I don't believe he's overdoing it one bit. The way you're stating "thoroughly burned" is objective. Just because the epoxy didn't crumble away at 1200 degrees doesn't mean it won't continue to outgas at 300. Outgassing will create bubbles underneath the greased walls and eventually be released.

I can't speak for the toxicity of the epoxy liner but I wouldn't want any remaining layer in a cooker I'd be using for a number of years.

One day we will get to the bottom of this.

My drum has been a royal pain so far in dealing with this liner.

Fuel consumption question
 

I ran a couple of temp test runs during the week using Kingsford blue and Stubb's natural briquettes. Having never used Stubb's before til now (bought a dozen bags during their 2 for 1 sale back in April) I was surprised that it did not burn as hot and did not last as long as the Kingsford in my new UDS.

My charcoal basket size is roughly 13" diameter by 10" tall, mounted 3" above the ash pan. I used the Minion method. I ran these empty (no food).

2 chimney full of Kingsford ran steady at 250F for 12 hours where the same amount of Stubb's the next day only lasted 6 hours tops and required additional vent openings to hold 250F.
Is this difference typical between these two different types of briquettes?

Thanks!

got mine done
 

here it is and first cook. didnt post pics of build cuz i seen it a ton of times in this thread and i did nothing different, but i will say cook grate, lid, and charcoal grate i used from a weber i scored fore $8 at a garage sale.did my first cook today and think i ran hot -butt was done in 8hrs and ribs in 3 the thermometers never went over 215' even with 1 cap off and valve all the way open, no wind and outside temp around mid 80s. wondering if the thermo probes ( not being in middle of cooker ) only go in about an 1 1/2 inches. maybe alot hotter in the middle of cooker? if so will a heat shield over charcoal basket disperse heat more evenly? food was good, not great ribs still juicey, a little overdone= mushy. pulled pork was good ,have to experiment with other rubs for my taste. thanks to all of u for the guidence and education which i have realized is only as good as the experience that i have. already thinkin about next weekends cook and what to cook. thanks again newbie, john

Anyone having problems with the vertical air intake's? I read somewhere some folks had to cut theirs down or make them horizontal to get them to burn long at the right temps. Just curious what folks are seeing.

Well I'm doing the traditional read of the entire UDS thread before I build my own and well.....little did I expect to find the S&M/UDS.....She dirdy.

It appears you have the same short thermometer I have. Is that the glow in the dark, $7 thermometer from Amazon? I also have a Walmart thermometer with a 12" stem. The good news is the short thermometer I have is accurate. The bad news is the reading on the wall is not worth much.

In my short time (seasoning run and then 2 cookings) I have learned there is a major difference between the center of the UDS reading and a reading near the wall. This discrepancy increases as the temperature increases. When my center reading is about 250, my wall reading is about 190. When my center reading is about 325, my wall reading is about 210. This discrepancy is a bit exaggerated with our wall thermometer because our's, I believe, is shorter than most other wall thermometers. Our's extends about 2" past the wall while many extend 4 to 5 inches in. My Walmart thermometer is 12" long.

Because of this I decided to try a heat dispersment plate. Right now I have a 10" aluminum pie pan just above my charcoal basket which is about 9" below my cooking grate. It reduces the discrepancy but only a small amount. Now when my center runs 250, my wall runs about 200 to 205. I need to increase the diameter of my 10" pie pan or raise it or some combination of both.

If you have problems with temp controls it could be your pipes.They may be too tall to get a good draft.

I too had been wondering about the vertical pipes, and whether they'd be able to suck enough air into the bottom of the barrel. I decided to split the difference and use 12" up pipes. We'll see how that goes as far as maintaining temps. That's easy enough to change out if I need to just go back to horizontally mounted valves. I also plan to use a few thermometers in my UDS. I'm a "gauge guy" so I plan to have a long stem thermometer in the side, as well as a short one next to it so I can see the temperature difference between the edge and the center. I might put one in the lid, just for the fun of it. But I think it would also be useful to get a cheap-o oven thermometer and set it right on the grate next to the food. That way, when you open the lid to turn the food, you'll be able to see what the temp is right on the grate. If I keep this up, my poor UDS is going to look like the cockpit of a fighter jet! :doh:

I have read up to about 125 in the past week and am very impressed with the level of information that is in this thread. I was wondering if anyone knows where I can get a drum in my area (Baltimore, MD) I am ready to get started. If I didnt have to burn out that would be great too since I'm in ..... Baltimore.

I love gauges too. I wished Stewart-Warner or VDO made smoker gauges. That would be cool....lol...

Noting the temp differences while I was seasoning my drum over the weekend I decided to install a brass nipple next to my short stemmed gauge so I can slide a 12" stemmed fryer thermo through. I picked up the brass nipple and cap (which I drilled thru) at Home Depot last night.

I did the same thing except I ignored the cap. I drilled the hole in my drum small enough that the nipple screws into it tightly and the thermometer seals it up enough.

Someone else asked this question here:
http://www.mdshooters.com/archive/in...p/t-51665.html

Good luck

i was thinkin about the plate above charcoal basket too. if you used a 10" maybe ill run down to the old local pizza joint and ask if i can have an old 12" pizza pan and maybe a 16" too (im very much into tryin to scavange as many parts as possible so i can tell people i got less than $50 in it and produce great bbq) and try them mounted above my basket my next question is gonna be should i drill holes or not how big of holes and how many? or i'll just experament with them until i get a good balance. another thing is ill start mounting closest to the basket cuz i know aluminum doesnt hold heat so its more for the heat to go around ( and through if i drill holes). and yup i got the same $7 thermos on amazon .now i need to find the 12" thermo you got at walmart. was it lables a fryer thermometer candy thermometer or what? and how much? also after reading some more posts im gonna take my verticle pipe off and just run a valve off the nipple just to nip any drafting problems right in the bud. thanks for helpin me with my questions and being about the same experience with these uds' we can help each other with this

This thread is EPIC!! I've made it to page 435 and I have gotten alost everything i need for a build. Pics to come soon!

Walmart carries a 16" pizza pan for $3. Also, check out thrift stores like Salvation Army and Goodwill if you have them in your area. They are great for finding stuff like this. Below is what I grabbed on day for only a couple bucks. The black one worked really good.

http://i1119.photobucket.com/albums/...0/IMAG0088.jpg

For a little more control I drilled a 3/8" hole at the end and bottom of the nipples, so some air can get in if I wish with the caps on.
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh42/Ruffly/UDS.jpg

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...UDS/UDS001.jpg
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...S/defusers.jpg

I installed a brass nipple just underneath the top grate for my 12" stemmed fryer thermometer.

Abbey Drum Company is where I bought mine a few weeks ago. Great place to get a new or re-conditioned drum.

Here is my drum.

http://i331.photobucket.com/albums/l...7/IMG_1953.jpg

The thermometer on the left is the Walmart 12" thermometer. Walmart does not have it on their website. It is in several of the Walmarts in my Fayetteville, AR area. It sells for 4.99 and it's quite accurate. It was in the bbq grill accessories dept. The square looking framed part at the top of my thermometer is not a part of the thermomter. The part that looks like a square frame to the top of my thermometer is the outer brace for my ubolt system holding up my grate. The thermometer looks like this
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Bayou-Clas...meter/11902779

only my thermometer doesn't have the red on the face. Check your local Walmart. I'm pretty sure it was only labeled Mainstays Thermometer. Mainstays is a Walmart brand name.

I'd definitely be interested in your feedback with larger plates. I'm going to wait until I get a change in the heat balance before I start drilling holes. I like to change only one variable at a time.

Looks good pman. If you put [IMG] and [/IMG] around the photo links they will show up in the thread without having to click on them.

My New Drum Liner & Lid Question
 

Picked up this Drum off Craigs List $10.00 seem like a great buy. It had some oil for making hand lotion. The liner seems to just be paint to me i am guessing a good burn would do the trick to remove? I also panicked when I took the ring off and tried to put the lid back on the lid did not fit good at all....So i pulled the seal out of the lid and pushed it back on and BINGO it fit like a glove is this how they all do? Should I be worried ?

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-f...s512/Drum1.JPG



https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-X...s512/Drum3.JPG

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-j...s512/Drum2.JPG

Long as you get it to seal. Drums get out of round easily. Be careful not to warp lid in burning process.

For those who skipped the meat of this novel, do yourself a favor. Do a search for "Thirdeye Hoe Scoop". Aids in cleanup

I suspect you'll change your mind once I get the gold paint on it, paint the top dome into a football helmet, put the number 10 front and back along with some Mizzou emblems. :-P

Thanks for the compliment and tip but I imagine I just got lazy and forgot to click the insert image button.

I prefer the shop-vac mod :-D

A Mutiger in Fayetteville? You are a brave soul. Why don't you paint the top to look like a basketball instead...er, nevermind :heh:

Shouldn't be a problem at all. I did the same and mine seals up SO well that it did a 24 hour burn at 225* and only about 8 lbs of charcoal were used..... I say Smoke Away!!!

looks good p man, wifey found the wallyworld thermometer, gonna pick up nipple, cap and12" pizza pan tomorrow punch some holes in it and test it out sunday with some chickens and a couple fattys. now that i have the long thermo i feel alot more confident on my heat control. il post picks when i finish the heat shield and let u know the the sunday results

Messing around with my first build, I know its not going to be pretty. I have to fix the edge, messed it up when cutting the lip off..... Anyway.

So I decided to play with my new Propane Torch and melt away some of the black paint off this Old drum I took home from work. And underneath the paint read the following:


http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._5027517_n.jpg


I had plans to paint it Cubs blue and throw some Cubs logo's on it, now I just feel like leaving it ugly if the "Hot Charcoal Only" survives the burn this weekend.

I cant say this for sure, but this drum may be from the 1940's. My company leases an Old Factory building on a military base, the building we are in used to manufacture Tanks and other War Machinery during WWII. Its been used for some other manufacturing since, but thought this was neat enough to share.

hendunesia I think you have the 1 in a trillionth! :-P

this is how i cut my lid,hammer and chisel then the angle grinder this way no sharp edges to worry about

first post
 

this is my first post.. i have been reading through this monstrosity of a post now for the past week.. getting ready to start my build next week.. i have secured a unlied referbed open top barrel and am looking forward to some nice smokey meat.. On a side note.. i am new to smoking too.. but something i have wanted to get into..

few questions..

with regards to the intake vents... it seems the accepted practice here is the 3" holes with the pipe nipples.. 2 capped and 1 ball valve.. with that said.. is there a performance differnece between having the ball valve intake short and stubby right off the barrel vs having it elevated along the side of the barrel? or is it just a cosmetic / not bending over preference?

for the stack.. i was planning on utilizing the 2" bung hold in the lid and threading in a section of pipe and adding an adjustable damper to it.. is that enough of a vent.. i see some barrels have about 8 holes drilled in the top

besides cost.. is there any reason to use Black pipe nipples / caps vs copper?

with Seasoning... is it just spraying PAM on the inside and running it through a burn cycle?.. low and slow or hot?

and my last question.. (for now)... water tray.. i see some people use them.. some don't.. I know there are arguments for direct heat source vs indirect.. i am new to smoking.. is there a preference?

thanks for all your help.. i will post pictures when i start

I hope you meant 3/4" vents. Instead of having three separate vent openings a single 1.5" ball valve should also do the trick. The 1.5" ID vent gives you more intake volume, somewhere close to having four separate smaller vents. I think this approach gives you more latitude from a single vent.

yeah i did mean 3... 3/4" vents..

now with using the 1 larger vent.. does that have any impact on the fire since all the air is coming in from one side as apposed to spread out aroudn the bottom?

Absolutely no difference IMO.

Even with the smaller vents once the temperature settles you'll be controlling intake from one single valve only. I don't think it matters which direction the air is coming from, it'll find its way to the rightful coals.

But cost wise, the bigger ball valve and its fittings will be a lot more expensive so that's something to consider also. And also the bit to open up a hole that big.....but there are other ways to get around that.

I'm using a length of pipe screwed into the bung hole for the vent. do not put a damper on the exhaust, control the temperature with the intake valves. shutting off the intakes and leaving the exhaust open will still snuff out the coals.

what about the ability to close it when its not in use.. to keep water out?

cut the top off your last beer can you drank while smokin and put it over the stack

Gettin' ready to do my intakes. Anybody ever used these step bits from Harbor Freight? If so... how'd they do?

http://www.harborfreight.com/2-piece...lls-96275.html

Ive used them, Worked to drill out my holes dont know if they have much life left but havent used them since

You can also use the top to a spray paint can

I've done three stainless drums and one steel one- they're still working. SLOW RPM and a little oil helps a lot.

Thanks. They're ordered. Should be getting the UDS completed next week. Can't wait :-P

Upside down?
 

Been looking and I've noticed that a lot of folks use an open top drum upside down with a kettle lid on top. Looks like it would be good for easy access to the bottom for cleaning occasionally. My only concern is does grease leak out the bottom?

I've asked this before when I was looking for a drum.
It's not for easy access, it's just that the lid fits the other end and not on the open end with the lock band.

.
.
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Thanks Mike W

Here is my version of your leg design.
Thanks for the great idea. :clap2:

This is all welded stainless steel done by my B-I-L

Two racks with 6" legs and one rack with 4-1/2" legs

drum
 

so i found a local hardware store / mom and pop shop.. they have used drums.. open and closed top.. and no liners..

i would be getting one of the open top ones.. but coming from a store w/ no liner would they still need to be burned out?..

what would would be needed to be done for seasoning it..

thanks