Recent content by ddave

You and me both.    It does not pay to be impatient and put the meat on while the smoke is still thick.  Took me awhile to connect the bad taste with the startup smoke.  I have waited up to 2 hours for the smoke to clear if I had to now.  The food tastes MUCH better that way.   Yep, I would...

What he said although I don't put one  in the middle. I wouldn't worry about getting smoke right away.  It usually takes an hour or so for the yucky white smoke to clear up on mine anyway. Actually, when it is humming along and all warmed up, you'd be hard pressed to see smoke.  But at the end...

Depends on how much you tighten the bolts.   Yes.  That's good to know about the adhesive.  Dave  

I have that issue to a certain extent but I just rotate the lid until I found a spot to where it sits pretty flat and doesn't rock.  It's not perfect and I get some air in through there too, I am sure. I thought about using some woodstove door gasket on the ring or on the inside lip of the lid...

I believe the recommended temps are 225° to 250°.  Even temps in the 260s aren't going to hurt a pork shoulder.   Since you injected, according to USDS guidelines, it should have hit 140° in 4 hours although I beleive it has been changed to 135° per the 2010 Food Code. If you hadn't injected...

A friend of mine used a circular saw with a metal cutting blade.  Nice smooth cut. Dave

Lots of ways to make good Q. Dave

I understand your desire to save money, but I think you'd be happier in the long run if you just bought the unlined drum.  If you don't have them already, you may end up spending more than the $45 on masks, goggles, ear plugs gloves and wire wheels by the time you wire wheel the other one out...

Water pan . . . in a UDS . . .are you nuts??? Just messing with ya, meateater.   If it gets your meat cooked the way you like it then it's the right way to do it.   Dave

Paying someone else to sandblast it would be your best bet.  Or find an unlined drum. The liners can be a real pain to get it out and really take the fun out of a UDS build. Dave

Lead wrapped in paper, then plastic, then plastic, then another plastic bag?? I'd say you have nothing to worry about. Certainly safer than one that held petroleum. If it is bare metal inside, no need to burn.  Wire wheel any rust spots, if there are any, and get to building. Dave

Sounds like it's snaking too fast. I'm with Corn Cob -- use less fuel -- learn to control the fire.  Otherwise you're wasting fuel. Dave

I just have a table nearby with some pieces of angle iron on it that I set the grate on.  If I'm doing something that will take some time, I take the grate out and put the lid back on. Another thing that helps is closing the intakes for 3 minutes or so before you remove the lid.  Lowers the...

One of the best if not THE best "how to" UDS thread on the Internet. http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=43943 Dave

Excellent, excellent starting method and advice. Dave