Does any one have info on how to build one of these?? :confused:
























J/K :twisted:

WOW!!
What an epic thread. I just finished reading the whole thing.
By page 20 I knew I had to have one, by page 30 I was building it. When I got into the 70's I recieved my permissions and went back through so I could see the pictures.
I have kept the original context of this thread and made an Ugly Drum Smoker.
Tale of the tape:
Lined barrel burned out with weed burner took about a half hour.
Went with four half inch nipples for intake because the 1" hole saw was more than the price of the barrel.
Eight 1/2 inch holes for exhaust in original top.

If you would have told me last week that this drum would burn so steady and I could just set it and leave it alone I would have thought you belonged in a looney bin.
First trial burn, no meat, held temps for about 17hrs but I had to give it the Norco boot method because I made my basket out of 1/2 inch FEM and it was clogging with ash. Rebiult it using the 3/4-9 with a webber coal grate and there is a pork loin on it cooking now.
Pron to come gotta get it outta the card and onto the net.
Here it is, http://thumb14.webshots.net/t/63/763...4pFTnwa_th.jpg

Thanks to the entire R & D team for working out the bugs before I got here you have truly made it too easy.

Loved the Norcoredneck statue by the way.

Nothing Better!
 

They are amazing aren't they?

I loaded my newest, and lit it off at 2:00Pm yesterday (Saturday), cooked all day with no problems.
This morning (Sunday) it was still chugging away at 190* when I checked
around 9:00 AM.
At Noon, I added a chimney full on top and right now( 9:00 Central) it is reading 208*.
This thing has been running for 30 hours on less than 12lbs of KF
and some Hickory chunks. I can't wait to see where it is in the morning.
It has to be getting low on fuel by now.
I'm selling my offset.

Weiser

Pron for the masses.

I had a flare up and did a panic scoot while taking picture Doh!

Are people flipping or just rotating or leave it be?



Pork loin roast and chicken lollipops, This is 4 hours on the pork and 1 on the chicken. I wrapped it in foil after the picture.

First UDS cook

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s...o/Tambo007.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s.../tambo2006.jpg

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s.../tambo2010.jpg

smoke ring

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s.../tambo2013.jpg

Tacos

http://i155.photobucket.com/albums/s.../tambo2016.jpg

It ....Works!!!!

JV

I'm guessing your coating was a fire retardent enamel like this:
http://www.fireretardantsinc.com/30_...n_barrier.html

Wow. I just built my uds friday / saturday. I took a wire wheel to the coating inside the food grade barrel. That was not fun. But it is done and clean and cooked awsome ribs. Only problem is that with all vents closed i could not keep it under 250 degrees. I think i will set my charcoal basket down flat on the bottom.since the whole thing is made out of expanded metal. And not use lump charcoal and i will use k.f. This site was a lot of help. And bigmista's video's. Thanx everyone that put there imput in here.

Is this enough?
 

Hi guys,

I burned the heck out of my barrel for 45 minutes on the inside alone with the weed burner. I STILL couldn't get all of the inside paint off. Some of it flaked off as I torched it, alot didn't. This drum once contained polyproplyne glycol, a "relatively harmless" additive in toothpaste and food preserving according to wikipedia. Should I sand it with a wire brush, or do you think it's good? Here are pictures of it so far.

"I think i will set my charcoal basket down flat on the bottom..."

Let us know how this works.

As you know the consensus is that there needs to be space under the basket for the ash which makes sense. Where will the ash go if it's flat on the bottom of the drum? Not sure but there may be someone on here that has tried this. Sure would be simpler but not sure.

We've had a few folks lately with new builds having high temp issues on first cooks. Not sure why but from what I've seen on my drum lid or upper air intake is the root of all evil and needs to be consistant and conatined to the right amount. Then the lower intakes can work the way those with the experience have documented here.
Other thing ...as I did early on I got my fire too big when I started it and then had high temp issues due to lack of patience. Remeber, the gurus all say "catch it on the way up." If you start small and be patient I've found that it works pretty good.

Good luck and keep us posted.

That all is damned good advice!
The basket on the bottom is good for about an hour, maybe two max.
Forget that silliness. It won't work.

Weiser

Now Weiser take it easy on little Timmy.
My latest drum likes to sit about 250 to 260 with two vents 1/2 open. It does not like having only one vent open, mind of its own there. So I will just make my cooks a little shorter. And like SFBBQguy said catch the temp on the way up.

Is you basket sitting on the bottom of the drum?
Maybe I on the wrong post...
I agree, they are all a bit different.

Weiser

it is raised about two inches. maybe i can make the sides solid or change charcoal from the lump? any thoughts about the lump?

Any Brethren in St. Louis area looking for a drum (had coconut oil in it no liner, removable lid, lever type ring)?

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=59653

Finding a barrel is harder than I thought !! When I was a kid they were all over now everthing comes in plastic

This might be a good thread to ask. I currently have a GOSM, but will soon have my own UDS built (after a friend build his). He is EXTREMELY happy at the temp control. I have not cooked on it yet. How would you compare the food coming off the UDS compared to a GOSM?

UDS finally complete
 

Well it took a lot of reading to get to this point but I made it.

Got the barrel from a reconditioning co. in Woburn, MA $30.

Gave it a burn out, even though they send all of theirs through an incinerator
at some crazy temp. Here is a pre-burn out interior shot. No Liner for me

.http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...PICT0037-1.jpg

The charcoal basket. 12" tall expando attached to a Weber grate with an aluminum handle all bolted to a freebie cover to a 30 Gal drum.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...b/PICT0030.jpg

Drum all painted and patiently waiting to be assembled

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...PICT0004-8.jpg

All assembled and experiencing some smelly briquettes for it's seasoning run, I much prefer lump for cooking. The beer sitting on top is from a local MA brewer. It is called Green Monsta, for the wall at Fenway Park. Today is Opening Day at Fenway! Spring is here at last!!

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...PICT0010-5.jpg

Thanks everyone for all your contributions and help on this thread. Never would have tried this without you!

Right now it's running at 252* with 1 cap off and the ball valve at 1/4 open, it was up to 300* with 1 cap off and the ball valve full open. Closed it down to 1/4 about a half hour ago, down went the temps. Fabulous. Again thanks for the fun.

Nice!
 

With those temps ya can tell that you can follow instructions!
That is somewhat refreshing nowadays.
I like the basket too. It should be good for 18-20 hours.
Nice job Smokin!

You may want to consider a handle on the lid. :mrgreen:

Weiser

Thank You Weiser. Somehow the handle and the hanging hook got forgotten in all the excitement. But you are right, the top needs a handle.

nice u d s. ill have to take pics of mine and post them

No problem Brother, just trying to help. :wink:

Weiser

Well, started a season/test burn yesterday afternoon at 4 PM with 10 lbs of briquettes. It is now 8:30 in the AM and it is still going. This thing is amazing! It held temps between 215-250* with just the occasional kick/shake or minor tweek of the ball valve. Fell asleep and untouched for six hours the temps held constant. Fabulous! 18 hours on ten lbs. In the off-set that would take about 35 lbs. First cook will be this weekend. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the journey!

is the aluminum handle on the basket a good idea? thought aluminum was a no no...

I had a lot of issues with low temps. I tried various things - changing the intakes from pipe bushings to pipe nipples, changing the ash pan from the tabletop bbq to a commercial pizza pan. Then I found the answer (for my problem anyway - humidity.

First burn I used a partial bag of charcoal - it had been open for a while. Second burn I used a full bag, but it had been in the garage (near the dryer vent) for 6 months. Third burn I bought a new bag from the store. First two burns had trouble maintaining 225 with 2 nipples and a valve open. Third had no problems with 2/3 valve and -0- nipples open.

Humidity in the charcoal must just eat btus as it evaporates, plus it probably slows combustion as well.

Last week I ran a hot burn. I ignited lots of the remaining coals from the 3rd burn with a weed burner then ran with 1 valve and 2 nipples open - no probably maintaining 350. We have had several rains, so I expect my charcoal was humid again. Perhaps if you get it hot enough then you can dry out the charcoal - not sure.

Well we all use those disposable aluminum pans, and aluminum foil on ribs, butts and brisket, well most of us anyway. So I figure the handle isn't in direct contact with any food and is folded off to the side when the cook is on. How bad can it be? Don't really know. Anyone?

Aluminum is perfectly safe for cooking. Alot of the cheaper cookware out there is Al and have seen several bare Al dutch ovens. Pretty sure Weber is using Al for some of their ash catchers.

Just dont make cool-aid in it and you will be fine.

comp cooking with a uds
 

i like my uds so much now that i have the temp issue out of the way. i want to do a comp rib cook with it this summer. just wondering if any one has used theres and any advice on comp cooking ( this will be my first) :roll:

I found another way that doesn't involve any machining or drilling. Get a 1/2NPT to 1/4" tube compression fitting and one 1/4" ferrule. Take about 1" of 1/4" copper tube and slip the ferrule over it, slip it inside the fitting and tighten down the nut gently. This gives you a nice 1/2NPT to 1/4" hole, inside which many thermos with 1/4" stems will slide, all nonrusting. The NPT side can be secured into a hole with an electrical nut just like a close nipple ..

seattlepitboss

This is what I did. It is good for 1 thermo to slide in.

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o...PICT0002-9.jpg

12" stem turkey fryer thermo

That there makes it a little easier. I like using the thermometer this way in stead of a digital one, one less wire to worry about during the cook.

3/1/1 method.....smoke,wrap in foil....baste..4th place...iowa, 3rd place nebraska, 17th American Royale..
Andyll

thanks for the advise andyll.

The 3-1-1 method works pretty well here.:-D
Then again I sometimes blow off the foil mod and just pull them earlier.
That also works.

Weiser

If memories serve me right I believe the American Royal has been won a few times by teams using a uds, as recent as the year before last I think.
Dave

thats awsome. cant wait but still alot of practice to perfect every thing. what kind of confuses me also is that when they judge do you try to turn in your ribs hot or if it is ok for them to cool off? i know i love to eat them hot but a real long rest period it good too.

The meat is gonna be cool by the time the judges get it. Between loading the box, turning in the box, the boxes being picked up by the table captains, presented to the judges for appearane and then finally the selection by the judges for each one of their samples...well, it can easily be 20 minutes from the time you turn-in and the judges actually taste the meat.

At small events sometimes the chicken is pretty hot but I don't remember getting hot ribs, pork, or brisket very often.

thanks chad that helps alot. i was worried i would have to keep the ribs on too long just to keep them warm. and that would suck.

you know, i just realized it is a LOT easier to keep up with this thread now that i've read it all the way through... LOL! :biggrin:

I finally got through all 183 pages 2787 posts. Now it's off to the shop where a drum is waiting . I think I have enough info to start.
Thanks for all the help.

I tried a couple different way to slide in a 12" thermometer and the easiest, cleanist and least expensive ($1.00) was a stainless bolt, drill a hole through it (used the drill press at work).

That looks good Jerry, I was wondering how much clearence do you leave for the thermo to slide in and out? I have noticed a lot of build up when I'm done smoking and take a srubby pad to it to make sure it doesn't get to much build up. I did mine at work out of brass because thats what I had at the right size. I just popped in a collet and drill bit and knocked out 12 of them in about 15 min. If I need anymore I will use stainless next time. Thanks!

Guy guys guys those drums are so far from ugly! Those 12" thermometers are very cool ;love the fittings too.
Got any idea how Canuck bro might get his hands on a couple of those therms?
{I thought my UDS was pretty....}

nice work ,RockyAthabaska

Rocky, Tel-Tru has a 12" thermo in their food service category, $36 though.

The one I used is a cheap turkey fryer thermo I picked up a local restaurant supply house for about $6.

Here is the link to Tel-tru for you.
http://www.teltru.com/food_service.asp

thank for the quick reply D,
$36 to tel-tru would be 1\2 my uds build cost!I'm lovin the turkey fryer replacement however ,'will check out local restaurant w\s supply .My weber thermo is too short to get UDS center temps.Always up for improvement !

Happy Smokin, Rocky

i picked one up at walmart last week for $5. works great.

Looks like a trip to Wal-Mart is coming in my near future. What kind of fittings are those for the thermometer to slide in? Do they leak when you pull it out?

The fitting I used is for some kind of water line. If you go to the plumbing section of your hardware store or the Big Orange Box you will find it there. The stem fits pretty closely in the fitting and slides in and out easily. Don't think there is a problem with any leakage as the hole is less than 1/8".

The latest smoker from the Michigan Drum Corps. :biggrin:

BarberQue, I just used a bit about the same size as the stem. I did not want to get to big where it leaned down from horizontal.

Bubba, what do you use as a hanger for the lid??? Nice drum to.

Funny you should ask...

Ah, that looks like a double coat hook. Clever . . . . . . .