I am new to the smoking Scene and have decided to Build a UDS and I It seems that every place I look there are NO 55 gallon Food grade drum available..... I found a Couple but that had Chemicals in them and I am Not smoking on that... I live in Buena PArk CA. any one have an idea's?

Hey PappaBear, there is bound to be a cookie factory or bread bakery or other food manufacturer in the LA area. I got mine from a cookie factory in a little bitty town up here in NorCal. These places would have drums that had sugar, oil or whatever in them. Do some searching for that type of place to find a drum. Good luck and post pics.

Playin' the Drums!!
 

It was my SILs 40th and there were alot of people from her work and circle of friends that I had never met so I was a little shy of playing the drums in front of them. The party was in full swing and the friends house was perfectly groomed when I pulled up with my old truck and unloaded my knarley old drums. I had been playing hard with them all day so they were still smokin'. I set them in a corner and went to work and it wasn't long before they got the drift of what I was doing. Pretty soon I had a chorus of guys hanging around with the usual chirps about the condition of my drums and the smarter ones bringing me ice cold beer. The butts were done first and I could sense the disappointment as I pulled the black crusty meat out of the barrel. The first guy that said "Holy truck(or close) -you BURNT them!!" I pulled a little sliver of gold off and dared him to eat it. He followed me like a puppy after that! After theyrested a bit my wife pulled the pork and showed them how to sauce it and put a shot of coleslaw on each sammich- even those who said " no no I don't like coleslaw on my meat" The seconds all asked for coleslaw!! Then the ribs met the crowd. They all loved the Cedar Grilling( involves whiskey) treatment and the 9 slabs were gone in no time.
That was the best food they had ever eaten out of a can and now there are a bunch of guys who want to learn how to build a barrel smoker.
Even tho it wasn't my best (and my best wouldn't get me a second look at a comp) it was the best Q these people had ever had. What sheltered lives they live!!!
Gotta love those drums.
My camera must have been dropped because it wont power up- I'll get some pictures from someone else!

Bengal Thing sent me a text this morning asking about using a galvanized pipe as the exhast threaded into the bung. I know how bad galvanized is inside a drum...but unsure if it would have an effect as the exhaust...


any thoughts?


Oh yeah..and pics of my drum are on the way!!

i would not chance it.

That was my thought but I was unsure. When in doubt..don't. I know he was having a tough time finding anything that was not galvanized..as was I..but I got lucky and found something at work.

And my build thread is up

I checked this before starting, but no answer..... so I just did an exhaust mod to try and help (turned chimney upside down and put it over the bung.... it help with wind)

I bought a Gal pipe, but I guess I will take it back..... and maybe pick up some more coals as well.... haha

i GOT MINE AT HOME DEPOT IF THAT HELPS AND THEY WILL THREAD IT FOR YOU, BUT YEAH I WOULD NOT USE GALVANIZE FOR ANY KIND OF COOKING, SMOKING,ETC...

I use stainless but some people use PVC and if you knew what that stuff was made of then galv should be ok for exhaust. (IMHO) The heat isn't high enough but for legal reasons I will say do not use galv.

hahaha

Yeah, I thought about PVC, but at least decided to go with Gal over that.

I will take back the Gal and see what else they have (I didn't have much time to ask and/or get one threaded... etc)

You don't need an exhaust stack really. They run fine with holes drilled in the lid or the cap out of the bung.

I was having a little difficulty, with wind, on my test run .... keeping the temp steady.

I narrowed it done to a couple of possible causes. Leaky lid (I put the seal back on it), and the exhaust (needed to "block" the wind from the somewhat direct path it had into the drum with just the bung cap off)

Hey H20, sounds like a great party and you have a bunch of converts now. Drum on baby drum on!!!!!!!!!!

i use a galvanized pipe for my exhaust. no probs yet. does not effect the taste either.

Help!! I have gone through this thread :eusa_clap and I thought I saw someone using the lid from a Uniflame BBQ grill (it had hinges). I have looked through this thread again :shock: (maybe I missed a page). I have not been able to find it again. Saw a Uniflame BBQ grill on craigslist and not sure if it would work. Have several leads for drums on my first UDS.:-D
Thanks...