I finally bit the bullet and decided to build a few UDS smokers, while waiting for some shop time to build a couple of Gravity Fed Dual Pan Cabinet Smokers off of Frank's plans at SmokeBuilder that we purchased. Seems those gravity fed smokers might end up being a winter project at this point. And with that, the original OzarkSmoke smoker is a breeze to use and cook on; but it is really too big for home use. Which led me to a quick UDS build.
I purchased the drums from a company just outside of St. Louis, Missouri in Venice, IL called Container Distributors. They charged $60 for a brand new open top unlined drum with lid (here is the link http://www.containerdistributors.com/). These drums give me 33" of interior drum height to deal with, and for these we will be using a flat lid.
Here is my initial design and a rough sketch:
Drum Interior Height = 33"
Location of Top Rack from Top of Smoker = 8"
Location of Lower Rack from Top of Smoker = 14"
Charcoal Basket Overall Height (Including 3" Standoff) = 13" (10" Charcoal wall)
Charcoal Basket Inside Diameter = 15" (using 3/4 x #9 Exp Metal)
Quantity of Air Intakes = 2
Size of Air Intakes = 1-1/2 Standard Pipe
Location of Air Intakes From Outside Bottom = 3" to Center of Pipe
Size of Exhaust On Lid = 3" Standard Pipe
Location of Exhaust On Lid = Unknown
So I have a few questions, given the specifics above and the rough sketch:
1. Location of exhaust on lid?
My lid doesn't have a bung hole, so i can cut the hole where ever i want. Is there any preference to a specific location?
2. Location of Diffuser Plate & Thickness
How high above the top of the charcoal basket should i weld the clips to hold the diffuser plate? What thickness of plate would work best (I could go from 3/16" to 1" without issue)
Would love to hear your input and thoughts?
--Matt Tucker
I purchased the drums from a company just outside of St. Louis, Missouri in Venice, IL called Container Distributors. They charged $60 for a brand new open top unlined drum with lid (here is the link http://www.containerdistributors.com/). These drums give me 33" of interior drum height to deal with, and for these we will be using a flat lid.
Here is my initial design and a rough sketch:
Drum Interior Height = 33"
Location of Top Rack from Top of Smoker = 8"
Location of Lower Rack from Top of Smoker = 14"
Charcoal Basket Overall Height (Including 3" Standoff) = 13" (10" Charcoal wall)
Charcoal Basket Inside Diameter = 15" (using 3/4 x #9 Exp Metal)
Quantity of Air Intakes = 2
Size of Air Intakes = 1-1/2 Standard Pipe
Location of Air Intakes From Outside Bottom = 3" to Center of Pipe
Size of Exhaust On Lid = 3" Standard Pipe
Location of Exhaust On Lid = Unknown
So I have a few questions, given the specifics above and the rough sketch:
1. Location of exhaust on lid?
My lid doesn't have a bung hole, so i can cut the hole where ever i want. Is there any preference to a specific location?
2. Location of Diffuser Plate & Thickness
How high above the top of the charcoal basket should i weld the clips to hold the diffuser plate? What thickness of plate would work best (I could go from 3/16" to 1" without issue)
Would love to hear your input and thoughts?
--Matt Tucker
