So yet another I'm building a UDS (what do you expect in this sub?)

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That will work. I got impatient with mine and am a pyro so I used a leaf blower to really get things going. I would not do this again as it made the metal around the vent holes really thin. I have to constantly spray paint around those areas to keep it from rusting out. I just keep a can of high heat flat black woodstove paint handy all the time to touch it up.
 
With the 1 1/8" holes I'd get threaded black pipe to fit, then if you plan on adding valves just get a reducer. The added air wont hurt you a bit. I prefer valves over caps. sometimes I need to close all but one and I usually choose the one that is least effected by the wind or other weather.
 
 
That will work. I got impatient with mine and am a pyro so I used a leaf blower to really get things going. I would not do this again as it made the metal around the vent holes really thin. I have to constantly spray paint around those areas to keep it from rusting out. I just keep a can of high heat flat black woodstove paint handy all the time to touch it up.
It was so windy I didn't need a leaf blower. Metal was glowing red around the vent holes just from the wind.
 
With the 1 1/8" holes I'd get threaded black pipe to fit, then if you plan on adding valves just get a reducer. The added air wont hurt you a bit. I prefer valves over caps. sometimes I need to close all but one and I usually choose the one that is least effected by the wind or other weather.
This is basically what I was planning to do. I figured I'd see how far off it is and then just go switch them out. Looks like 1" pipe will be the closest fit, actually will be a bit bigger. I'll be doing the tried and true 1 valve 3 caps.

Forgot to grab the scrap wood today so I'll grab it tomorrow. It'll probably burn really hot, really fast so I should be able to start the burn as soon as I get home and it should be almost out by time I go to bed. Then this weekend I'll be able to (hopefully) get everything put together.
 
Thanks! I bought bolts for the first grate but then thought about the shelf racks and figured it'd be an easy way to have everything adjustable. If the brass would work (I think it would) it would cost me about $6 for everything.

Another question, for the charcoal basket. I have a buddy that is going to build me one (no welder and every store is out of expanded metal) out of some scrap expanded metal at his work. Should 12"x12"x6" be fine or should I tell him a bit bigger?

Just don't want to have him build a basket and it be too small for long cooks. I thought I read somewhere that a 12x12x6 basket could yield a 18+ hour cook but can't find it now.
 
Basket size is fine. I caution against Brass, galvanized. or zinc in your drum. All off gas toxic nastiness when subjected to heat. It is just as easy and cheap to use SS machine screws. Or you could just get steel shelf brackets for the same money I would bet.
 
So I found a little time to work on this today. The first burn didn't really do much so I decided to give it another try. Loaded the barrel full of scraps and let it go for a while. Once it died down to the bottom and a small manageable fire I had a stroke of genius.

I have (had) an old grill brush that was mostly metal. It was well worn and I have replaced it but never tossed it out. Drilled a couple holes and mounted it to a metal broom handle, figuring the liner would be easier to get off if it was hot. I brushed around the drum and was able to get down to metal in a few strokes. Maybe 15 minutes of working around the barrel and the liner is pretty well gone. Took an old eag, soaked it in water, wrapped around the brush and was able to wipe the residue out pretty easily. It's not all gone but I think a trip to the car wash will remove what's left. Would use my pressure washer but guess who forgot to drain the pump before winter? Cracked the housing and they want as much as a new pressure washer for one!

Thinking I might get a couple hours to work on it tomorrow, if I can get it cleaned out and wiped down with oil I'll be happy, that way I'll be prepped for assembly next chance I get.
 
Nice work! I've seen countless builds about how painful that red liner can be. Good to know there is actually a fairly easy way to get rid of the liner, I'll have to keep that in mind for my next build
 
Alright, so cleaned out, red liner gone, got started assembling everything. Got the rack bolts in place, handles on the drum and the lid and legs on the basket. I ended up buying a closet basket for the time being until my guy can get around to building the basket out of expanded. It looks like it should hold up for a while. Just burned the paint off.

As I mentioned earlier, the nipples I bought are too small because I ended up using a 1-1/8" hole saw. I'm going to run back to Lowes this afternoon and exchange them for 1" nipples. Also need to pick up a thermometer. After that I should be ready to season and go!

Here you can see the garage door handle and one of the rack support bolts. I used carriage bolts where possible to keep it as clean as possible. To provide for the square part of the carriage bolts I drilled out for the bolt then used an "Easy out" as a punch of sorts to square up the hole. Yes that's rust in the barrel, I'm going to give it a quick pass with some sandpaper to remove the rust before seasoning.


Gotta finish grinding the lid a little bit to prepare it for paint but I got tired of the grind so I put the handle on and removed the bung for the exhaust.


Its too windy today for paint so I'm going to finish assembly, knock off the rust on the inside of the barrel and season it. Then I'll stick it in the building until a calm day to paint it.
 
Got everything assembled. For the record, 1-1/8" holesaw is just a bit too small for a 1" black pipe nipple. Took the dremel with a grind wheel to get a little more room, had to take MAYBE 1/16 off the diameter to get it to fit. 

Picked up a 12" deep fry thermometer, drilled the hole and stuck it in. For now just using the clip that comes with it to hold it in, will make a better mount soon. Will have to wait until tomorrow to take some decent pics, but seasoning the UDS as I type this.

So far pretty happy, still trying to get it dialed in at 225 right now, took forever to warm up then went to 250, dialed it back and it dropped to 200, just added a bit more intake and lets see where it sits. Pretty cold night and quite a bit of wind to boot. Will be the perfect test.

Also grabbed an instant read thermometer to check the meat temps, now I don't have to steal my wifes (always dangerous). Only thing that gets me out of trouble is the good eats! It was about 10 degrees off (low) so I adjusted it a bit.

Hopefully I'll have a good report tomorrow!
 
Take that deep fryer therm off and test it in boiling water to see how it reads. Check the differences and log them so you know how far off you are. Depending on your altitude 212f is the boiling point for water.
 
Take that deep fryer therm off and test it in boiling water to see how it reads. Check the differences and log them so you know how far off you are. Depending on your altitude 212f is the boiling point for water.
I plan on it. Its adjustable so if its off I can fix it. Didn't do it first because..well...I wanted to test out the smoker and I'm impatient. I'll pull it off tomorrow and test it. I saw where some people drilled out a bolt to hold the thermo steady.

Hopefully this weekend I'll have a bit of time to paint, once I get it painted I plan on pulling the bolts out and seal them with High Temp RTV, I noticed when I rubbed everything down with oil that it seeped out around the bolts. I have some RTV laying around so might as well use it.
 
I smoked a few boneless chicken breasts last night while seasoning it. Figured why let the smoke go to waste? They were good but nothing special. Literally thawed them, put a little salt and pepper on and tossed them on the smoker. This weekend I'll be doing some spare ribs, never done a brisket but I'm wanting to. Gonna stick to what I know for the first few smokes.
 
I smoked a few boneless chicken breasts last night while seasoning it. Figured why let the smoke go to waste? They were good but nothing special. Literally thawed them, put a little salt and pepper on and tossed them on the smoker. This weekend I'll be doing some spare ribs, never done a brisket but I'm wanting to. Gonna stick to what I know for the first few smokes.
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Happy smoken.

David
 
Still need to paint it but it was WAY too windy today. Anyways, had a pretty good smoke today, couldn't get the temps to hold how I want just yet but all it'll take is a bit more practice. New smoker and a lot of wind makes for a learning curve.

My family all likes their ribs a bit different so it's interesting to cook. I invited my parents over for dinner but my Mom had to work so just my dad came. Me and my Dad like our ribs the same, rub & sauce. My wife doesn't like rub or sauce, my Mom likes sauce but no rub. So as you will see one rack has rub and the other doesn't. I put sauce on half of the one that doesn't for my Mom when I was wrapping things up. Also decided to smoke some homemade Mac & Cheese. Elbows weren't quite done and soaked up all the milk so it wasn't as creamy as normal but wasn't far off, still tasty. Messed with my recipe a bit, some changes I liked others I didn't so a few more notes for next time!

Just getting on the smoker


Getting the sauce. You see I got a bit of a flare up but wasn't bad, went out as soon as I got the lid back on. Sorry for blurry pic.


Really blurry picture of the mac & cheese, I needed to turn auto focus on and forgot


Up close of the finished ribs. Not really a smoke ring in the picture, some parts got it some didn't, I think it had a lot to do with how windy it was. Fought to get the TBS and steady temps.


Like I said, more practice is needed but I think I'm gonna like this UDS! Or as my wife says, the redneck smoker.
 
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