Ugly Drum Smoker

[Mrwokn]

The legs are welded in L bars. I wish I would of put 4 legs instead of three because the shelf wanted to tip the barrel over at most locations I preferred to attach it. The shelf is from big poppa smokers, along with vents, handles, etc. I had a cheapo lowes smoker that I canibilized for parts to hold the grates. I found a used weber dome lid on CL. I'm sanding and respraying this weekend.

 

[Grimzly]

My UDS build

My UDS build, I recently finished building this and have cooked Ribs and some beer can Chickens on it the first Butt test is in the fridge. I'm keeping an eye out for a dome lid.

The racks are at 5", 9", 13" from the top with the lowest one being mostly a direct grilling or a water pan or a heat deflector. The only thing I would change is adding another wheel to the bottom 3 works but 4 would have been better.

The temp is so rock solid and the efficiency of the fuel usage is great.

 

[Carbon]

Problem with adding a 4th wheel or leg is, unless the ground is perfectly plane, the drum will rock slightly. You'll end up shimming under that 4th leg or wheel.
Three legs will give you a rigid stance, but they should be placed at or beyond the perimeter of the drum for max stability.

 

[DMP]

Started my build this morning. Costing me more than I had planned. Can't find any good cheap deals around. Have shopped all over for items. Looks like the entire build is going to run me around $150. Going to use the original lid till I can run across a kettle lid.

Got all the holes drilled. Waiting on the rain to get out of here so I can burn it out.

 

[DMP]

If I get a chance to burn it today, will it be okay to clean and paint it tomorrow?

 

[woodbutcher1]

sure,why not.

 

[DMP]

sure,why not.

Wasn't sure if I would find it covered in rust tomorrow.

 

[bstomper]

some good looking uds's being built

 

[bstomper]

Inspired by this monster UDS thread i've build my own drum smoker.

The drum:


The charcoal basket is made from washingmachine parts, the ash collector was a paella pan:



Air outlet in the lid made from scrap metal I found:







The setup from inside:



Home made lid handle:



Easy transport:



Stuff it with ribs...



Stuff it with butts...



And controled by Guru.



Thanks!!

Atos!

:shock:Holy crap thats a crap load of ribs in one uds:clap2::thumb:

 

[bstomper]

Ok, I just reciently built a uds about a month ago and have used it quite a bit. I am super impressed with it and with the food that comes out of it. I have had friends and family over on 2 occasions for ribs and a brisket. My brother and my friend want one now. Since I built this in a hurry(because of a time constraint) I didn't build it the way I wanted it, it's your basic uds with ball valves and the flat removeable lid. My brother wants one and would love the one I have now when I build my new one. I have been doing tons of searching for info on these and have come up with what I want. I am going to give the pie plate intake at the bottom of the barrel a try because I don't like the look and bulkiness of the ball valves, even though they work very good. With this I will have to raise my ash pan up from the bottom of the barrel some. I have only seen this done on a few uds's but they said it worked good. I guess I will see as I already ordered a couple stainless steel 9" cake pans for it. I am just wondering if the air flow will be enough to flow around the ash pan and into the coal basket for a good constant burn. If not I can plug up the holes in the bottom and go with the sliding side vents.
The biggest improvement will be a domed lid so I can put 2 cooking grates in it but I am having somewhat of a problem with this. There is no used weber grills in my area and the closest place to buy such a thing is an actual "weber bbq store" 6 hours away. I am "literaly" in the middle of nowhere in northern Canada and I don't have many options. In the hundreds of posts that I have read about webber lids, some barrels fit them perfect, some not so perfect and some fit the bottom of the barrels. There are guys that use open top barrels and some the closed top barrels and some bolt flat bar to the inside rim of the barrel for the lid. I have even seen where some guys have cut a notch out of the top of the barrel and used a ratchet strap to compress it tight again and then weld it up. all this just to fit the weber lid. I can do any of this and I have a shop full of tools to do it, welder, grinders, plasma, even a metal laithe if I need, but I would like to get the proper barrel to fit the lid, even if i have to buy a new one. Can any one tell me what the inside diameter of the weber lid is and if all the weber lids are the same measurements. Or even better, the outside diameter measurement of the weber kettle bottom where the lid rests. I don't want to spend the money on a lid if I can't make it fit. I asume that there are only a few different size barrels out there and i just need to find the right one. I just need the proper diameter of the right one.
I have a cheap knock off of the weber gril that I could use as the lid, it has hinges and a latch to secure the front down. I like the hinge idea and have thought of using it but it doesn't fit the barrels I have. If I can remember corectly it is 22.25" inside diameter. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[DMP]

95% Done. Still need to find a basket for the coals and season it. Did go ahead and spray it down real good with canola oil. Also need to anchor it to the cart some more. Hope to find a kettle lid one day. Plan on going digital with the thermometer


Pre drilling and burning.

Burned it for a good hour.

Drilled and painted.

Getting closer.

The finished look.

Hope to have it completely seasoned this week and to be cooking on it this weekend.

 

[Mr. Bo]

Nice looking build. I'll bet you're gonna be pleased with the cooking ability of the drum.

 

[tim timmens]

I am currently building my first UDS. I live in the UK and am struggling to find steel nipples at any of my local hardware stores.

Would using brass nipples be a problem?

Thanks

 

[DMP]

Brass should be fine.

 

[railwaysmoker]

UDS build

Hi folks this will be my first uds build have been looking at various ideas and designs seen this on one of the sites

sorry about the picture not all of it is there but the bit that matters is there what do you guys think of this is it any good .
I am slowly working my way through this thread but as you all know its quite some thread .
the one thing I have noticed is that the uds that are on here don't seem to have a door is it a good idea to have a door or not to bother with one also I notice that people don't use a diffuser plate as shown in this diagram all help/advice will be most gratefully received.
Many many thanks in advance
Geoff from the UK
PS as I've just seen all the picture is here sorry about that on photo bucket it only shows the middle bit

 

[SmokerKing]

Hi folks this will be my first uds build have been looking at various ideas and designs seen this on one of the sites

sorry about the picture not all of it is there but the bit that matters is there what do you guys think of this is it any good .
I am slowly working my way through this thread but as you all know its quite some thread .
the one thing I have noticed is that the uds that are on here don't seem to have a door is it a good idea to have a door or not to bother with one also I notice that people don't use a diffuser plate as shown in this diagram all help/advice will be most gratefully received.
Many many thanks in advance
Geoff from the UK
PS as I've just seen all the picture is here sorry about that on photo bucket it only shows the middle bit

All of my BUFORD builds have a door and a diffuser;

 

[DMP]

Smokerking, I see you used the shelving mounts for your grates. I bought some last week for my build and burned them to get the paint off. Still can't seem to get all of the paint off. Especially on the back side where you can't really get a wire brush to.

How did you clean yours up?

 

[SmokerKing]

Smokerking, I see you used the shelving mounts for your grates. I bought some last week for my build and burned them to get the paint off. Still can't seem to get all of the paint off. Especially on the back side where you can't really get a wire brush to.

How did you clean yours up?

I believe I was the first to use the shelving guides and brackets in the UDS and the first brackets I used were painted white.

I simply used an oxy/acetylene torch to burn off the paint and galvanizing. Then wire brushed. I have since used some guides with different coatings ad the coating would not burn off. Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about the coatings. if you can't burn it off with a torch, it ain't coming off during your cooks. Especially after they become coated with the grease, fat and smoke.

 

[Rmhardie]

Low Temps after mod

Gents - great site, used this to build my UDS two years ago. Recently I took the guts out of a gasser and used the cart for the UDS. Now it seems I'm having trouble getting it up to temp and holding it. I'm having to start with a much larger chimney of coals to start than before. Could the frame and side tables of the cart be affecting my intake? My other thought is just old lump that maybe has absorbed some moisture. Two pics attached (hopefully). First one is the uds on some landscape wall blocks and how it currently sits in the cart.

 

[jham0077]

I'd try some good, fresh charcoal. The tables don't seem close enough to affect the air flow.