Hey Gang,
I wanted to share my UDS that I built. I have had a couple of cooks on it since, and all went well considering I am very new to the BBQ world. I researched the forum for weeks on end to find out what I wanted and what features I thought should be incorporated. This was an all Weld project, and there are no mechanical fasteners on it say for the pipe clamp on the back side of the upright intake tube. It has (4) 3/4" nipples with caps, and one of those is the upright ball valve which I mostly did because I liked the look of it. Makes it look like a sophisticated smoking unit to the untrained eye.
Pretty straight forward in design. I have two cooking racks as I need to be able to cook 40-50 lbs. at least once a year for my annual party. The rest of the time, I will like the versatility in choosing top or bottom rack depending on what I will cook. Because I didn’t want to spend $100 to buy a new kettle grill just for the lid before this year’s party, I designed the upper rack to be 7” down from the top, and the lower rack 7” below that to accommodate my large pieces of meat.. I was concerned about the bottom being too close to the fire basket, but during a test cook I discovered a perforated pizza pan diffuser easily solved the problem. As a result, I have no issue when cooking pork butts on both racks so I don’t even think I will look for a kettle lid as I don’t see any benefit for me. Plus I much rather prefer the look of the flat lid.
Dual thread-in dial thermometer locations located just below both sets of racks. I only have one dial right now so I just insert it in whichever one I need and have a cap for the other opening. I could always buy a second dial if I though it necessary. Also dual grommets to run my digital internal meat probe thermometers which are located on the right side. I had to put the actual thermometer units on a table next to the UDS so I need to figure out a bracket of some sort to clean up the look of that.
Here is the fire basket. Sitting up about 2 ½” up and is 17” round with 7” high sides with loose handle. I welded the vertical studs on to allow the diffuser to slide down over them and not have to worry about the plate falling off. The only problem is I need to take the diffuser plate off in order to get to the handle to lift the basket out. I will need to re-engineer something there. Still want to find a pan to weld to the bottom of the basket to hold ash.
Here is the lid. Again, straight forward with dual stacks and very cool horse-shoe handles I got the idea for seeing here on the Brethren.
Finally, what I think to be the most impressive part. I did not like the single studs I saw for holding the racks on many other UDS builds. I thought it would be way too awkward to tilt racks trying to manage to get them in and out. I saw two other designs which I liked, one a hinge design by Boshizzle, and the other (don’t remember who) with cut outs in the rack which required you to “clock” the rack once you cleared the stud. But for various reasons I decided I needed to do something different.
This is what I came up with and I have not seen it done on any UDS before, so I may be the first! I bought threaded rod couplings and drilled them out for a precise inside fit of some ¼” round bar stock. Those were then welded to the inside of the barrel where I wanted the two rack heights. I bent a 90* in some bar stock pieces and these became my rack supports. They can be turned out of the way to clear lower racks and the fire basket. Then turned back into position to hold the actual cooking rack. Nice and simple, very clean looking, and a dirt cheap solution. With them positioned out of the way, there is no issue clearing the 22.5” cooking racks. They are snug enough that they don’t move out of position on their own and I can even turn the barrel upside down to empty ash without them falling out.
I’m calling these “HAZARD Racks”!!!
The only mod I would like to do is a rotisserie rib rack. That may be my next project. Oh, one more thing. The high temp flat black grill paint was a great choice for a finish. If you ever need to touch up a spot or just freshen up the drum, simply hit that area and it will blend right in with the rest of it. Dries in about 2 minutes.
I wanted to share my UDS that I built. I have had a couple of cooks on it since, and all went well considering I am very new to the BBQ world. I researched the forum for weeks on end to find out what I wanted and what features I thought should be incorporated. This was an all Weld project, and there are no mechanical fasteners on it say for the pipe clamp on the back side of the upright intake tube. It has (4) 3/4" nipples with caps, and one of those is the upright ball valve which I mostly did because I liked the look of it. Makes it look like a sophisticated smoking unit to the untrained eye.
Pretty straight forward in design. I have two cooking racks as I need to be able to cook 40-50 lbs. at least once a year for my annual party. The rest of the time, I will like the versatility in choosing top or bottom rack depending on what I will cook. Because I didn’t want to spend $100 to buy a new kettle grill just for the lid before this year’s party, I designed the upper rack to be 7” down from the top, and the lower rack 7” below that to accommodate my large pieces of meat.. I was concerned about the bottom being too close to the fire basket, but during a test cook I discovered a perforated pizza pan diffuser easily solved the problem. As a result, I have no issue when cooking pork butts on both racks so I don’t even think I will look for a kettle lid as I don’t see any benefit for me. Plus I much rather prefer the look of the flat lid.
Dual thread-in dial thermometer locations located just below both sets of racks. I only have one dial right now so I just insert it in whichever one I need and have a cap for the other opening. I could always buy a second dial if I though it necessary. Also dual grommets to run my digital internal meat probe thermometers which are located on the right side. I had to put the actual thermometer units on a table next to the UDS so I need to figure out a bracket of some sort to clean up the look of that.
Here is the fire basket. Sitting up about 2 ½” up and is 17” round with 7” high sides with loose handle. I welded the vertical studs on to allow the diffuser to slide down over them and not have to worry about the plate falling off. The only problem is I need to take the diffuser plate off in order to get to the handle to lift the basket out. I will need to re-engineer something there. Still want to find a pan to weld to the bottom of the basket to hold ash.
Here is the lid. Again, straight forward with dual stacks and very cool horse-shoe handles I got the idea for seeing here on the Brethren.
Finally, what I think to be the most impressive part. I did not like the single studs I saw for holding the racks on many other UDS builds. I thought it would be way too awkward to tilt racks trying to manage to get them in and out. I saw two other designs which I liked, one a hinge design by Boshizzle, and the other (don’t remember who) with cut outs in the rack which required you to “clock” the rack once you cleared the stud. But for various reasons I decided I needed to do something different.
This is what I came up with and I have not seen it done on any UDS before, so I may be the first! I bought threaded rod couplings and drilled them out for a precise inside fit of some ¼” round bar stock. Those were then welded to the inside of the barrel where I wanted the two rack heights. I bent a 90* in some bar stock pieces and these became my rack supports. They can be turned out of the way to clear lower racks and the fire basket. Then turned back into position to hold the actual cooking rack. Nice and simple, very clean looking, and a dirt cheap solution. With them positioned out of the way, there is no issue clearing the 22.5” cooking racks. They are snug enough that they don’t move out of position on their own and I can even turn the barrel upside down to empty ash without them falling out.
I’m calling these “HAZARD Racks”!!!
The only mod I would like to do is a rotisserie rib rack. That may be my next project. Oh, one more thing. The high temp flat black grill paint was a great choice for a finish. If you ever need to touch up a spot or just freshen up the drum, simply hit that area and it will blend right in with the rest of it. Dries in about 2 minutes.
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