UDS / Homemade Barrel Cookers

I did my burn before.

So I finally got my UDS finished. I got some more pics to post, but this one is the only one I got with me at work.

I think I need to re-tool my coal basket a bit, but I got 10 solid hours on my first cool without having to shake up the coals.

I'll do a more detailed post later on.




Ended up costing me about $60 total with all the parts, temp gauge, drum and high temp paint. Not bad at all.

Thanks for all who gave me some solid advice on this build.

Looks great Al. I was hoping to fire mine up really soon, but found out yesterday that when my son gets out of the hospital (hopefully Sunday) he's gonna have to stay on a fat free diet for 6 weeks, then low fat for 6 weeks after that. Looks like lots of veggies for us for awhile.

Meanwhile, I have 2 really nice butts that I paid .87 per pound sitting in the freezer just dying to be smoked...

Here is another good pic tutorial that was BBQ Brethren inspired, complete with a parts list.

http://www.thepickledpig.com/forums/gen ... t-1-a.html

The only thing I don't agree with is mounting the temp. guage in the lid...

I didn't mount a temp gauge on mine at all. I use my ET-73 with the probe for cooking temp set at grate level. I cut a very small notch in the rim of my drum for the wires to sit in without getting pinched, yet it's not large enough to cause any temp problems because my kettle lid fits well enough to where it stays covered.

Kenny 13 wrote:

I didn't mount a temp gauge on mine at all. I use my ET-73 with the probe for cooking temp set at grate level. I cut a very small notch in the rim of my drum for the wires to sit in without getting pinched, yet it's not large enough to cause any temp problems because my kettle lid fits well enough to where it stays covered.

Do you do the old potato trick with the therm to get it at grate level? I've read that Smokey Hale rests the therm on top of his food.

I use either a potato or a wooden clothespin.

I picked up an oil drum with a removable lid to build my UDS. The inside of the barrel looks like it is painted with a heavy coat of red primer. Does this mean that it is a "Lined" barrel? Will it take more than a few good burns to remove this?

That stuff is tough. It is on the inside of my drum that i am turning into a horizontal grill. It does not come off easily. I have determined that a couple really good super hot burns. Whatever doesn't come off will not burn under normal cooking conditions. Just my opinion

sizzlepig wrote:

I picked up an oil drum with a removable lid to build my UDS. The inside of the barrel looks like it is painted with a heavy coat of red primer. Does this mean that it is a "Lined" barrel? Will it take more than a few good burns to remove this?

That lining cannot be burned off!!! Here is some info from a knowledgeable UDS builder ----
That's a liner applied to the metal to protect the inside walls of the steel drum. It must be removed.
An aggressive power wire brush, and a sander to get down to a bare steel inside. Wire brushing, and sanding inside the barrel is a lot of hard work and is very noisey. Good to wear plugs to protect your hearing. Also have a fan set up to avoid breathing the "dust' from the liner removal. For the dollars spent on tools, propane, time and effort, including a slight amount of danger, and possible injury, and just plain sweat, I would recommend buying a new clean drum to start with. Make sure you get one with a removable lid.

Highly recommend spending the extra money to buy a new, clean, un-lined barrel. Buy one on the internet and have it delivered. Or check BBQ Forums for people posting sources for Barrels. If you factor in the tools that you will need to clean one up, the new barrel will be cheaper in the long run. Most people probably do not own the tools. I don't think a $20 barrel saved me any money!

Next UDS I build I will be buying a new, unlined drum with the removable lid. However, I'm still gonna cut out the bottom and invert the drum so that the top is actually the bottom. For cleaning, all I'll have to do is loosen the ring that secures that removable lid and lift the drum off of it. Sure beats trying to lift out a charcoal basket and scoop out the ash from the top.

Kenny 13 wrote:

Next UDS I build I will be buying a new, unlined drum with the removable lid. However, I'm still gonna cut out the bottom and invert the drum so that the top is actually the bottom. For cleaning, all I'll have to do is loosen the ring that secures that removable lid and lift the drum off of it. Sure beats trying to lift out a charcoal basket and scoop out the ash from the top.

For cleaning my BDS, all I do is remove my charcoal basket, loosen any ash on the bottom of drum with a gardening scrapper tool, and tip it over to where the drum is upside-down with a large plastic bag wrapped along the top of the drum and empty out the ash into the plastic bag. I bang on the bottom of the drum a few times to ensure the ash has fallen into the bag. I don't use an ash catcher of any kind. Return the drum to the upright position and I wipe the interior of the BDS down to my lower cooking grate with a damp cloth to remove loose ash dust and I'm done!! Clean-up is finished in about a couple of minutes.

I usually scoop out the ash with a small gardening hoe that I use for raking coals in my grills. Doesn't take that long, but it's kind of a P.I.T.A.

I just have a few ideas of things I want to change on my next one to make it a little better than this one. Performance has been great. Just want to change a few things to make it even better.

Been a while since I checked in - so here are a few pics of some of my drums.

[img][img]http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t310/swamprb/Ugly%20Drum%20Smoker/IMG_0525_1.jpg[/img][/img]

The Red one is 39" tall with two 22.5" cook grates and optional Weber lid for extra height. I have 2 of these.

The Mega is an 85 gallon 39" tall salvage drum with two 26.5" cook grates

The Mini is a 15 gallon 27" tall drum with a 14" cook grate and optional Weber Smokey Joe lid for an extra 3" (9.5" total clearance)

[img][img]http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t310/swamprb/Ugly%20Drum%20Smoker/100_2696.jpg[/img]

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[img][img]http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t310/swamprb/Ugly%20Drum%20Smoker/IMG_0595.jpg[/img][/img]


I love the Drums!

Wow - a trio of UDSes! Nice work, swamprb - I especially like the Mega!