New Big Drum Smoker Site

Bought my second shelf today and some royal oak briquettes. I'm going to cook two briskets and two pork butts. In mine I have a good 2 feet between the top of the charcoal tray and the bottom rack. I plan to cook with only one hole open to keep the temps down. You know I will take lots of pics and post results.
 
Bigmista said:
Bought my second shelf today and some royal oak briquettes. I'm going to cook two briskets and two pork butts. In mine I have a good 2 feet between the top of the charcoal tray and the bottom rack. I plan to cook with only one hole open to keep the temps down. You know I will take lots of pics and post results.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that Mista. This talk of the BDS has realy got my attention. I do have access to food grade drums, farkin unloaded 2 truckloads of them today, and I've also got metal working tools in the work shop. This could be fun!
 
Thom,
Didn't mean to pick, just a little taken aback. Ricky is right to charge what the market will bear. It seems that demand has allowed him to maintain sales at that price. Also, many people just want to cook and don't have friends like Mista. For them this is the smoker to have! Maybe Mista's friend could generate a little healthy competition to drive them prices a little! How about some pics of you and your smokers in action!
 
I will in the future We are taking the Klose to 29 Palms Marine Base to cook for 10,000 Marines and their Families this weekend .Marines BBQ and Lynard Skynard in concert going to be fun This is a CBBQA thing
 
BBQchef33 said:
direct heat?? But very far away where its not actually grilling??
Click to expand...

You are actually barbecuing at that distance. On an open pit or brick pit barbecue, 24" to 30" from the bed of coals is the sweet spot for that dry heat. Offsets and verticals with a heat barrier for indirect cooking are popular for mobility and because most people don't have enough room for a huge pit. A couple of the things that makes the BDS an interesting design is the coals to grate distance and the portability.

One of the reviews I read referred to the fat drippng on the coals as the "grandpaw smell". I had a major flashback. I am seriously considering buying one.
 
I've been cooking on my "ugly barrel pit" for several years not and can attest that the direct/fat in the fire flavor is very good... but why spend that much on a barrel with some holes and a couple of grates?

I got my barrel for free. Got the grates on year end clearance for about $3.00 each. Nuts and bolts from Home Depot. I had the drill motor and bits... I've got a total of about $10.00 in my barrel and it cooks as good as the BDS is claiming... Plus, when it finally rusts out, I can build another one for about the same price... this year, I added on to my barrel. I took a WSM charcoal ring and wired it to the fire grate in my barrel and now I can get VERY long cook times on a load of coal...

Nothing against the BDS. From what I've read it works as advertised and folks are happy with it. If Rocky can that that price for them, more power to him...

James.
 
for that dry heat.
Click to expand...

thirdeye, the rest of your info sounds spot on, but I must contest the idea of "dry heat". Kiln dried wood (for building furniture and cabinets) will have a moisture content of 20% when the ambient humidity is 50%. That is to say for every 20# of wood, you're "burning" a half gallon of water, with seasoned fire wood there would be nearly twice that amount. That water vapor is going through the cooker along with the smoke. I'd hardly call that dry heat.
 
But compared to a WSM with a water pan bubblin away,.... its gonna be dry. I have done chicken in the WSM with no water pan. Comes out VERY different.
 
JamesB said:
... but why spend that much on a barrel with some holes and a couple of grates?
Click to expand...

Because I am the least handy person on this board. Be impressed that I am able to get the grates in and out. And even if I did have the skills, I live in an apartment and I wouldn't have any room to work or keep tools. This is the right solution for me.
 
Bigmista said:
Because I am the least handy person on this board. Be impressed that I am able to get the grates in and out. And even if I did have the skills, I live in an apartment and I wouldn't have any room to work or keep tools. This is the right solution for me.
Click to expand...

Not knocking your purchase... Really just trying to say, they be easy to build... If you can operate a hand held drill and a socket wrench you could make one...

James.
 
kcquer said:
thirdeye, the rest of your info sounds spot on, but I must contest the idea of "dry heat". Kiln dried wood (for building furniture and cabinets) will have a moisture content of 20% when the ambient humidity is 50%. That is to say for every 20# of wood, you're "burning" a half gallon of water, with seasoned fire wood there would be nearly twice that amount. That water vapor is going through the cooker along with the smoke. I'd hardly call that dry heat.
Click to expand...

kcquer,

I never considered moisture content of cured wood, I knew that green wood was 80% water, so you make perfect sense. I was just compairing the difference in a BDS vertical, verses other verticals which use a water pan as a heat sink or for lack of a better term a thermostat of sorts.
 
What's the bottom of the BDS look like?

My concern is how do you get the ashes out...and how do you drain water out if'n you get a humongous rain storm?
 
racer_81 said:
What's the bottom of the BDS look like?

My concern is how do you get the ashes out...and how do you drain water out if'n you get a humongous rain storm?
Click to expand...

According to the website, you take out the grates and turn the barrel upside down...

James.
 
That's why I had the ashpan and charcoal grate made. I don't have room on my balcony to be turning this barrel upside down to dump it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

F
UDS smoking
Replies
4
Views
476
thirdeye
thirdeye
F
Are direct heat cookers the next “big” thing?
2
Replies
26
Views
4K
Dweverett
D
16Adams
Ghost Town Chili- Free Shipping
Replies
11
Views
714
Bill-Chicago
Bill-Chicago
J
Electric smoker dying
Replies
16
Views
659
JIMSMOKES
J
B
Pellet smoker
Replies
5
Views
1K
Headgear
Headgear
Back
Top