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Last week I bought a new, unlined 16 gallon drum and turned my little Weber Smokey Joe grill into a Smokey Joe UDS. I decided use the drum body as a dedicated meat hanger, no grates. I made the hangers out of old stainless steel skewers.
For its first smoke I loaded the kettle bottom with...
My basket also uses a 13.5" grate, 10" high. I usually load a whole bag of Stubbs natural briquettes, 15 lbs worth, and that gives me 3 regular smoking sessions without having to reload. I just shake the basket while in the drum to clear ashes and it's ready to go.
For normal smoking temps they're fine, and I keep them wide open.
But I find the exhaust vents not sufficient for high temp cooks, like doing chicken at 350F, for instance. I have to crack the lid open to let the drum breathe.
I know some 22" WSM owners add additional vents on the lid for...
Funny, that very thought of using a SFB occurred to me last month while building my first UDS as I have a Chargriller SFB which I bought as a small grill several years ago that I no longer use.
Perhaps on my 2nd UDS build I might do this, but shortening the drum a bit to decrease chamber volume...
The are several different ways of doing the intake. The three or four 3/4" vents you see at the bottoms of UDS's are the most popular set up and least expensive to do. You can also simply drill 3/4" holes and use magnets to control air intake if you want to go real cheap, no valve, no pipes. ...
I've turned that exact same smoker into a charcoal smoker. I chucked the electrical element, added a draft door, and added a raised charcoal grate with basket. I can smoke for over 10 hours at 250F with just one chimney worth of charcoal. It turned into a great little smoker.
I just got a 48" x 48" carbon steel expanded metal from Amazon for $26, delivery included. Perfect gauge for charcoal baskets, not too heavy. Came in a large flat carton, well packaged.
Here's a pic of my completed draft door which slides through three 3/4" holes. I will be seasoning the drum tomorrow and cooking in it this weekend.
I don't know why my pics will not load on this forum even with IMG codes. Anyway, here's the link...
With an outdoor fireplace like that I would simply use it as a grill without much modification.
A black pizza oven requires a good amount of thermal mass and insulation, top sides and bottom hearth to be effective and to be able to cook with its residual heat for 3 days after initial firing...
Thanks guys! I realize once I reach operating temp all I need is just one little vent hole to meter in air to maintain smoking temps. But on occasion I do need to operate the cooker at 400°F when I'm doing chicken, for instance. Also during fire up.
As for exhaust vents, I'm using a Weber...
How important is it to space intake holes equally apart around the drum? The reason I'm asking is because I plan on using a single, small, sliding draft door over three 3/4" holes grouped together. I personally believe it makes no diff whether they're grouped together in one small area or...
This is how I did my my vent control. This single control gives me a good working temperature latitude up to 400°F.
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c362/jojisan/P1060018.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c362/jojisan/P1060011.jpg
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