correct Norco or anybody else?

About how long does it take to strip? I know reactions depend on temp, acid % and stuff but I mean just in general with the stuff you can get at the pool supply or the plumbing dept. Am I looking at minutes or hours?

I worked in a few job shops a long time ago and I seem to recall doing something like this because we needed to do some welded bolts or nuts or something on a project and didn't want to give the welders a problem with toxic fumes.

I'm building about 5 UDS's at once and I just can't see paying SS prices if I can get it done with galv. steel parts and some pool acid.

Thanks in advance for your kindly replies,

brotherbd

[UVaJester]

Originally Posted by MushCreek

As for U-bolts- M. Carr has them in SS or black oxide steel. You don't want galvanized or zinc coated in the cooking area. I used acorn nuts on the outside of the drum for a dressed appearance. The grate can move around a little on the U-bolts, but it won't fall.

What size U-bolts are the best to use..?? I'm collecting my parts right now... Already cut the lid out, have a cooking grate, and a dome lid for the top... Hopefully going to do the burn out this weekend.

[Rodney]

Originally Posted by brotherbd

Knew that would get your attention.

I'm talking about nekid nuts bolts and stuff, not people.

I want to strip the galvanizing plating off the bolts and stuff for a UDS build.

I think I remember somewhere Norco talking about using muratic acid to strip off the plating. Is that correct Norco or anybody else?

About how long does it take to strip? I know reactions depend on temp, acid % and stuff but I mean just in general with the stuff you can get at the pool supply or the plumbing dept. Am I looking at minutes or hours?

I worked in a few job shops a long time ago and I seem to recall doing something like this because we needed to do some welded bolts or nuts or something on a project and didn't want to give the welders a problem with toxic fumes.

I'm building about 5 UDS's at once and I just can't see paying SS prices if I can get it done with galv. steel parts and some pool acid.

Thanks in advance for your kindly replies,

brotherbd

We used hydrochloric acid (a.k.a. muriatic acid) and zinc to make hydrogen in chem class in college, which we then ignited with a burner. ;-) They react very readily. Assuming the stuff you can get for a pool is sufficiently strong, it'll work.

Personally, since I'm only making one smoker, I'd rather just pay for the stainless than go and get chemicals to strip bolts. However, it might be a good thing to have around specifically for prepping zinc-plated hardware for welding...

[sdb25]

Dude, don't sweat the galvanizing. If you are really concerned, just do a high temp burn. Or better yet, buy something without it.

Reality is, you gotta ingest a lot of zinc (like eat a kg) to have toxic effects. Some welders have symptoms from excessive exposure to zinc vapors in high temperature welding situations. But smoking in a drum with a couple of zinc coated nuts and bolts? Not gonna happen...

[Rodney]

Originally Posted by UVaJester

What size U-bolts are the best to use..?? I'm collecting my parts right now... Already cut the lid out, have a cooking grate, and a dome lid for the top... Hopefully going to do the burn out this weekend.

I was thinking that these look good:
http://www.mcmaster.com/#29535t11

[Boshizzle]

You can use concrete etching acid to remove the zinc as well, but then you have to dispose of the stuff safely too. So, I just bought some SS parts to hold the grates but will be using zinc coated nuts and bolts everywhere else they are needed.

When heated to temperatures nearing boiling point (1600 degrees F), zinc oxide fumes are produced. It has to boil, not just melt, as I understand it.

If you are using a weed burner to light coals and the flame is near zinc, it is conceivable that it could heat zinc to a temperature to produce zinc oxide.

Did you know that some candles have zinc in their wicks and are safe? Here is a quote from the National Candle Association (Yeah, who knew there was one of those?),

"Cored Wicks. These braided or knitted wicks use a core material to keep the wick straight or upright while burning. The wicks have a round cross section, and the use of different core materials provides a range of stiffness effects. The most common core materials for wicks are cotton, paper, zinc or tin. Cored wicks can be found in jar candles, pillars, votives and devotional lights."

http://www.candles.org/elements_wicks.html

Now, I am not offering any council on whether or not to use zinc plated hardware, I'm just mentioning some interesting facts. It's up to you to do the research and make your own informed decision to use zinc coated nuts and bolts or not.

[Paul B]

Originally Posted by AJP

It's a brand new lid, just not sure I want to do that just yet. Seems like a lot of work also.

Geeeeeesh just beat away on it. I took a perfectly good brand spanking new SS Domed lid and beat the crap out of it to fit my SS drum!!

Paul B
SS UDS

[Paul B]

Originally Posted by Rodney

Yeah, I know it should be open during cooking, just didn't know if throttling it served any purpose. So far I've deduced that it should be big enough to not act as much of a restriction to flow, but small enough that it ensures one-way flow, as opposed to (let's say) a 12" exhaust that would allow some air to swirl back into the drum and feed the fire. I guess a chimney would mainly just achieve this goal during very low temp smokes, and would also probably create a suction that would draw more air into the smoker (which you'd just throttle back anyway, so no benefit there, right?)

Good call on the acorn nuts... Yeah, I have a whole parts list put together for hardware and handles from McMaster, and it's getting pricey. ;-) Might downgrade to Home Depot hardware. As for the zinc plating, I would expect that it'd be fine everywhere but on the charcoal basket, as you're not going to get enough heat into the zinc to oxidize it anywhere on the drum... Right?

-Rodney

Ace hardware has a great selection of ss and not to shabby on price.

Paul B
SS UDS