Ugly Drum Smoker

Good thing Pat has a hat on to protect him :biggrin:

BTW I experienced my first Rancher swirling ash syndrome this past weekend in the UDS. I have finally seen the light brothers....

Hey Doc, what was your final opinion on the heat deflector in the mini?

Ya know I like it and I think it may be of some use. It would appear to keep the temps a bit more even through the cook yet it keeps the heat right under the product so having a fat cap is a god thing. It works well as half Pint is short but I don't know what the deal would be with a fuss sized UDS.

I will continue to use it untill things go wrong.

For a fast cook on a butt or brisket, it looks like a lot of potential. The only quick cook but I did was a 5 pounder in a little under 5 hours on the UDS. Cooler for about an hour, and oh man was it good. Seems like the deflector might work out for that type of cook in the small barrel. Thanks for the info Doc.

No problem I'll keep using it and let you know if anything changes.

How does one get the grease out of the bottom of the UDS? I have an ash pan below the charcoal basket, but it has holes in it and some of the drippings from the 6 butts ended up on the bottom of the drum. It was still liquid the next day so I put a bunch of paper towels down there. There was a lot from the 6 butts.

BTW, Butts were excellent. I know it did not happen because I don't have any pics.

Thanks,
George

web-pilot said:

How does one get the grease out of the bottom of the UDS?

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Garden Hoe

I got a "inner drum" that I lift out

Employ a small child.

web-pilot said:

How does one get the grease out of the bottom of the UDS? I have an ash pan below the charcoal basket, but it has holes in it and some of the drippings from the 6 butts ended up on the bottom of the drum. It was still liquid the next day so I put a bunch of paper towels down there. There was a lot from the 6 butts.

BTW, Butts were excellent. I know it did not happen because I don't have any pics.

Thanks,
George

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My UDS sets on two cinder blocks. When I'm done I just tip it sideways and allow the grease to drain out of one of the air intake holes into an aluminum pan.

Put some ash on it and let it soak up. Then use a Thirdeye Hoe Scoop" to scrape it out.

After two buts and two briskets on my 85g I had the same thing...lotsa greas in the bottom. I didn't want it going rancid on me so I poured in some Heavy Duty Simple Green (which for some reason is purple) and maybe a half gallon of water. I swished that around and let it soak in to break up the grease.

I poured this out into a 5g bucket and then down the sewer drain. I used a hose to rinse out the rest with the drum tipped on its side. I mostly left the sides of the drum alone.

After that a quick blast with the weed burner to dry it out and a quick coating with some Smart & Final spray grease (like PAM) and we are good as new.

Thanks for all of the ideas! I especially like the small child idea. I can hold one of my granddaughters upside down by the feet and let them wipe it all out. I think I better not try that one!

Thanks,
George

web-pilot said:

Thanks for all of the ideas! I especially like the small child idea. I can hold one of my granddaughters upside down by the feet and let them wipe it all out. I think I better not try that one!

Thanks,
George

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USC has a new purpose.

Start up and cleanup are easy, just lift the drum off the stand and git er done.

Another UDS Convert

:mrgreen: Morning Everyone

Wow - it took longer to read all thru this thread than it did to build a UDS.

After reading all the good info on UDS-es I decided I had to build one. I found a food grade barrel and burned it out, bought a 22" grill at WM and started in on the project.

I made up a charcoal basket that is 12"dia X 12" high and built an angle iron frame to give it 4" of clearance from the bottom of the barrel.

Now, I'm just getting started with smoking and such, so I had bought a SNP at WM - thought I could make it work for a smoker. After several cooks I got it working pretty well - never really right - and it used a LOT of fuel. I was getting ready to haul it into the shop and make some major mods. but having read all sorts of good things about the UDS design, I decided to build one first before modifying the SNP.

I have a BBQ Guru, so I only drilled one hole at the bottom of my UDS so the fan could blow in there, and drilled eight 5/8" holes in the top lid with no smoke stack of any kind.

Well, Thursday night I got home about 10pm and loaded the basket about 2/3rds full of Cowboy lump with a few Kingsford briquettes in there too, oiled up the barrel and set the Guru for about 235 degrees.

Would you believe that 18 hours later - I was just beginning to run out of fuel. AMAZING. The UDS held any temp I set on the guru just absolutely ROCK SOLID. I could raise the temp five degrees - come back hours later and the temp was right where it should be. Lower it five degrees - come back later and the temp was being held perfectly.

The SNP is going to have the firebox pulled off of it and I'll weld up the hole and it will be relegated to grilling. (( In the process of getting into smoking I have also rediscovered just how much better hamburgers and steaks are when cooked over real charcoal instead of propane. ))

Want to thank everyone here who did all the preliminary design worked, and got all the bugs worked out.

I have no anxiety about putting on a brisket before I leave for work and have a cooker/controller system that will absolutely hold the temp perfectly.

Now that I know it works, I'm going to build a stand with a table attached and get the barrel painted and looking good. After I get that done, I'll post some pictures.

Regards
Rodney Wren

Post pics when it's ugly! congrats on the build.

After spending way too much time reading this thread I finally built my ugly-fugly drum. Couple additions to it which I'm particularly proud of including a built in bottle opener and a shelf that folds up for easier storage. Burning it out tonight, and plan to do my first smoke tomorrow. One interesting point/question. When we built the drum 5 days ago it was pretty hot and we were sweating. Sweat got on several spots on the interior. 5 days later and all those sweat spots on the interior have developed into rust. Has anyone had problems with rust? Also, any suggestions on what should be my inogural smoke?

carpetbagger1 said:

After spending way too much time reading this thread I finally built my ugly-fugly drum. Couple additions to it which I'm particularly proud of including a built in bottle opener and a shelf that folds up for easier storage. Burning it out tonight, and plan to do my first smoke tomorrow. One interesting point/question. When we built the drum 5 days ago it was pretty hot and we were sweating. Sweat got on several spots on the interior. 5 days later and all those sweat spots on the interior have developed into rust. Has anyone had problems with rust? Also, any suggestions on what should be my inogural smoke?

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After You Burn Out The Interior, Wipe It Down and Take a ScotchBrite Pad to those rusty spots on the interior of your DrumPit then rub the interior down with some vegetable shortening or cooking oil. Build you a fire in your fire basket to season it. Might as well not waste that seasoning fire, smoke a couple Fatties on it. And Congratulations on Your Drum Smoker Build...

Another UDS !

First post ! Just completed my UDS. It would not have been built if it was not for the help and advice of the folks on this mother of all forums. I have many “borrowed “design ideas and a couple of original ones.

I am using a Webber rotisserie / extension for a 22.5 kettle on an upside down open top reconditioned drum. Also has a guru pit minder set up. For a basket I used a small tail gate grill bottom with a ****e load of holes and the bottom cut off. I am using 2 racks one 1” down from the top of the drum and one in the middle of the extension. The extension is a tight slip fit. The break-in / burn in went well after I figured the draft control. Spray canola oil was used. Also used all carriage bolts with threaded rod couplers for nuts. I am going to do a Boston but this week end. Sure am looking forward to being able to starting to cook at midnight and going back to bed!