UDS Cleaning Advice

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Dr. Trout Bum

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Read a few threads on grease fires today and figured I'd ask UDS users how often they clean their drums. I definitely plan to clean my lid (Weber kettle) because I'm starting to get greasy runs down the side of the drum, since the lid is not perfectly tight.

So, what are your thoughts on cleaning your drums?
 
Grease or more of the creosote type of drips? Is it coming from the lid or around the bolts? If you're getting sticky creosote drips then you have to work on your fire. Prevention, fiber washers on the outside can help it from coming out and dripping.

Cleaning the outside I like magic erasers to keep up on things. The inside will stay pretty clean if you always have a good fire and it shuts down fast. Scrape the inside down if anything does build up....my UDS will flake up after a while.
 
How would I know if it is a creosote dripping? No known issues with creosote on my food so far...
 
Dr. Trout Bum said:
How would I know if it is a creosote dripping? No known issues with creosote on my food so far...
Click to expand...
If it's dripping from the edge of the lid and down the side of the drum and would be sticky
 
Dr. Trout Bum said:
And how would I solve that problem? More exhaust?
Click to expand...
Yea if it's getting that sticky stuf then it's not getting a complete burn...It's getting choked off.

Good air flow and how you start your charcoal basket are key.
 
My basket has about 3.5 inch legs on it. Intakes are about an inch off of the bottom of the barrel. I load my basket about half way with KBB, place about 3 large chunks of wood on top, another layer of KBB and then 3 more chunks. When shooting for a temp of about 300, I'll load about half a chimney of KBB, and spread those over the top of the basket.

Exhaust is simply the exhaust on Weber kettle grill. I am getting some sticky stuff around the rim of the drum that seems to be running from the lid.
 
I spray it out with water hoses when ever it gets to looking nasty- might be after 6 cooks or 15. I spray or scrap the lid off every cpl of cooks.
 
Yea you should take some steps to get a cleaner burn. Start with a better fire in your basket. Pull out a small amount of briquettes get them red hot and put them back in the same spot ( I do the edge of the basket)...don't spread them all over. You're getting an all over smolder vs a small hot burn. It's like mixing boiling water with cold tap water but in your case the smoldering is producing too much creosote.

I've never once needed to scrape the inside of the lid of my UDS. A clean fire and a quick shut down the drum will stay much more maintenance free.
 
I have not had to clean mine at all. I use a pizza pan to catch dripping and the sides are nice and seasoned. After a cook, I might have a little ash at the bottom that dropped off the catch pan, but it's so little and dry that I don't worry about it. Make sure the fire burns well. Once it shuts down, it takes mine about 1 hour to cool the whole UDS.
 
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