Ugly Drum Smoker

Bigmista said:
You're not delerious. That is exactly what it is. Since I am on a balcony, it would be extremely inconvenient trying to dump the whole barrel. Plus it would end up with ash going over the side and that isn't a good idea since the apartment manager living directly under me. With the setup I have, I wait a day or two to make sure there are no lit embers. Then I give the charcoal grate a shake so all of the ash falls thru in to the pan (plus the unused coal stays in the grate for the next cook). Then I just dump the used ash into an old charcoal bag.
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Thinking about building my own (Don't tell the wife). Right now I'm trying to locate as much info as possible from fellow Bretren. How do you remove the ash pan without tipping the hole unit? Also, as far as supporting the cooking grates, which is better - bolts or welded brackets? One of my neighbors is a welder, so it wouldn't be a problem to ask him for assistance.

Thanx.
 
The diameter of the ashpan is small enough for me to take it straight up without bumping the support brackets. Maybe the next version will have a hole for hooks to lift it out...

newsmoker11.jpg
 
i am thinking that for my ashpan i will use a water pan from a broker brinkman electric smoker that i will have. one question i have is what do you do about the drippings from the cooking grate that dont land on the coals?

I will use bolts as i have no welding capabilities. my other thought for airflow in the lid is instead of drilling 8 holes, to drill 3 and put adjustable valves in them like i will do in the bottom. any thoughts on this?
 
They fall in the bottom of the barrel. Hit it with a power washer (I take mine to the self-serve car wash) once every blue moon. Otherwise, don't sweat it.

I would worry more about about adjustable valves in the bottom. You want you top holes open until you are done cooking.
 
Motley Que,
I totally agree with Bigmista. Leave the holes on the top open fully while you cook. You need good convection flow in the drum. I have 3 -7/8" holes on the bottom of my drums. I usually only need one plug out to maintain a temp of 260 degrees. Two out and it goes over 340! I have never run with three out. I use Royal Oak Lump charcoal. It burns quite hot. Brickettes burn much cooler and are very constant in temperature. (easier to control) You MUST light the charcoal from the TOP. If you start it from the bottom you will never be able to control the temperature.
 
I made 1, 6 half inch close nipples threaded into the bottom of the barrel with caps, (use a multi drill bit, they thread right in). 8 half inch holes in the lid. I used the charcoal grate from a weber 18" kettle wrapped in expanded metal for the fire pit. the expanded metal is 13" high, with 2.5" below the grate for ash, and 10.5 inches above the grate for charcaol. this holds 12 pounds easy, and will burn at 225 degrees for 10 to 12 hours.
 
These drum smokers look pretty cool. May be my next BBQ project!
 
Ok.. so, what's the diff between a WSM and one of these homemade barrel smokers?

B
 
I looked over your pics...

Bigmista said:
About an inch or so. You can see the pics here:

http://www.thesurvivalgourmet.com/archives/80
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I looked over your pics and was curious how you 'tend' the cooking of the ribs in the drum cooker you made. Do you flip them?, do you baste?, do you spray?

You also mentioned making another drum cooker but modifing, what where the modifications you were thinking about?
 
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I try not to tend. If themps are hanging between 225 and 235 (like they usually do) I don't open the lid. At about 2.5 hours I'll check to see if they have pulled back. I'll check every half hour until they are ready to foil.

The mods I am thinking of making are putting wheels on it, having the holes drilled instead of burned thru and putting pipe fittings or something like that in there that is easier to close off, working out some type of hook system to raise the ash pan out of the cooker instead of reaching down into the barrel.
 
Got the UDS going for the first time with food. Temps hanging in the 230 range with no problems. I am using my spicewine charcoal grate from the bandera. It barely fits.

I have 2 butts on and 3 slabs of loin back ribs. I am using the Steve Raichlen rib rack I found at Academy($20). It is pretty heavy duty and holds 4 slabs.

Also got the new nutemps going.
 
Ribs are done. Man, the smell is amazing. Mista, I bet you drive your neighbors crazy when cooking on yours.

This thing holds temps like a dream. 220-240 all day so far on one load of charcoal, about 1/2 bag of royal oak with about 10 briquets of Kingsford to get things going.

The butts are at 150.
 
jgh1204 said:
Ribs are done. Man, the smell is amazing. Mista, I bet you drive your neighbors crazy when cooking on yours.

This thing holds temps like a dream. 220-240 all day so far on one load of charcoal, about 1/2 bag of royal oak with about 10 briquets of Kingsford to get things going.

The butts are at 150.
Click to expand...

Bet the ribs were done faster than usual, right?
 
Yep, 3.5 hours. I was amazed. Almost let them over cook. Got them out just in time.

Temps started going up to 250, plugged up two holes and now they are back at 235. Butts at 155.

Used some peach wood from an old tree I cut down 2 years ago. That is some good stuff maynard. Would like to find some more of that.
 
You will be hard pressed to out cook a load of coals.I usually end up shaking out the ash when the fire goes out and saving coals for the next cook.
 
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