UDS Lid preference

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coffee_junkie

Master of the Pit
Original poster
OTBS Member
Feb 17, 2009
1,144
18
Helena, MT
Okay, so FINALLY I found a drum that was food grade, it contained honey, I am stoked! Last weekend I burned it off, it completely destroyed the liner and the paint is gone. I cant wait, I will post pics of the process as soon as I finish.
Here is my question....I have a weber kettle knockoff dome lid, and a lid that came with the drum. The dome lid would require me to cut the rolled edge/top off of the drum, therefore the flat lid would be rendered unusable. What is everybodys preference for the lid? Can I get two cooking grates in a drum and still have room with the flat lid? I have seen some people have a dual lid system, how does that work?
Thank you in advance for any advice!
 
I read somewhere about using a cut off wheel to make small, thin vertical cuts in the lip of the drum every so often along the circumference until you can pull the lip in enough to fit the lid. I wish I had thought of that before I flattened out the lip of the Weber knockoff lid I am using. That might let you use the knockoff lid, not have to cut the lip off of the drum and possibly allow you to use the original lid by not doing anything too permanent.
 
I like the drum lid more than the Weber lid. I can however understand some that like the domed lids for more capacity.

One thing to remember; with two racks you can over fill the drum with product and really mess up your temps. I did this before and could not keep temps above 200 due to lack of air flow.
 
I prefer the domed lid for capacity and to keep "goo" from dripping which can happen with the flat lid if it is lower in the center than the sides. I wouldn't cut the lip of the drum off though to make the lid fit. I would either modify the lid (flatten the edge, set it on the drum and "rebend" it to fit the drum lip) or pop rivet a small band of aluminum inside the drum for the lid to sit on like Travcoman45 did.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/for...4&postcount=10

Good luck.

Dave
 
Some people argue that the drum will lose its stability without the lip. Some of the drums out there are pretty thin-walled. If yours seems pretty sturdy, maybe that's an option. It just seems like Travoman's solution has less things that can go wrong. And, if for some reason you still wanted to use the flat lid, you'd have the option.

Dave
 
Sorry for so many questions. How would i still have the option? By drilling out the rivets and removing the ring? Or does both lids fit with this method?
 
Hmm . . . good point.
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You could use small nuts and bolts to hold the ring in place. That way if for some reason you wanted to use the flat lid, you could remove the ring.

In all actuality though, I can't think of any reason you would want to use the flat lid if you were able to get a Weber type lid to fit though.

Dave
 
I cant think of any good reason either. I may cut the lip off then if needed, I will have an inner ring welded in if it seems unstable and flimsey. The local tech school will be doing the welding for me. Thank you for all your help.
 
I just did this yesterday and will be posting tonight showing what I did. It came out nice....I think!
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Coffee, let me show you. I have pics showing my meathod I will post tonight.
 
Here is what I did. I don't have a rivet gun and minimal tools so I used 2 pieces of aluminum both 1/8" thick 1 and 1/2" wide and 48" long. I had to cut one down to 22" or so but that was easy with a hacksaw. I then bolted it in with a 1/2" of the strip sticking over the rim of the drum. I might scale that down but I was nervous drilling.







I used #6 X 3/4 stainless screws, bolts and locking washers on every one. I woulda gone shorter there for sure, I had a lot of room to work with. Too much for me. I might change that someday. I did 4 eyebolts for real stability on top. I used #20 1/4" X 2" stainless.





I fired it up and made it smoke! Just a little so I could see any potential leaks. When it fisrt started up I had the usual white smoke. I had very minimal leakage. The drum settled right in. I didn't use my ET but that thing was dialed in. Cooked some sausage to season the lid and good to go! My chicken racks fit on the bottom row now!

I will have to see how it does in the wind, I don't think it will be a problem.
 
Awesome Billbo! So the eyebolts also serve as a rack support? That seems like a pretty good way to go! Thanks for posting.
 
Here's how I did mine with the Wal-Mart knockoff grill lid.

For me, the lid just sitting on the rim works well. It does leak, but only if the bottom vents are opened up pumping enough air to get around 300F in the center of the drum. If I close them back, all the smoke comes out the spinner vent.

Also, I've used mine enough now that there is enough "seasoning" around the lip that the lid almost sticks to the drum rim.

There's lots of ways to build the UDS. This is just how I chose to do mine.

www.uglydrumsmoker.blogspot.com

Hope this helps.

Jerry
.
 
I have actually read this blog in prep for my build. I was able to "tweak" my lid to fit the bottom of the drum, so it will work really good! I also like the idea of having the top on the bottom so it can be cleaned relatively easy. Now I just need to find a cart or something to get it off the ground to accommodate the lid brackets.
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