I have never done anything like this before. I have never done any slow smoking or BBQ before. I have hardly any tools and I am also completely mechanically declined as opposed to inclined as some people are.
I was originally going to buy a cheap offset smoker, then I found sites where people were modding them to make them even better. I figured it would end up costing me $200 for the smoker and another $100 or so in parts. Then I stumbled upon a UDS build thread and thought this would be a cheaper alternative and it looked like a lot less hassle as far as cooking went. It seemed like the offsets needed a lot of attention and the UDS was more of a set it and forget it type deal.
Here's my build so far. Comment, suggestions, criticisms are all heartily welcomed. I really want to do a good job on this and turn out some delicious comestibles.
It took a few weeks to find a drum. I ended up getting it from a organic farm out in BFE. It was a closed top drum with a 2" bunghole and a smaller bung, not sure how big.
Since I didn't have any tools to speak of really, I went and picked up a 4 1/2" angle grinder along with the appropriate safety equipment and some accoutrements to facilitate the build as well as the needed parts.
First I had to get the lid off. So I grounded the edges down to separate the lid.
The drum had contained saffron oil so I was hoping for no liner but I was wrong. I took a wire cup brush and tossed it on the angle grinder and it seemed to come off without too much effort. Unfortunately we're not allowed to do a burn barrel here and I live a block from the fire department so I didn't feel like risking it. So my neighbor is going to let me use his weed burner to blast it a bit.
.
I didn't really like the way the lid fit on the barrel though. I ended up scoring a 22.5" Weber grill off Craigslist for $30. The Weber lid is almost a perfect fit, I just need to grind the sides down just a little bit and it will be a near airtight fit.
I wasn't able to drill holes or anything yet because somehow my tape measure went missing. So instead I worked on the charcoal basket. I picked up a 24x24" sheet and just cut it down the middle to keep it nice and easy. I mounted it to a 13.5" Weber charcoal grill using bolts, nuts and fender washers to hold the expanded metal together and used stainless steel zip ties to attach it to the grate. Then I put on some longer bolts to elevate it and will be adding a cheapo pizza pan as an ash catcher.
I had a question on this part though. The actual grate is about 3.5" off the ground. I was going to put the pizza pan on and have it be about 1" off the ground. Is that better so that air can circulate under the ash pan as well or should I trim the bolts to get the grate a bit lower? Or does it make no real difference? I was reading that I should mount the cooking grate so it sits 24" up from the charcoal grate for the best results, is that the general consensus these days?
After that I made a little wiggle rod basket pickeruper and called it a day. That's enough work on my day off.
I was originally going to buy a cheap offset smoker, then I found sites where people were modding them to make them even better. I figured it would end up costing me $200 for the smoker and another $100 or so in parts. Then I stumbled upon a UDS build thread and thought this would be a cheaper alternative and it looked like a lot less hassle as far as cooking went. It seemed like the offsets needed a lot of attention and the UDS was more of a set it and forget it type deal.
Here's my build so far. Comment, suggestions, criticisms are all heartily welcomed. I really want to do a good job on this and turn out some delicious comestibles.
It took a few weeks to find a drum. I ended up getting it from a organic farm out in BFE. It was a closed top drum with a 2" bunghole and a smaller bung, not sure how big.
Since I didn't have any tools to speak of really, I went and picked up a 4 1/2" angle grinder along with the appropriate safety equipment and some accoutrements to facilitate the build as well as the needed parts.
First I had to get the lid off. So I grounded the edges down to separate the lid.
The drum had contained saffron oil so I was hoping for no liner but I was wrong. I took a wire cup brush and tossed it on the angle grinder and it seemed to come off without too much effort. Unfortunately we're not allowed to do a burn barrel here and I live a block from the fire department so I didn't feel like risking it. So my neighbor is going to let me use his weed burner to blast it a bit.
.
I didn't really like the way the lid fit on the barrel though. I ended up scoring a 22.5" Weber grill off Craigslist for $30. The Weber lid is almost a perfect fit, I just need to grind the sides down just a little bit and it will be a near airtight fit.
I wasn't able to drill holes or anything yet because somehow my tape measure went missing. So instead I worked on the charcoal basket. I picked up a 24x24" sheet and just cut it down the middle to keep it nice and easy. I mounted it to a 13.5" Weber charcoal grill using bolts, nuts and fender washers to hold the expanded metal together and used stainless steel zip ties to attach it to the grate. Then I put on some longer bolts to elevate it and will be adding a cheapo pizza pan as an ash catcher.
I had a question on this part though. The actual grate is about 3.5" off the ground. I was going to put the pizza pan on and have it be about 1" off the ground. Is that better so that air can circulate under the ash pan as well or should I trim the bolts to get the grate a bit lower? Or does it make no real difference? I was reading that I should mount the cooking grate so it sits 24" up from the charcoal grate for the best results, is that the general consensus these days?
After that I made a little wiggle rod basket pickeruper and called it a day. That's enough work on my day off.
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