Labor Day weekend marks the end of summer - and the end of BBQ season - for many people,but not us! I'm already working on plans on how to insulate my smoker so I can continue smoking right through the frigid New Hampshire winters. Last winter it was rough keeping temperatures up in the offset smoker and the vertical smoker so I need something I can easily insulate.
The UDS-Ugly Drum Smoker - hit my radar about a year ago while flipping through Youtube. While my first thought wasn't winter smoking with the UDS, it oocurred to me along the build that I could easily wrap it in a welding blanket or maybe a hot water heater insulator sleeve to keep it insulated from the cold winds of the northeast . I'll update when the cold sets in and I've decided which way i'm going to go.
The main reason for building the UDS was actually twofold. First, it fueled my love of making gadgets. Granted, its a pretty big gadget but a gadget in my mind nonetheless. Reason two was the numerous claims of long long long and low smokes wih minimal intervention.
The plans I found were simple and easy to follow. I am by no means a craftsman and I really work better when I have step by step instructions. There are a bunch of guides on Youtube that make it a breeze for even a backyard hack like me.
The plans I found were simple and easy to follow. I am by no means a craftsman and I really work better when I have step by step instructions. There are a bunch of guides on Youtube that make it a breeze for even a backyard hack like me.
I started out finding some barrels on Craigslist. They weren't food grade, but they held latex paint so I was ok with them. Unfortunately, I found out after I was done building that I have a family connection to an unlimited supply of food grade barrels. I guess i'll just have to build a few more!
I picked up the barrels back in August, but had to put them aside for a few weeks until I had a weekend to get started. Finally about 3 weeks ago I got going.
I burned out the barrel using slats from some old wood fencing we had. I had it going like a blowtorch! It took maybe an hour to burn the bulk of the exterior paint off. At that point I had to lay it down and start to rotate it to burn off the bottom third. Another hour later and the outside of the barrel was completely burned off.
After the burn I let the barrel cool and emptied the ash out. I grabbed a scrub brush and a bucket of soapy water and gave the exterior a good scrub and then blasted it with the power washer. The outside was right down to bare metal, it was beautiful!
The inside however, that was a whole other story. After scrubbing and blasting with the power washer I realized this barrel had the dreaded "red liner" I had heard about. No big deal, I thought..I'll just grab my drill & wire cup brush and zip that liner right off. Boy I couldn't have been more wrong! This liner - epoxy, or some other hard as steel lining, was not coming off so easy - even after 2-3 hours of 900 degree fire! It took me hours to just get the top third of the barrel & the lid clean and even then it wasn't comletely clean of the red liner. Finally I gave up and followed the advice of the builders before me. I made arrangements with a co-workers husband to have him sand blast the inside of the barrel.
The inside however, that was a whole other story. After scrubbing and blasting with the power washer I realized this barrel had the dreaded "red liner" I had heard about. No big deal, I thought..I'll just grab my drill & wire cup brush and zip that liner right off. Boy I couldn't have been more wrong! This liner - epoxy, or some other hard as steel lining, was not coming off so easy - even after 2-3 hours of 900 degree fire! It took me hours to just get the top third of the barrel & the lid clean and even then it wasn't comletely clean of the red liner. Finally I gave up and followed the advice of the builders before me. I made arrangements with a co-workers husband to have him sand blast the inside of the barrel.
Before-using a wire wheel & a flap wheel sander. It was going to take forever!
After- 20 minutes of sandblasting and it's down to bare metal and ready for seasoning!
Once I got the barrel and lid back from sandblasting, I gave it good scrub and pressurewash to remove any leftover residue. It was a nice hot summer day so the barrel dried in minutes.
During the week I made a few trips to the local hardware store & home improvement centers to pick up my supplies. For those who are interested, I'll post a link to a CAD drawing and parts list at the end of this post.
I stopped by a local metal shop a few weeks ago and showed the guy the CAD rendition of the fire basket from the plans I found online. He figured building me a custom firebasket would run me about $80.00. That wasn't to bad in my opinion, i'd have a nice solid, professionally welded firebasket, but that's kind of against the spirit of the UDS build. So, I went with Plan B..I found some plans online and built my own for about $30.00.
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| Firebasket almost complete. |
I found sheets of expanded metal at Home Depot that I could use as is and I scavanged an 18 inch grill from an old BBQ. I gently bent the expanded metal around a propane tank to make uniform curves and I joined the two pieces together with 1/4-20 stainless machine bolts & fender washers. I secured the basket to the grill using bailing wire every few inches. For an ash pan I attached three 4 inch carriage bolts to the bottom of the basket and a large (18 inch)pizza pan, again using fender washers to secure the bolts to the bottom of the basket. I allowed 3.5 inches of space between the basket bottom and the pizza pan to allow for good air flow under the coals. I later found a handle from an old bucket that fit perfectly and allows me to grab the basket with a hook and remove it or put it in the smoker while still hot. The basket turned out sturdy and will easily hold 10 plus pounds of charcoal, which should be more than enough for 8-9-10 hour smokes.
With my firebasket complete, I moved back to the barrel. I had applied a couple more coats of black high temp paint to the outside so I started measuring and marking spots to drill holes. I punched three additional 1 inch holes aruound the bottom (2" up from the bottom edge) and dropped in 4 black pipe nipples. On the two side nipples I added two 3/4 inch ball valves and on the front and back nipples I simply added pipe caps. The front nand back caps are removed to get the smoker up to temperature. Once I've got the temp I want, I can close those two vents down with the pipe caps and regulate the air flow with the ball valves.
Now that I had my air flow IN, I needed a way to get the smoke OUT. For that, I drilled two one inch holes in the lid and installed 2 3/4 inch black pipe elbows. Why elbows, you ask? Simple..to keep the rain out! I later found that two holes was not enough and had to punch two more holes in the lid after the first smoke. The results were much better!
I added two 22 inch weber grates; one at 7 inches below the lid and the other at 12 inches. The lower grill sits about 15 inches from the top of where 10lbs of charcoal will sit. I havent determined yet if I need a heat baffle to cook on that lower grill or not. For now, it's a great place for a drip pan and/or water pan. I also added a thermometer between the 1st and 2nd grills.
After adding all the hardware I gave the UDS a test burn, mainly to cook that non-stick spray to the walls and season my smoker. I had to go to work , but Leslie sent me text message reports every hour or so, showing me the temperature was staying constant for hours and hours! I was very encouraged! I had filled the basket with about 10 lbs of charcoal and dropped it in around 11AM. I got reports until about 7PM and it stayed between 200 and 30 degrees that whole time . When I got home at 9:30 the fire had died down but was still warm and I could have gotten it fired back up if I wanted! Since it was late, I decided to let it just die out on its own. To my surprise, the next morning there was easily 2 lbs of charcoal left unburned!
For our trial run we cooked a couple of racks of ribs, one for us and one for the guy (and his family) who saved me hours of tedious grinding. I added 9lbs of charcoal to the basket and shoveled out the center. In BBQ parlance it's referred to as the "minion method" - essentially allowing the coals to burn slowly and outwardly for a long, long period of time. I scattered about 6-7 chunks of hickory through the coals, put the ribs on and closed the lid. I was able to maintain 250 degrees for then entire cook with only a littlle adjusting, as I get more familiar with how this smoker works.
It was a great Labor Day weekend and we had reason to celebrate! I'm super pleased with how my first UDS came out and I'm already thinking about how to build the next one - which, by the way, Leslie has claimed as her own.
Summer may be over, but BBQ season will roll on!
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| Ready to smoke! |
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| I may add some color to it and put it on wheels later, but for now it's done! |
