UDPO testfire

[Hell Fire Grill]

UDPO = Ugly Drum Pizza Oven


This is another project I'v been playing with for several months, making small parts etc., in my spare time. I got busy and cut the stone, welded the parts that needed welded on and started the first fire.

I use as much recycled materials as I can so nothing in these pics is really new.

First fire.

I'll make improvements and permanent parts as the cooker proves itself.

I done this all yesterday so there are more pics coming shortly.

 

[Hell Fire Grill]

The paint inside the thermo is pretty much toast at a little over 600*.

The fire.

 

[caliking]

That's a pretty nicely executed UDPO. I thought of something similar (but not as neat as yours), but wasn't sure how it would work. What kind fo temps have you been able to get up with it. Any pron from cooks on your new toy?

 

[Hell Fire Grill]

That's a pretty nicely executed UDPO. I thought of something similar (but not as neat as yours), but wasn't sure how it would work. What kind fo temps have you been able to get up with it. Any pron from cooks on your new toy?

No pie yet. I got more pics coming in a minute.

 

[Hell Fire Grill]

I put more wood in and got it hotter than before but I dont know how hot. All the paint inside the themo went up in smoke and clouded the inside of the glass. The last pic I got where you could see the needle shows it at about the 6:00 position.

 

[Hell Fire Grill]

I wasent expecting to see the needle again but it shows up for now.

All the way around and back to zero again, must be close to 800* I guess. All the carbon that was on the thermo has fallen off and you can see the SS again too.

 

[Hell Fire Grill]

I never got the needle to go past 0, although I know it was hotter. Theres some good action pics here as I was playing with the camera settings trying to get the flash to stop flashing, on some of the pics I held the flash down so it couldent flash but still couldent get the pics I wanted.

I blocked the flash on this one and you can see the fire reflecting off the lid and onto the center of the stone.

Starting to cool down. The themo is freaking out changing colors and getting spots. You can see some of the marks on the dial again. Crazy thing.

 

[colonel00]

Looking good. One suggestion that might help is to have a "ceiling" over the stone that directs the heat over the top of the pizza. On my pizza cooker (link in my signature) I cut a piece of steel that sits just at the top of the opening. This allows the top of the pizza to cook along with the crust.

 

[Hell Fire Grill]

The lid has a problem sealing real good because it warps. I cut most of the flange, around the bottom of the lid, off so the lid will fit down into the top of the drum. My thought at the time was that would seal better than trying to make the lid bigger. I could have ground the top lip of the drum down to fit the lid but wasent sure how the heat would effect the drum after that. So I can probably fix that by making some little thingamabobs (you know like on your tool box to keep the lid closed) to hold the lid down better.

I think I can get more heat if the fire grate fit better. The expanded metal thats in it now lets alot of coals fall to the bottom of the drum. An old rusted out weber cooking grate will fix that. The heat went through the bottom alot to so maybe having more ashes built up will help insulate the bottom and get more heat to the top. The ground was steaming the whole time and the steam was getting sucked into the air inlets.

A cover for the front will make a difference too so I'll see what I can come up with for that. It'll have to be adjustable so the fire can still breath. I'm considering making the air inlets larger too, although it seems to breath well.

Last night I loaded some large hunks of wood into it, 6-8" thick. It smoked just a little bit and returned to clear in about two minutes so Im happy with that.

It'll be interesting to get a pie in there and see if it cooks evenly. With the shape of the lid and the granite stone forcing the air the direction it does it should work fine. I'll mess with the mods a little today and bring it closer to the house this afternoon so I can cook with it tonight.

 

[Phubar]

I'm loving the design!

 

[Lazybones]

Is that just a regular piece of granite?

 

[Johnny_Crunch]

Pretty cool! :clap2:

 

[Hell Fire Grill]

Is that just a regular piece of granite?

Yes.

 

[el_matt]

The heat went through the bottom alot to so maybe having more ashes built up will help insulate the bottom and get more heat to the top. The ground was steaming the whole time and the steam was getting sucked into the air inlets.

What if you lined the bottom with fire brick?

Matt

 

[Hell Fire Grill]

Good idea el_matt.

 

[Lazybones]

Yes.

Hmm...I've got some left over from my kitchen remodel. Never thought it could be used as a pizza stone. Thanks for the great idea!

 

[Hell Fire Grill]

Well it needs some fine tuning, and so does my doe, but it will really put the hurts on a crust real quick.

 

[Pyle's BBQ]

These are just thoughts I had looking at your set up.

1) Put fire brick under the granite to make it more radiant heat.
2) Cut another piece of stone as a "roof" and take a "D" off one side and put that side over the door, to get heat going over the pizza.
3) Sides on the charcoal basket to keep the wood in.

This is a great idea.

 

[ianjoe]

These are just thoughts I had looking at your set up.

1) Put fire brick under the granite to make it more radiant heat.
2) Cut another piece of stone as a "roof" and take a "D" off one side and put that side over the door, to get heat going over the pizza.
3) Sides on the charcoal basket to keep the wood in.

This is a great idea.

+1

The pizza looks great.

 

[morgaj1]

That's a really cool idea. What did you cut the opening with? Also, do you have a sheet metal roller? I am trying to figure out how you got the door that smooth. Great job!