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FWIW ~ Just found a new source for barrels in Lower Mid MO...
Shirley's Furniture & JR's Hardware (ask for JR) Vienna, MO 573/422-3302 Seems JR buys open~head and closed~head barrels (used only once) by the trailer load from some outfit in Springfield. He may have said French's...can't be sure. The barrels previously contained food~type products...pineapple, mustard, paprika, oleo, palm oil and such. Some lined, some not. Bung holes~a~plenty. Several different barrel designs. No dents. No runs. No drips. No errors...$14.50, you load. The open~head one's are not at the store. He keeps them at his house under tight security, so you have to follow him to his house. I was hoping for a straight~sided barrel, but, sadly...no. He'll cut the top out of closed~head one's for you, if he doesn't have some done already. Tell him, the guy who's 3 y.o. son boosted the bunjee cord sent ya. Just an FYI more than anything...figured this was as good a place to post it as any. |
When I posted photos of my UDS with the extended air intake (page 18 of this forum) I had no idea that so many people would be giving it a try. I was toying with a theory about air flow (I really got enthused about it when I saw a video featuring the Slow Snail cooking team using smokers along this same principal), draft is draft regardless where it comes from. Due to problems with my back I have a problem bending from time to time so I was looking for something easier and to make using the smoker a little more fun.
You must have intake and exhaust to acheive combustion, the amount of heat depends on the amount of air flow, notice that the orginal BDS and UDS clones has multiple air inlets at the bottom while my verticle air intake is singular, however a potential problem with some of the smokers being made with this design that are not being able to keep temps regulated is that they may not have a sufficent size air inlet. The reason I went with the 2" exhaust tubing is you need to be able to match the flow capability of the combined air inlets used on the BDS & UDS clone smokers that have 3 or 4 valves mounted at the bottom. You simply can't move the same amount of air thru a single upright tube that is the same size as only one of the bottom inlet tubes. To match that capability you must either have the same number of inlets that are the same size or 1 large inlet capable of flowing the combined amount of air. I have 4 of these smokers and they all work really well, all have 2" inlets and the exhaust are 2 1/2", I can set the temps at 215 or 350 and it will hold for hours. One of the key secrets is to make sure that all other air sources are closed, use a small hammer and fit the lid to the barrell so it fits securely. The verticle intake creates more of a bellows effect by having a large volume of cool air confined in the intake tube thus forcing it into the bottom of the smoker. Once adjusted you can place you little finger in the opening of the inlet tube and feel the air flowing as its being drawn into the smoking chamber. I made one for a co-worker and he loves it, I gave one to my Father for Christmas and at 76 years old he's smoking ribs, bologna, and shoulders every couple of weeks. So if your having trouble getting temps up or stabilized you may want to evaluate your inlet tube size. I must agree with N8man try to catch your temps on the way up, it takes too long sometimes for the temps to drop back to where you want it. Keep smokin' |
I have found that the flow is more consistent and manageable through the upright pipes. If I close them down and open a side nipple the heat rises way to fast.
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With my drum I'm seeing that I only need one draft hole open of the four that are available. I do have a damper on the exhaust stack. I run the exhaust open about 1/3 of the way. I burned it for 11 hours last weekend with only minor adjustments to keep it between 225°F and 250°F. It is great. I cooked a rump roast with good results. Are others using a damper on the exhaust?
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What's yours look like?
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Are you interested in the exhaust or the intake? Where can find info on posting a picture?
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the damper actually.
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I'll figure out how to attach a photo and get a picture of the exhaust stack and damper. It will be tomorrow before I can.
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I usually keep my exhaust wide open and regulate the air intake. The damper on my verticle intake is usually not opened more than 3/8", which I think has about the same amount of air flow as one bottom mounted ball valve, however by having the larger diameter pipe I have the capability to open up more if needed, same principal as opening more bottom vents.
I placed my intake tube height at about 2" below the top of the barrel, this allows the exhaust to be higher than the intake opening (espically if using holes drilled in the lid). This helps create the draft effect, get the intake to high and you may effect the inlet air flow since you will have the hot air rising and passing the intake opening this may effect the cold air entering the intake tube. If this creates a turblance around the intake opening you may not get sufficent 'cold or heavy' air to enter the smoking chamber. Keep the good eats smokin' :-D |
I am with you JW used ure mods for my drum 2" intake w/ 3" exhaust. This works fantastic. I did cut my exhaust length down to 9" from 14" and the temp control is even better. Thanks for your great ideas and I now understand why it works so well. The extra 10 lbs I have put on will attest to that:lol::icon_bigsmil
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Totally with you there wlh3 I'm on a diet now just so I can eat more Q this spring and summer :-D
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I'm going with the N8man design on this weekend's barrel and a custom green and white, Amp Energy~National Guard #88 paint job. It's got a one~way ticket to the Spring race at Talladega.
If it survives 5 days at the free campground, I'll prolly sell it off to one of the yocals or passersby. I'm thinkin' $400 ought to be a good starting price...:shock: |
Keep on druming! :smile:
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Chinesebob,
Here is my UDS working last weekend and a close up of the exhaust. The exhaust is Ø3" automotive exhaust pipe and the damper flap is cut from an electrical box cover with a 4" grinder. The flap is spring loaded to stay in place during operation. Attachment 13445 |
O.K. gotta ask....why the damper on top? You don't close that when you cook do you?
I would think that could make for some stale smoke......i.e. creosote :shock: |
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I only close mine when not in use to keep rain out.
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Its all about balance. Think of a kettle. Same number of exhaust holes as intake holes. Air is moving out as a similar volume of air is moving in. In this case, my exhaust keeps the intake pulling air without a run away effect that spikes the temperature up. So one intake completely open and the exhaust damper open about 1/3 of the way will keep me in the 225°F to 250°F range for hours. More heat is retained behind the slightly closed damper. Additionally, it is easy to adjust (no stooping down, etc.) and is condusive to use in bad weather. Creosote is going to develop when the fire can burn more oxygen/fuel than the exhaust can vent. Mathematically, the exhaust is approximately four times the size of the intake at the adjustment I use. The food has all been good so far. What do you think?
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The 'balance' will work both ways, and as long as there is air flow and the exhaust pipe doesn't extend to far into the cooking chamber you shouldn't get any stale smoke. I have tried setting my smokers that way Texas Q but I find that with the exhaust in the wide open position a stronger air flow (or draw) is established at the intake tube which results in the intake damper being opened very little to acheive temp, this allows wider ranges of adjustments for different cooking temps. Even with the exhaust fully open there is still ample heat in the upper portion of the cooking chamber.
Design and methods of operation will vary from smoker to smoker and as long as they work all is well, look at how many pages this thread is on this one subject, the information here is fantastic and its the different issues and points of views like the ones we're talking about here that have given alot of people the courage to tackle making their own UDS and spreading the joy of BBQ. It would be great to see all of these barrels in one place turning out some really great eats! BY the way good looking smokers ya'll got there Texas Q and ratdawg :-D |
JW,
Maybe it is the small diameter of the intakes. My intakes are Ø 7/8". Also the exhaust stack does not extend below the inside of the lid. Additionally the stack is short, in comparison to some I have seen. I did have to extend the stack on my off set to the cooking grates to hold temperatures. I can't tell any difference in the temperature around the circumference of the grill where the meat is. Is it possible that temperature is drastically different across the grill only having one intake location open? There is something different about my drum? What is it? Look closely. Hey, ratdawg how does your drum cook? It looks great. |
ratdawg thats awesome looking drum.my favorite so far.whats up with the angle iron on top?is it to keep the top from warping or just for extra weight? I just found me a drum and soon will be part of the club. wig
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That's it people I have gone and done it!
Last week at work I finaly spotted a drum with a removable lid so I picked it up this morning with three pallets that were sitting around and ran it straight out to the mother-in-laws farm so she could give it several good burns. Broke up the pallets and set some of the wood inside just to get her started. Aint I just the best son-in-law in the world.lol Just for giggles I *recieved* a 2'' and 1.5'' ball valves, 2'' brass nipple ect.Wonder if it's going to burn way too much fuel with those sizes? I'm off to ebay to find a 22'' grill. |
TexaQ,, your drum lid and the flange around the edge. no bung holes in lid??? give us a heads up on constructing.
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Actually the lid is on upside down. The walls of the barrel slope toward the center. Luckily I had a lid in my junk stash; since the lid that came with the barrel was plastic. Fortunately the lid fits very tight this way and does not leak.
I would like a kettle lid for this UDS. What kettle lid might fit? The barrel is Ø 22 1/4". As for the construction I wanted to build as much as possible without welding. I drilled the intake holes 2" up from the base and burned the barrel by laying it down on its side on some bricks to elevate it and protect the patio. The charcoal basket is a 13" Weber Smokey Joe charcoal replacement grill with expanded metal that is attached with hog rings. This basket sits on a 15" ash pan. The cooking grate is 7 1/2" down from the opening. I had a muffler shop weld a Ø 3" x 7" long piece of exhaust pipe to the lid. They also put a 14"-20 bolt inside the pipe for the damper to attach to. I cut the damper out of an steel electrical box cover and held it in place with a washer, compression spring and couple of jam nuts. It is cooking this morning and I have made one adjustment in just over two hours. Additionally, I have noticed that if the wind is blowing that it works best to open the intake that is common to the direction the wind is coming from. If the wind is strong I shield the UDS during cooking to control the temperature. |
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Got three more drums yesterday for my next project. The pics will come with the work. |
(Looks like I posted at the same time you did Texas Q - late again as usual)
Hey redy2smoke also notice that the top portion of Texas Qs' smoker is rolled or tapered in, could this have been a solid construction barrel that has had the bottom cut off and inverted? I did notice the intake air holes located at the bottom like the standard BDS design. Sorry I have been away from the forum for awhile and I may have missed any construction pics that you may have posted Texas Q, it is a good looking smoker and I bet what gets cooked on it really taste good too. As for the extension on your offset I also positioned the exhaust on my offset/reverse flow smoker lower in order to maintain heat. You can tell from the photo that the stacks are not positioned on top of the cooking chamber but enter about mid point from the back side. There is adequate exhaust flow and I have not experienced any of the stale smoke taste with this smoker. http://usera.imagecave.com/TNroadrid...ic003-copy.jpg But for all out fun at home I use my UDS. |
Hey JW - my barrel was an open head type, but one end has the flat roll crimp to keep the bottom on and the opposite end has a rolled lip. The open tapered end was Ø 22 1/4" and bottom or opposite end is Ø 23 1/2". BTW that is a nice looking pit.
Barbarian - someone is much better at welding than me. Looks good. Tell us about the temperature differences with the lid. What kind of spacing do the cooking grates have? |
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HAVE WELDER WILL TRY ANYTHING NOW! |
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Ok, one more post. For cutting through the barrel I was planning on using my angle grinder but would a torch be easier or faster? If so would an oxy-acet work? They've got kits for nothing on ebay.
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I can't been to tell you how well these drums work. It took maybe five minutes to set everything up and start the charcoal with a weed burner. My drum was at cooking temperature with approximately 15 minutes of stabilization time prior to cooking. Actually I was prepping meat during this time. I made 3 or 4 adjustments in an 8 1/2 hour cook; which I thought was great cuz the wind was blowing. Still blowing 16 to 23 MPH. The temperature never exceeded 250° F even after removing the lid to flip meat or check meat temperatures. Two 7# pork butts took about 8 1/2 hours to reach 200°F; fatties in two hours and a pork loin roast in 2 1/2 hours.
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Ok my UDS lovin brethren. I have a crazy idea. I can only describe it as a transformer UDS.
I saw the lid on Barbarian's and the tailpipe use and started to think about wouldn't it be cool if I could rig it so that my small uds/udg was able to hook up to the large without destroying them both? I'm thinking about putting a hole in the bottom of my small with a latch that I can use to open and put onto the regular one's air inlet pipe. Then use a ring to hold them in place. I could then put the larger charcoal basket in to fuel the fire and smoke. I could build a stand to hold them up (new welder mod) and then quadruple my cooking capacity in the 55g one. Does this sound clear to anyone or am I going to have to draw a picture? |
Is that an off set, vertical UDS?
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Also anyone living near Chico, CA. you can get food grade drums at Smucker's for $5.00 per drum. |
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Transformer BBQ
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Ok here it is. I was thinking I could make a coupler that would seal around the air intake when it was inserted into the small one. Otherwise they could both just be used as normal uds.Attachment 13504
I just don't know if enough heat would be generated... |
Do you plan on ever using the small on it's own for smoking again?
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yep.
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A welding shop did the bending and welding. I would like to get a welder but don't know about doing the bending. I am going to take it to a friend who welds and have him put a bead all the way around to make it more airtight. Right now it has two little 1/2" holes in the top and it leaks the smoke around the band. I think I will put in one 3" dia. x 4" tall smoke stake when I get the welding done and plug the two little holes.
I put the two grates in the same height as everyone else seems to do. I don't know that I need a 8" tall lid maybe could get by with a 5" or 6" one if you were not going to do a turkey on the top shelf. I have not looked into the temp difference in the lid. I did ribs yesterday and had the probe on the lower grate, it held between 225 & 240 for the 4.5 hour cook with little adjustment. One thought for Chinese Bob an easy way to double your cooking space would be to cut a donor drum at the top rib, flatten that out and weld a band on that so that it would fit over the top of a UDS and use a kettle lid or one like mine. That give you two more grates which double your cooking space without getting as crazy as Smooookin and going two drums tall. I know this will work, because my first attempt at the lid I did this but it did not fit over the UDS lip. But my buddy that built with me had cut off the lip on his and it fits great on his. So I gave it to him and he now has an extention that is easy to put on and adds two grates to his UDS. |
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Started my drum this weekend. Borrowed a hydraulic knockout from an electrician friend and made short order os my botton vent holes. Also made a sloped firebox measuring 15.5" x 15.5" on top and 8" square on bottom.
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Another woodworker gone to metal fabing......i love it!!:wink:
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Work with what you got huh? Bubba. :-D Speaking of that- hows your wood mobile base working out. Any changes you would make?
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Well, after 2 days of reading I'm ready to read again and take notes this time. This has been the most fun I've ever had reading a 50+ page thread. Thank you everyone for all the designs and when I get started I'll post pictures and such.
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THE MOTHERLODE...
I just ran across this ad. The place is about 40 miles away. I may get 10 of 'em and see what I can do with all the great ideas I've gotten from this thread. :biggrin: MEATAL DRUMS $10.00 . I ALSO HAVE ALOT OF PLASTIC RAIN BARRELS FOR $ 12.00 A PIECE. http://images.craigslist.org/0103120...fede00a681.jpg |
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Mind you, I described ABT's to a chilli-loving colleague and he sounded interested so I might have one convert to sweet blue:-D |
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