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-   -   Ugly Drum Smoker (https://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23436)

Bentley 07-31-2007 11:47 AM

Started on my UDS project yesterday. Man, let me tell you, I do not really know steel thickness and such, but it is a bitch to weld thin gauge with a stick...you all keep that in mind when you look at my beads and my over all work! Looks like I will be ripping off many mods from this site! Anyway someone posted on here about finished look, heck the grinder is my best welding instrument! :eusa_clap Will try and put up some pictures today!

Norcoredneck 07-31-2007 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bentley (Post 437109)
Started on my UDS project yesterday. Man, let me tell you, I do not really know steel thickness and such, but it is a bitch to weld thin gauge with a stick...you all keep that in mind when you look at my beads and my over all work! Looks like I will be ripping off many mods from this site! Anyway someone posted on here about finished look, heck the grinder is my best welding instrument! :eusa_clap Will try and put up some pictures today!

Burn baby burn. Not Grand Champion quality Bentley?

tntitan 07-31-2007 02:18 PM

bentley when i burnt the paint off the inside and outside my finish came by spraying veg.oil on the outside of the barrel when the fire was hot it made the finish like gloss black also it protects it from rusting

Bentley 08-02-2007 12:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norcoredneck (Post 437111)
Burn baby burn. Not Grand Champion quality Bentley?


I guess not. Definition of Nimrod: Bentley

Example: Guess which slot I had the work in and which one I had electrode in for the AC application?

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n90/lwnna/001-2.jpg

The scary part is that the ThunderBolt unit has this exact drawing on the front of the unit, except for the writing on the right side! Farken scary! And I was making fun of the French guy on Who wants to be a Millionaire! You know, I dont remember doing glue as a teenager!

I expect my welds to be much better tomorrow, actually went out into the garage tonight and switched them so I would not forget! Maybe it wont splatter so much tomorrow! I also broke down and bought a Miller self-darkening helmet, man was that worth the money!

Bentley 08-02-2007 10:49 PM

The journy begins...
 
Well, time to let you make fun of my welding! The evil thin lid! http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n90/lwnna/UDS012.jpg

Started out with this...http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n90/lwnna/UDS001.jpg

Ended up with this...
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n90/lwnna/UDS011.jpg
and this...
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n90/lwnna/UDS010.jpg

Adjusting the Miller did nothing, I still burn through! Arghhhhh!

Mista, weed bunner is the way to go on burning out barrels!

To much to do tomorrow and Saturday, will get back at it in Sunday or Monday! Just need to put in nipples and ball valve, TRY and weld some brackets inside to hold the grates and make the fire box!

Sure could use some ideas on a paint job, would love to do something special, but I am not much when it come to design or insperation! Any suggestions Brothers!

ipls3355 08-06-2007 09:07 PM

I got a couple food grade barrels with the coated inside. I built one farking hot fire in and around the barrels but it still has a good amount of the inside paint. The fire was 10 times hotter then any cook that would be done. Does all the inside paint need to be removed?

rlic80 08-08-2007 01:00 PM

Charcoal basket...thoughts...
 
For those of you who've gone through these builds before, what do y'all think about this as a charcoal basket?

http://www.northlineexpress.com/imag...16-007-xlg.jpg
I plan on using a whole lot more char lumps than brickettes and it's low design would allow the fire to remain 24" below the grill grate. My only concern is the overall size in not being able to concentrate the fire in one tightly packed area, but rather over 18" or so.

Thoughts? I'm a first time builder and a newbie 'que-er.

motley que 08-08-2007 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ipls3355 (Post 440164)
I got a couple food grade barrels with the coated inside. I built one farking hot fire in and around the barrels but it still has a good amount of the inside paint. The fire was 10 times hotter then any cook that would be done. Does all the inside paint need to be removed?

Quote:

Originally Posted by rlic80 (Post 440999)
For those of you who've gone through these builds before, what do y'all think about this as a charcoal basket?

http://www.northlineexpress.com/imag...16-007-xlg.jpg
I plan on using a whole lot more char lumps than brickettes and it's low design would allow the fire to remain 24" below the grill grate. My only concern is the overall size in not being able to concentrate the fire in one tightly packed area, but rather over 18" or so.

Thoughts? I'm a first time builder and a newbie 'que-er.

Yes you need to get the inside liner out. use a weed burner from the outside. that will make it go fast.

for a basket if you dont want to assemble one, you can take a water pan from a ECB and drill holes in it and rest it on a grate near the bottom. i got a good 12 hour burn out of one of those.

swamprb 08-08-2007 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rlic80 (Post 440999)
For those of you who've gone through these builds before, what do y'all think about this as a charcoal basket?

http://www.northlineexpress.com/imag...16-007-xlg.jpg
I plan on using a whole lot more char lumps than brickettes and it's low design would allow the fire to remain 24" below the grill grate. My only concern is the overall size in not being able to concentrate the fire in one tightly packed area, but rather over 18" or so.

Thoughts? I'm a first time builder and a newbie 'que-er.

Kinda heavy, but don't see why it wouldn't work if it'll fit in the drum. Are you planning on anything around it to contain the coals?

This is a 18" Weber kettle with a chitload of 1/2" holes and the coal grate for all you tidy MOFO's that want the ash can mod!


http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...100_1389-2.jpg
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...100_1390-2.jpg
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...100_1391-2.jpg

Of course you'll have to empty it more often if your using Rancher briqs!

Brian

Grillman40 08-08-2007 01:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tntitan (Post 434022)
mine is 3 inches

I agree with Norco. Thought I jumped into the wrong forum for a second. :-P

ipls3355 08-08-2007 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motley que (Post 441011)
Yes you need to get the inside liner out. use a weed burner from the outside. that will make it go fast.

Damn, I don't have one or propane for that matter....I'll figure something out.

Norcoredneck 08-08-2007 07:28 PM

Gonna whore myself out some more. If you can find the time I am still soliciting votes for my Ugly Drum Smoker. If you go to:
http://www.millerwelds.com/education/powerclick.php
and register for magazine ( cool e-magazine in itself). Then go to :
http://www.millerwelds.com/challenge/ and vote for each time slot. Mine is in 1-5 hours. Then you will get a email asking if you registered. Just click on the link and your done. You can do multiple e-mail addresses. Every vote is appreciated. Thanks Pat.

ipls3355 08-08-2007 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norcoredneck (Post 441192)
Every vote is appreciated. Thanks Pat.

I voted for ya, now can you send me a weed burner:wink:

jgh1204 08-12-2007 05:00 PM

Fired up my UDS yesterday afternoon at 2PM. Had 2 large CAB briskets. I used my spicewine charcoal rack from my bandera. Filled it with kingsford and 1 small log of oak.

Maintained about 210 for 14 hours. Pulled the briskets off at 4 AM.

I put the cover back on and shut down the vents. At 2PM today, I still had hot coals.

This was one of my best and consistent cooks on my UDS. When I made mine, I made a lot of mistakes drilling the holes for my grates. This time I made sure I plugged all those holes with foil.

I had also drilled 4 holes at the bottom for ventiliation. I kept those plugged almost the entire time.

I am using my weber kettle lid which I highly recommend for your UDS.

Bentley 08-14-2007 02:20 PM

Well its done...
 
I guess? Is that the epitome of Ugly! Am not sure if it has to have a vent at the top?

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n90/lwnna/001-4.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n90/lwnna/002-3.jpg

motley que 08-14-2007 02:23 PM

if the lid is a weber you should be ok. ya gotta have some way to get teh smoke out

Norcoredneck 08-14-2007 05:10 PM

This truly makes it ugly....
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k2...neck/001-4.jpg

Bentley 08-14-2007 07:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norcoredneck (Post 444267)


Sweet! I wish I was an artist! All my pits would look like that! You should have put it over that abortion of an attempt at "Darkside of the Moon" art work!

swamprb 08-14-2007 09:26 PM

Nice n' ugly! Gotta love it!

I took 2 of my drums and 2 WSM's to a Competition cooking class this past weekend. I lent one of the Webers to another team and finished two other teams briskets and butts in my drums. They had been fighting thier little loaner offsets and ECB's to keep their temps stable all day, it was very frustrating for them, I hope they don't give up Q'n after that day!

We got a First Place finish for our Chicken, done spatchcocked on the drum and cut up for presentation, won the "Friendliest Booth" title and my son won a WSM as a door prize! It was fun because everyone had to come by and check out the UDS's!

I hope I raised the awareness!

Brian
Midnight Ramblers

Norcoredneck 08-14-2007 09:33 PM

Cool, no pics. to share?

Bentley 08-14-2007 09:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swamprb (Post 444452)
Nice n' ugly! Gotta love it!

finished two other teams briskets and butts in my drums.

That is a no-no in a KCBS competition!

Bentley 08-14-2007 09:48 PM

Question, I am gonna sell the UDS I made for the parts in it to a guy from the CBBQA. I bought 5#'s of charcoal today, am gonna start it tomorrow morning. Want to be able to give him some advice on how to tune the temps. How long a burn should I be able to get from 5lbs.?

jgh1204 08-14-2007 10:12 PM

About 6 to 10 hours, depending on how hot you run.

swamprb 08-14-2007 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bentley (Post 444461)
That is a no-no in a KCBS competition!

I know, it was non KCBS and it was a cooking class and Chicken and Ribs comp that benefitted a local charity, and a LOT of first time cookers attended, finished up some brisket and butts for some, mine were done and coolered, and like I said they were getting pretty frustrated, besides, the drums were hummin'!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bentley (Post 444467)
Question, I am gonna sell the UDS I made for the parts in it to a guy from the CBBQA. I bought 5#'s of charcoal today, am gonna start it tomorrow morning. Want to be able to give him some advice on how to tune the temps. How long a burn should I be able to get from 5lbs.?

I'll get @ 6 hours on a full Weber chimney of briqs in my small charcoal ring, I read somewhere that it holds @ 6 lbs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norcoredneck (Post 444454)
Cool, no pics. to share?

This thread here:
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=30361

Bentley 08-15-2007 12:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgh1204 (Post 444487)
About 6 to 10 hours, depending on how hot you run.

Dayum...that might be cheaper than the Traegers!

Norcoredneck 08-15-2007 12:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bentley (Post 444533)
Dayum...that might be cheaper than the Traegers!

Bentley how much paint did you inhale?

Bentley 08-15-2007 11:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norcoredneck (Post 444534)
Bentley how much paint did you inhale?


Comon there sporto...I am talking about the difference between charcoal and pellet cost!.. Hey another movie quote, "Do you take me for a Moooron!"

Bentley 08-15-2007 02:05 PM

Started the charcoal at 10:15, it is 10:30 and the grate temp is already 160*, this thing may work! Updates to follow!

Edit: Well its 10:45, the grate temp is 215*. Put the first cap back on the 3/4 inch nipple, we see how easy it is to stabilizes at 230*!

Edit: 11:45, 1 hour in. Grate temp 235*. Through on two packs of pellets in foil to give some wood smoke. Probably would not have believed it if I was not doing it! Lets see if I can maintain that temp and for how long.

motley que 08-15-2007 02:22 PM

arent they awesome. i guarantee anytime you cook on one of those in public people will be amazed by them. i had FE100/BWS/Stumps owners all looking at my drums in amazement.

just dont forget the bottle opener mod.

Bentley 08-15-2007 03:44 PM

Well 3 hours into the cook. The drum has held temps between 225* and 240* for the last 3 hours! Cant believe I have nothing on the pit! Couple of pictures. temp guage and the amount of charcoal that had burnt!

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n90/lwnna/001-5.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n90/lwnna/002-4.jpg

It does amaze me! Maybe its because I built it, but these little bad boys really work! The only thing I will say is I am not sure about the pellets in foil for smoke, just does not appear to generate a lot of smoke, I no that is hard to judge, but I could see myself using chunks of hardwood or pressure treated to get more smoke!

motley que 08-15-2007 04:26 PM

i agree about the pellets, just get some chunks in there and let her rip. if you get a real big chunk, just place it in the center of the basket and place your lump around it, then it constantly gives off that nice blue smoke

Norcoredneck 08-15-2007 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bentley (Post 444772)
Started the charcoal at 10:15 , we see how easy it is to stabilizes at 230*!

Edit: 11:45, 1 hour in. Grate temp 235*. Probably would not have believed it if I was not doing it! .

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bentley (Post 444838)
Well 3 hours into the cook. The drum has held temps between 225* and 240* for the last 3 hours! Cant believe I have nothing on the pit! Couple of pictures. temp guage and the amount of charcoal that had burnt!

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n90/lwnna/001-5.jpg

http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n90/lwnna/002-4.jpg

It does amaze me! Maybe its because I built it, but these little bad boys really work! The only thing I will say is I am not sure about the pellets in foil for smoke, just does not appear to generate a lot of smoke, !

Perhaps you have found your road back to Grand Champion quality food Grasshopper.:biggrin:

Bentley 08-15-2007 05:28 PM

Well it is 3:15, the drum has stayed at between 230-245*, 5 hours and maybe half the chacoal burned! Maybe! I dont even care about how long it could burn on 5#'s anymore! Fugetaboutit! I want to see if it can grill a tri-tip. I have opened all the 3/4 inch nipples and opened up the ball valve, want to see how high I can get the temps now! Just put a small tri-tip on, maybe 1 1/2 lbs, well have some photos when it is done. I am sure this will ruffel a few feathers, but why would you ever buy a WSM when you could have one of these babies for 1/4 the price!


How high a temp have some have you all gotten it to?

Bentley 08-15-2007 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norcoredneck (Post 444878)
Perhaps you have found your road back to Grand Champion quality food Grasshopper.:biggrin:


I already got two GC there Master! I will always be a pellethead! I am just amazed these things do what they do for 1/4 the price of a WSM and 1/20 the price of a Traeger! Will see how the tri-tip comes out, been a long, long time since I cooked anything on charcoal!

Bigmista 08-15-2007 05:32 PM

If you leave the lid off, you can get well in excess of 450.

jgh1204 08-15-2007 06:19 PM

Welcome to the club. BTW, I find that I have to cook at lower temps on my UDS.

swamprb 08-15-2007 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bentley (Post 444918)
I already got two GC there Master! I will always be a pellethead! I am just amazed these things do what they do for 1/4 the price of a WSM and 1/20 the price of a Traeger! Will see how the tri-tip comes out, been a long, long time since I cooked anything on charcoal!

Lifted from the BDS site:
http://bigdrumsmokers.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=2614

Bentley 08-15-2007 08:34 PM

Well...6:11 and it is still 225*. I shut it down cuz I am tired of it! At 3pm I put the tri-tip in and raised the temp, did not have an chunks of hardwood, so I added a few chunks of 2x8 I cut into small pieces. It was probably doug fir or pine, I would probably not reccomened this to people who do not like an earthy, construction like flavor! Hey, I wanted it up to grilling temps! It cooks deceptively well, it was a small tri-tip, but as you can see by the pictures, way over cooked for me! No pink, no good! Still was able to force it down with some garlic mashed potatoes!

Folks, these thinks work, make no mistake about that! I could see putting 10#'s of charcoal in this thing and it cooking within a 15* range for 16 hours easy! And there is nothing I can think of in the competition BBQ world that should take more than 16 hours!

Kristin says it has to go so it is on the sales block! I will put it in the CBBQA for sale thread with price.


http://www.cbbqa.org/forum/style_ima...mg-resized.png Reduced: 80% of original size [ 800 x 600 ] - Click to view full image
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n90/lwnna/003-1.jpg


Heck of a nice smoke ring for 90 minutes!


http://www.cbbqa.org/forum/style_ima...mg-resized.png Reduced: 80% of original size [ 800 x 600 ] - Click to view full image
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n90/lwnna/004-1.jpg

N8man 08-16-2007 01:45 PM

Good Job!!
 
Bentley, It looks like you did a Real Fine Job!!!! Good Job!!!
Do you really have to get rid of it? Be nice to have it around....

Bentley 08-16-2007 01:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by N8man (Post 445426)
Bentley, It looks like you did a Real Fine Job!!!! Good Job!!!
Do you really have to get rid of it? Be nice to have it around....

Its already sold! I have had 3 more people contact me about them off Craigs list, maybe $50 is to cheap! :-P Told them I would build each one of them one if they wanted, will be curious to see if any respond!

motley que 08-16-2007 01:57 PM

sell for $150 minimum or you are wasting your time

N8man 08-16-2007 01:57 PM

Selling Short!!!
 
I think you're selling it short!!!! You could probably sell it for four times that with no problem!!!

Bentley 08-16-2007 04:37 PM

Figured I put this here...
 
Any future UDS people out there?

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/for/398725188.html

hawgjaws 08-19-2007 01:24 PM

Future UDS People - Me
 
After reading this thread, I just gotta build one.In the past week (after brushing up on welding/cutting skills) I added a firebox baffle and tuning plates to my offset. Got it cooking good finally. Now I will gather parts for a UDS. Looking for a barrel on Fort Worth Freecycle now.Hope someone helps me out. Can't wait.

ipls3355 08-25-2007 11:27 AM

I relented and bought a weed burner to burn the paint out of the inside of my drums. This thing has a high cool factor but I'm concerned about doing this in town because of the noise and the smell. I hit the outside of the drum in one spot for 30 seconds or so and it didn't touch the paint on the inside. How long does it take to burn a drum with a weed burner? How much propane does it take?

brdbbq 08-25-2007 06:17 PM

Found a drum today actaully found a bunch. $12 Each. The quest has begun

Meat Burner 08-25-2007 07:58 PM

3 Attachment(s)
Here's one of my UDS smokers in action today. Great smoker thanks to this forum and all the help building. Juicy chicken tonight!!!!

Norcoredneck 08-25-2007 08:54 PM

How did she control?

swamprb 08-25-2007 08:58 PM

Very nice MB!
It looks like you cut the rolled lip off the top of the drum so the Weber lid fits tight, correct? All my Red Webers have a dent in them like yours!!
I sold my NB Silver Smoker last week, no sense keeping it around when the Drums can do it all!

Brian

Meat Burner 08-25-2007 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norcoredneck (Post 450499)
How did she control?

The controls are sooooo easy. Mine all have 4 1/2" ball valves. Get the temp up initially and close all half way down and it will cruise for hours and hours at 225-235.

Brian, I cut the lip off with a 4" grinder cutting blade and needed very little sanding with a grinding blade. The weber lids fit great. I did fab a couple tabs to rund the thermometer probes thru so the lid wouldn't pinch the cables. Works great. I used engine gasket material under the metal and drilled some small holes. Easy mod and works great.

Like you, I haven't used any of my other smokers since I built these. They are so cool. All of this was a result of this great forum and so many people so freely willing to help. What a great bunch.:mrgreen:


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