DHafling
Found some matches.
last few competitions, winners have been using UDS. Thoughts on them for competitions? What makes a good UDS?
UDS for competition
- Thread starter DHafling
- Start date
We've used 4 Hundsaker drums for the past 4 years. They are easy to transport, hold temp great and produce great food! I could get by with three (maybe even two with the right timeline), but having four gives me better flexibility.
I don't know about the rest of the country, but at the Mountain West comps almost every team has a drum.... and it's not uncommon to see 4 to 6 drums at some cook's sites.
Are you a BBQ League member? Members can watch numerous "tell-all" videos and "roundtable" discussions that are very well done. Quite a few of the featured cooks use drums.
Are you a BBQ League member? Members can watch numerous "tell-all" videos and "roundtable" discussions that are very well done. Quite a few of the featured cooks use drums.
I use a homemade UDS and a WSM for backyard comps (3 meats) and will probably build another soon. I was amazed at the last couple of comps that I did at how many teams, mostly pro, are using drums. There is a reason, and that is they work and work well.
West River BBQ
Full Fledged Farker
I think it was said correctly by Ron L.: easy to transport and hold temps well. You're cooking in all sorts of bad weather (or else it isn't a comp I've ever been to), so temp stability is important. After that, you just need to know how to cook.
ModelMaker
Quintessential Chatty Farker
We cooked two contests with my homemade UDS and a $39 Walmart grill.
Ed
Oh, I walked in both!
Ed
Oh, I walked in both!
I'd say another (at least for me) important fact that convinced me to switch to drums, away from my insulated gravity fed, is the timeline. Instead of waking up at 2am to start the smoker and then checking it every 45 minutes, I now get to sleep all of the way through to 6am, when I light my drums. Do not discount a full night's sleep!!
Right on Q
is Blowin Smoke!
winners using UDS's or PDS (pretty drum smokers 
) like gateways?
I know drum smokers have been winning for years. Just like WSMs and any other kind of smoker.
The main thing is to know your smokers extremely well. When they're struggling to get to temp, what do you do? What works well? When they're running hot, what do you do?
Those types of situations happen to everyone. How you respond to those determine walking vs no walks.
Hope I didn't get too philosophical on ya
) like gateways?I know drum smokers have been winning for years. Just like WSMs and any other kind of smoker.
The main thing is to know your smokers extremely well. When they're struggling to get to temp, what do you do? What works well? When they're running hot, what do you do?
Those types of situations happen to everyone. How you respond to those determine walking vs no walks.
Hope I didn't get too philosophical on ya
