Ugly Drum Smoker

el luchador said:

lets say you had to drive a couple of hours to get a barrel, and a couple of hours back.

so, say 4 hours total.

you'll probably spend 2x that much time getting a lined drum ready. remove liner, grind outside paint off, repaint, etc.

So, would you rather spend 8 hours grinding out liner, or 4 hours driving listening to music?

I know what my choice would be.

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HAHA. Good point. Still, my cheapness of not wanting to spend money on gas if I don't have to might still win out. Also this place that's a couple hours away is only open Monday through Friday so there's the matter of getting off work which is potentially problematic.

Blue Kettle said:

HAHA. Good point. Still, my cheapness of not wanting to spend money on gas if I don't have to might still win out. Also this place that's a couple hours away is only open Monday through Friday so there's the matter of getting off work which is potentially problematic.

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Cough, sick day, cough.

I don't know if anyone tried this but it worked for me pretty well. After a big fire to blister the paint inside and out, I put a few shovels of rock and a little sand with 5 or 10 gallons of water in my drum. Put the lid on with the clamp and rolled it around for a few minutes. Must be done before adding nipples of course.
It scrubbed it out pretty good. Made shinning it up wih a coarse scotch pad easy.

Blue Kettle said:

HAHA. Good point. Still, my cheapness of not wanting to spend money on gas if I don't have to might still win out. Also this place that's a couple hours away is only open Monday through Friday so there's the matter of getting off work which is potentially problematic.

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prepping a lined drum is not free either.

"Since you ended up having to grind it from the inside anyway do you think that if you had done that from the beginning the burn would have been more effective? Or, were the fires necessary to make the grinding easier? If I could literally just grind I might actually prefer that to screwing with a toxic plastic fire in the backyard."

That liner (thin as it is) is pretty rugged- you "need" the fire to break it down. Even after a good burn, the liner removal is still tedious. IF you just wanted to tackle it with grinder/brush wheels/ flap wheels- I guess you could give it a go. Set it up horizontally on some saw horses and a "comfortable" height (it won't be comfortable for long) and get after it.

Nuco59 said:

"Since you ended up having to grind it from the inside anyway do you think that if you had done that from the beginning the burn would have been more effective? Or, were the fires necessary to make the grinding easier? If I could literally just grind I might actually prefer that to screwing with a toxic plastic fire in the backyard."

That liner (thin as it is) is pretty rugged- you "need" the fire to break it down. Even after a good burn, the liner removal is still tedious. IF you just wanted to tackle it with grinder/brush wheels/ flap wheels- I guess you could give it a go. Set it up horizontally on some saw horses and a "comfortable" height (it won't be comfortable for long) and get after it.

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Okay. I think you all have me convinced. If I do this, new drum it is. Frankly at this point the pit barrel cooker or something similar with a porcelain enamel coating is starting to sound pretty attractive.

Blue Kettle said:

Okay. I think you all have me convinced. If I do this, new drum it is. Frankly at this point the pit barrel cooker or something similar with a porcelain enamel coating is starting to sound pretty attractive.

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lol blue kettle you crack me up.

you say you are cheap and dont want to order a new drum for $101 but not so cheap that you dont mind spending $300 on a premade kit?


the pbc is a good UDS - you'll enjoy it.

remind me again why are you not just sticking to your kettle?

el luchador said:

lol blue kettle you crack me up.

you say you are cheap and dont want to order a new drum for $101 but not so cheap that you dont mind spending $300 on a premade kit?


the pbc is a good UDS - you'll enjoy it.

remind me again why are you not just sticking to your kettle?

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You know, I've been asking myself that also. The initial idea was I wanted something closer to set it and forget it and with longer burn times. An initial inquiry on my very first post on here had multiple people tell me a UDS was the way to go. I'm a do it yourselfer type so the idea of building my own smoker is cool to me. But I've also got some white elephants around the house where I've never finished projects. So for me, its a balance between how cool building a really functional smoker sounds, and the reality of possibly ending up with a bucket of bolts taking up space in the garage that I never get done the way I want to. In which case the spending some additional cash and getting a PBC or Barrel House Cooker or Smokey Mountain sounds pretty good.

I know, it's sort of nutty.

el luchador said:

lol blue kettle you crack me up.

you say you are cheap and dont want to order a new drum for $101 but not so cheap that you dont mind spending $300 on a premade kit?


the pbc is a good UDS - you'll enjoy it.

remind me again why are you not just sticking to your kettle?

Click to expand...

Blue Kettle said:

You know, I've been asking myself that also. The initial idea was I wanted something closer to set it and forget it and with longer burn times. An initial inquiry on my very first post on here had multiple people tell me a UDS was the way to go. I'm a do it yourselfer type so the idea of building my own smoker is cool to me. But I've also got some white elephants around the house where I've never finished projects. So for me, its a balance between how cool building a really functional smoker sounds, and the reality of possibly ending up with a bucket of bolts taking up space in the garage that I never get done the way I want to. In which case the spending some additional cash and getting a PBC or Barrel House Cooker or Smokey Mountain sounds pretty good.

I know, it's sort of nutty.

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I wont try to convince you either way as only you know your personal situation but building a uds from an unlined drum and metal bucket is something that will take you two hours if you take an hour long break while building it.

good luck with whatever decision you take.

while contemplating your choice you should work on the temp management of your kettle - for starters, the bottom adjustment are too big for fine control of air. I would try closing that off and controlling the "pit" with just the top vents. put as much charcoal as you can pile on one side.

if you cant get it with just the top vents, then drill a new intake hole/s that have fine adjustability.

you might be able to solve your issue without spending more than 5 bucks.

el luchador said:

I wont try to convince you either way as only you know your personal situation but building a uds from an unlined drum and metal bucket is something that will take you two hours if you take an hour long break while building it.

good luck with whatever decision you take.

while contemplating your choice you should work on the temp management of your kettle - for starters, the bottom adjustment are too big for fine control of air. I would try closing that off and controlling the "pit" with just the top vents. put as much charcoal as you can pile on one side.

if you cant get it with just the top vents, then drill a new intake hole/s that have fine adjustability.

you might be able to solve your issue without spending more than 5 bucks.

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Thanks. I was THIS close to ordering a BBQ guru party Q one day to get the set it and forget it thing, but I'm a bit unsure of drilling a hole in the kettle. It has sentimental value to me even if that sounds sort of nuts also.

Blue Kettle said:

Thanks. I was THIS close to ordering a BBQ guru party Q one day to get the set it and forget it thing, but I'm a bit unsure of drilling a hole in the kettle. It has sentimental value to me even if that sounds sort of nuts also.

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Mines 39 years old and I can't get myself to drill a hole for the temperature probe.:roll:

So I have about 5 real cooks in my UDS with the vortex charcoal box. I thought it would be a set it and forget it but it's just like my old WSM. I'm constantly adjusting the intake because my temps will bounce from 225 to 325, but I do like how I can change the temps on the dime... it just travels sometimes. But once I wrapped, it cruised at 298 for 2 hours and leveled out at 275 for the next 4. But that was already at the 7 hour mark though. The obvious factors are my spritzing time but still... I figured it would be more stable than this.

Maybe it's time for that guru?

Czarbecue said:

So I have about 5 real cooks in my UDS with the vortex charcoal box. I thought it would be a set it and forget it but it's just like my old WSM. I'm constantly adjusting the intake because my temps will bounce from 225 to 325, but I do like how I can change the temps on the dime... it just travels sometimes. But once I wrapped, it cruised at 298 for 2 hours and leveled out at 275 for the next 4. But that was already at the 7 hour mark though. The obvious factors are my spritzing time but still... I figured it would be more stable than this.

Maybe it's time for that guru?

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You open the lid to spritz, the coals get a big gulp of oxygen. Think of it as opening a 22.5" diameter intake. Try shutting the vents before opening the lid.

Czarbecue said:

So I have about 5 real cooks in my UDS with the vortex charcoal box. I thought it would be a set it and forget it but it's just like my old WSM. I'm constantly adjusting the intake because my temps will bounce from 225 to 325, but I do like how I can change the temps on the dime... it just travels sometimes. But once I wrapped, it cruised at 298 for 2 hours and leveled out at 275 for the next 4. But that was already at the 7 hour mark though. The obvious factors are my spritzing time but still... I figured it would be more stable than this.

Maybe it's time for that guru?

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With the uds if you open the lid the temps will jump big-time and only way to get it down quickly would be to spray water on it.

You also have to sneak up on. The temps. And it doesn't take a lot of intake for the temps to run away from you.

Having said that, an auto controller is not a bad idea.

Stubby UDS

We have a female family friend who is vertically challenged but really wants a UDS.
N8man had built a short UDS quite a few years ago. :hail: His chicken cooker. I don't believe those photos are still available. A quick few designs/measurements. Off to build in this teen's to below zero weather.
I got a used drum, cut the height to 24" tall. I'll use the cut off top to make a firepit for said person.
With the 24" drum, 7.5" legs ( I added wheels on the rear for easy mobility). That brings the drum/top grill grate to 32" high. Same as a Weber kettle.
6" down from the top grate is the second grate. 4" below that for holding a drip pan/diffuser. 3" legs on the coal basket ( she won't be doing overnight cooks). Lots of room above the coal basket if mods are required.
2-1.5" pipe elbows for intakes (she wants to be able to do pizza's). 2- magnets to control intakes. Same as all my other cookers. Water proof and easy to adjust/use in any weather.
I rolled a metal ring that I inserted/welded into the hole I cut where the original 5 hole exh was. The original exh was NEVER going to seal! Stupid location on the radius of the lid for a Weber copy exh. Both top/bottom edges wouldn't touch the lid. So this is how I fixed that. Trying to keep this on the cheap side.
The drum needed handles for easy moving. 2- welding hammers..cool touch handles. $6 ea. Another hammer for the lid handle. :biggrin1:
Handle/bar on the side to hold the lid and tongs etc. The hammer handles are great for hanging your cooking grates on.
17" Weber coal grate with 6" high expanded metal.
To cold to paint the thing. It was 18* out when I brought it outside to fire it up. (14* inside my garage) I know I can not see all that well anymore. But a frosted up welding helmet sure doesn't help. Just don't breath when the helmet is on. :crazy:

I fired the stubby up using only used coals from my other drum. No wood added. 25 mins and I'm at 600* and holding. Let that ride for 20 or so minutes. Brought the temp down to 275* and let it go for another hour. I'll be smoking a couple fatties soon.
Wife doesn't want me to paint it. She thinks it looks like R2D2. We'll see what the the friend wants.
This drum was for holding canola oil. No liner.







geshack.com/i/poJ2NpGtj][/URL]

ebijack said:

We have a female family friend who is vertically challenged but really wants a UDS.
N8man had built a short UDS quite a few years ago. :hail: His chicken cooker. I don't believe those photos are still available. A quick few designs/measurements. Off to build in this teen's to below zero weather.
I got a used drum, cut the height to 24" tall. I'll use the cut off top to make a firepit for said person.
With the 24" drum, 7.5" legs ( I added wheels on the rear for easy mobility). That brings the drum/top grill grate to 32" high. Same as a Weber kettle.
6" down from the top grate is the second grate. 4" below that for holding a drip pan/diffuser. 3" legs on the coal basket ( she won't be doing overnight cooks). Lots of room above the coal basket if mods are required.
2-1.5" pipe elbows for intakes (she wants to be able to do pizza's). 2- magnets to control intakes. Same as all my other cookers. Water proof and easy to adjust/use in any weather.
I rolled a metal ring that I inserted/welded into the hole I cut where the original 5 hole exh was. The original exh was NEVER going to seal! Stupid location on the radius of the lid for a Weber copy exh. Both top/bottom edges wouldn't touch the lid. So this is how I fixed that. Trying to keep this on the cheap side.
The drum needed handles for easy moving. 2- welding hammers..cool touch handles. $6 ea. Another hammer for the lid handle. :biggrin1:
Handle/bar on the side to hold the lid and tongs etc. The hammer handles are great for hanging your cooking grates on.
17" Weber coal grate with 6" high expanded metal.
To cold to paint the thing. It was 18* out when I brought it outside to fire it up. (14* inside my garage) I know I can not see all that well anymore. But a frosted up welding helmet sure doesn't help. Just don't breath when the helmet is on. :crazy:

I fired the stubby up using only used coals from my other drum. No wood added. 25 mins and I'm at 600* and holding. Let that ride for 20 or so minutes. Brought the temp down to 275* and let it go for another hour. I'll be smoking a couple fatties soon.
Wife doesn't want me to paint it. She thinks it looks like R2D2. We'll see what the the friend wants.
This drum was for holding canola oil. No liner.
]

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great work as always

I didn't realize luchador put his drum on Craigslist :heh:

https://dallas.craigslist.org/mdf/for/d/ugly-drum-smoker-uds/6456667242.html

Czarbecue said:

I didn't realize luchador put his drum on Craigslist :heh:

https://dallas.craigslist.org/mdf/for/d/ugly-drum-smoker-uds/6456667242.html

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That's my stick burner. And stick burners just don't do anything for me. Not enough flavor :boxing:
:rockon:

ebijack said:

We have a female family friend who is vertically challenged but really wants a UDS.

...2-1.5" pipe elbows for intakes (she wants to be able to do pizza's)...

...

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A very nice innovative build.
I'm curious about the pizza comment. What does that mean?