# My new ugly drum smoker (UDS)



## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

From a thread in this forum about smokers, Gumbo recommended making a UDS instead of buying a gas smoker about two weeks ago...so I did-after a lot of research on it. [attachment=0:12fkfuv2]DSCF0583.JPG[/attachment:12fkfuv2]
I am working on the first smoke now, spare ribs and chicken, which is a little tricky being that the ribs are usually done at a lower temp and for longer, so I starter them much earlier. There are numerous forums to discuss the mechanics and such, but if you decide to follow suit I can save you some time with finding some of the materials and the best deals. Here is how I did it material wise:
$12 Food grade 55 gallon drum from Supra Naturals in Springville http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad ... earch=drum
$6 Expanded metal from SSS Steel on 7th West and 1740 South-remnants are only $0.55/lb; for about half as much from Home Depot (not enough) was $20.
$12 17" grate to build the fire box/charcoal basket Home Depot
$10 Engine enamel 500 degree paint from AutoZone
$3 Handles from Wal-Mart
$16 Thermometer for smoker internal temp Wal-Mart
$16 Wireless probe thermometer for internal meat temp-Wal-Mart
$9 Grate on which to place the meat
$15 for ball valve, eye bolts, nuts, washers
My neighbor came in very handily in getting me the schedule 40 pipe for the exhaust, taking the drum to his work to sandblast it, letting me use his welder to attach the expanded metal to the grate, step bit and punch for 2" exhaust pipe. Not bad for about half of the price of a cheap one from Wal-Mart, so far it is holding the temp very well as advertised. The proof will be in the pudding I reckon.


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## Cooky (Apr 25, 2011)

More pictures please. That thing looks incredible.  Throw in a gourmet review and some food pictures if you are willing to take the time. :lol:


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## Gumbo (Sep 22, 2007)

Dang, Huge. That thing's way too nice looking to be an ugly drum smoker. Looks great!


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

Gumbo said:


> Dang, Huge. That thing's way too nice looking to be an ugly drum smoker. Looks great!


Thanks for the compliment and thanks for sharing your advice originally that got me thinking of this at half of the price. That is only a can and a half of enamel with my 8-year old son helping, so lots of runny spots that don't appear in the pic. Just thankful for the sand blaster, that would have been hellacious to sand by hand or by sander. I just wish that same neighbor could have caught the vision of the Y shaped exhaust pipe and made it for me. :mrgreen: The wireless probe thermometer is a life saver and for only $16 it is great!

The results-the chicken flavor was excellent and very juicy! The ribs don't like being cooked together with chicken as the heat requirement is about 80 degrees higher for chicken (I split it about down the middle), but they were still good too. I hope to catch some rainbows Friday at the Berry and try those out Friday night!


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

Cooky said:


> More pictures please. That thing looks incredible.  Throw in a gourmet review and some food pictures if you are willing to take the time. :lol:


I took pics of the results with my cell, which did not turn out due to the smoke, so other pics would only be of the other angle of the same side. [attachment=0:1dsvd20e]DSCF0582.JPG[/attachment:1dsvd20e]Details of how to do it are covered at length on site like http://www.utahbbq.com and http://www.smokering.com. 
The inside is basically a 22" grate that a regular charcoal grill uses held up by 4 3/8" eye bolts and below that a fire basket-that is where most of the work is, that looks like this:







I put a handle of thin rebar on mine and the expanded metal extends to the end of the grate on mine.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Very cool Huge, good job!! 

I like the thermometers, they're important.

Looking forward to future posts on some goodies. And a sample or two would be nice.


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## muscles (Dec 13, 2009)

that looks great. thx for the breakdown on supplies and costs. i may give this a shot next weekend.


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## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

You made that?!?? :shock: 

Pretty neat, pretty neat!

Tell me... Other than the exhaust pipe, how do you control the heat? Do you access it by removing the lid? How long do you figure it needs to smoke chicken, ribs, fish and do you have to keep reloading the charcoal? 

Good job Huge29, I'm a gettin hungry! :EAT:


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

.45 said:


> You made that?!?? :shock:
> 
> Pretty neat, pretty neat!
> 
> ...


So there are 4 1" holes on the bottom that are the intakes and that is where the heat control really is. On 3 of them there are just caps, so they are either 100% or 0% while the front one that you see in the pic is a ball valve that can be totally variable. The only time the exhaust would be capped is when you are done and you want to save the charcoal for the next round, which works great once all air is cut off it shuts right down. When the lid is removed the heat quickly goes from the desired 225 range to 350 as there is too much air and the wood can flare up with the charcoal, so lid removal is kept to a minimum. As the air control is so tight the charcoal can last a very long time at such low temps, I seasoned it for about 3 hours Saturday night and cooked on it for about 7 hours yesterday all on teh same 8 lbs of charcoal and I still have about a third of it still in the fire basket. With like a brisket you fill the basket all the way and it can go 16 hours or so. Chicken is usually 275-300 while most other meats are right around 225-so chicken is usually 3 hours while the other really tough meats like ribs, brisket, pork butt/shoulder etc are 7-16 hours. We have ribs and trout on the menu for this Friday night at the Berry-as long as the rainbows cooperate.


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## Yonni (Sep 7, 2007)

Lookin nice I will have to post mine some time soon!


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## 10yearquest (Oct 15, 2009)

sweet. I have been planning a smoker for some time and this helps light the flame under the project!


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## NHS (Sep 7, 2007)

10yearquest said:


> sweet. I have been planning a smoker for some time and this helps *light the flame *under the project!


For a smoker, a cool smolder is better.


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