Ugly Drum Smoker

[bstomper]

Me again. Had so much fun yesterday, today I when for a whole chicken. Was more like a baby turkey. Was big and lots of fat. So my drum is getting a good seasoning.

My chicken:


I notice quite a lot of liquid at the bottem. I am sure it is the chicken fat. Will that be a problem for the food or drum ?. I have a 14" basket so it is a bit narrow. I will just tip some ash in to soak it up and the scoop it out.

I have the same issue with moisture in the bottom of my uds. I asked the question and aparently the moisture is normal. I soak mine up with some paper towel. btw nice uds

 

[SmittyJonz]

Smoked two slabs of ribs and a whole chicken this weekend. Turned out fine but one thing I was disappointed in was that I lost my fire about 5 hours in. Maintained fairly steady at 225 then basically just went out. I didn't snuff it out, only tweaked airflow as necessary to try and maintain temp. There was a ton of unlit, unburned lump in my basket when it went out. Mine has four "intakes".....all with a screw cap. Would I be better served by replacing one or more with a ball valve to help better control intake????? Like I said, the food was done and tasty, but had I been cooking a brisket or butt, I would have been SOL......

Lump burns Hotter but also needs more airflow . I don't like lump in my UDS. I get longer, steadier temps with Briquets.

Go get some Stubbs Briquetts and forget 225*, let that thing breathe and run where it wants to - anywhere between 225*and 325*, it'll settle in some where's in there and just go with it.

275* is the Best All Around BBQ Temp. - ESP for Pork Ribs. :wink:


Now I did try a SoHotnSoFast Brisket Cook last weekend -5 hrs at 400-450*. It was Decent but I've decided 350* is Max for Smoking.

 

[bert-nc]

run away temps

one thing I am having trouble with is the temp on my uds running away when I lift the lid to remove the food that I am cooking.

cooking ribs about 260, remove them to foil, walked by a few minutes after placing them back on uds, temp up to 350

took ribs off and placed in oven

suggestions on what I am doing wrong

bert-nc

 

[Wahoo95]

one thing I am having trouble with is the temp on my uds running away when I lift the lid to remove the food that I am cooking.

cooking ribs about 260, remove them to foil, walked by a few minutes after placing them back on uds, temp up to 350

took ribs off and placed in oven

suggestions on what I am doing wrong

bert-nc

Cut off the air about 15min before you plan to have the lid open that long. Also when its open you need to be fast. When pulling food I just pull the whole rack. Same with putting food on...I pull the rack out in advance them position the food so I can simply drop it in once the lid comes off. Clipping the temp probe and placing one in the meat takes seconds then lid goes back on.

 

[bert-nc]

Cut off the air about 15min before you plan to have the lid open that long. Also when its open you need to be fast. When pulling food I just pull the whole rack. Same with putting food on...I pull the rack out in advance them position the food so I can simply drop it in once the lid comes off. Clipping the temp probe and placing one in the meat takes seconds then lid goes back on.

I wondered if I left the lid off to long, but had my mind on other things, so not real sure of the lenght of time. However I will keep the lid off the shortest possible amount of time on the next cook.

thanks for the advice

bert-nc

 

[UDSPowercat]

I have been busy!!

 

[UDSPowercat]

 

[UDSPowercat]

 

[bstomper]

I have pipe plugs for the air intake ball valves on my UDS. When I am cooking and have them adjusted for the temp I want, just before I open the lid I instal them into the ball valves completely shutting off the air flowing into the smoker, do what I have to do quickly then replace the lid. The temp will spike a bit once I put the lid back on but with all the intake air shut off it drops fairly quick. I leave the plugs in until it gets back down to the temp I want and then I remove the plugs. It settles right back to the previous temp. There is a lot less messing around with the ball valves this way.

 

[Awitte58]

You make/sell UDS smokers?

Link?
(PM if you think itll get you in trouble with the mods)
They look good!

 

[BGBarracus]

one thing I am having trouble with is the temp on my uds running away when I lift the lid to remove the food that I am cooking.

cooking ribs about 260, remove them to foil, walked by a few minutes after placing them back on uds, temp up to 350

took ribs off and placed in oven

suggestions on what I am doing wrong

bert-nc

Hey Bert,

I used to have the same problem with my UDS when removing the lid. It's a little extreme but had an idea and had to follow through on it. See this thread for a mod I came up with that solved the problem:
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=125116

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UNHzgW60IQ"]Upright Drum Smoker Vent System - YouTube[/ame]

 

[SmittyJonz]

one thing I am having trouble with is the temp on my uds running away when I lift the lid to remove the food that I am cooking.

cooking ribs about 260, remove them to foil, walked by a few minutes after placing them back on uds, temp up to 350

took ribs off and placed in oven

suggestions on what I am doing wrong

bert-nc

That's normal - u just gotta work faster - have foil or paper ready n laid out - pull lid, snatch ribs put lid back on, wrap ribs, pull lid, place wrap ribs in , replace lid. If u are doing several snatch them all into pan, put lid back on while unwrap them.

 

[ebijack]

I always close my intakes before removing the lid. Re-open back to the same position when your done. No flair ups, no temp spikes.

 

[Carbon]

Every UDS behaves differently. I've had my lid off for a minute or two on dozens of occasions and have never experienced these flare ups and temp spikes people have been talking about.

 

[RT 89A]

I'm going to start building mine soon. I've found a person locally that sells drums that used to house ethanol for about $20. Hopefully they aren't lined, but since they're food grade I'm guessing they are.

 

[rem40x]

you guys have been a real inspiration. Have pages of notes for a newbie and will be starting soon as I acquire parts.

 

[DMP]

Man, you guys are killing me. Have been reading through this entire thread and can't wait to start building. Just got to find some time.

Picked up a drum last weekend. Have all the 3/4 nipples I will need. Have one grate for the bottom of my basket. My parents got a new gas grill so I took their old one to sit the UDS in. This will give me wheels and tables on both sides. Still need to get one, maybe two grates for cooking, expanded metal for the charcoal basket, thermometer, handle for the lid and nuts and bolts. Hope to run across a weber lid somewhere. I have been looking at every grill I see on the side of the rd and snatching old grates out of them for future projects.

 

[Mrwokn]

Heres my completed UDS. Salmon in the fridge curing.

 

[Wahoo95]

More info on the shelf and the legs?

 

[Sweat'in Pig]

A dome lid would loof nice! IMHO