My 1st UDS build!!

[jamiem]

Hey everybody!  I've been watching and hearing so much on the internet lately about the UDS that I just have to make one.  I've been looking for about two weeks now and a friend of mine that works at a mechanic shop gave me an old drum that had oil in it for free.  It is in good condition and has the lid and is unlined.  He also had a bunch of pallets lying around and let me get as much as I wanted.  Finally got my stuff and will get to work this weekend.  Did some cleaning on it today after work.

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• jamiem
• Nov 12, 2013

     

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• jamiem
• Nov 12, 2013

When I first brought them home.  Mmmm that's so appetizing!!!  Cleaned them up, not sure why because I'm gonna burn it but just wanted to inspect it a little better.

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• jamiem
• Nov 12, 2013

     

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• jamiem
• Nov 12, 2013

Not too bad.  Will get to the burns and drilling and hopefully the painting this weekend!

 

[flyboys]

I can almost see my reflection! Nice score and good luck. Ask if you get stuck, that's what I did with mine. If I can help by answering anything I most certainly will.

 

[vagunsmith]

I haven't seen the answer to this question anywhere. Will the uds get hot enough during smoking to burn the outside paint off the barrel? Is it really necessary to pre burn the outside paint from the barrel? My barrel had pure 100% honey in it and the inside is perfectly clean. If the paint will burn off I will go ahead and paint with high temp paint.

 

[flyboys]

I didn't do a preburn on mine, I had it sandblasted inside and out.  I would imagine that the heat around the bottom of the drum where your charcoal basket is would probably affect the exterior paint.  Even the top exterior section of the drum gets pretty hot to the touch.  I painted mine with high temp grill paint to be on the safe side.

 

[vagunsmith]

Thanks for the reply. I may consider the sand blast

 

[jamiem]

I saw some videos on youtube where when they burned the barrel that the paint on the outside came off, most of it anyway.  I guess you just have to burn it hot enough and long enough.  I probably won't burn mine out until Friday or Saturday, will let you know and see how it turns out.

 

[jamiem]

I've found that people are using pipe nipples for the air intake.  I went to home depot yesterday to get them.  I don't think people are using the galvanized so I bought the 'black steel' nipples.  Are those safe or do we need to buy something else.  I know they are on the outside of the drum but the air is going through them so I didn't want the galvanized because I hear so many people talk about the harmful vapors when it gets to a certain temperature.

 

[flyboys]

You're correct about galvanized. I have the black steel nipples on mine.

That just sounds wrong.

 

[lilricky]

 
I've found that people are using pipe nipples for the air intake.  I went to home depot yesterday to get them.  I don't think people are using the galvanized so I bought the 'black steel' nipples.  Are those safe or do we need to buy something else.  I know they are on the outside of the drum but the air is going through them so I didn't want the galvanized because I hear so many people talk about the harmful vapors when it gets to a certain temperature.

correct. I used brass on mine as that is what we had where I work

 

[fudlight]

I did a burn in my barrel a couple weeks ago. Did one burn with all wood for about 6 hours then I washed it out and did another burn with mostly charcoal and some logs on top of the charcoal. A good portion of the paint on the outside was removed but still required some attention to remove the rest before I painted mine with high temp paint.

 

[bigr314]

New Drum.JPG

• bigr314
• Nov 18, 2013

When you do a burn most of the outside paint comes off. Yes use black pipe and I have brass values I used a Weber 22 inch dome lid on mime.I have 3 -3/4 inch nipples and 3-24 inch black pipe intakes. My 1st drum I did not use the black pipe intakes. Just thought they would be nice this time around.

 

[jamiem]

I finally finished my UDS!!!!  I am in the process of uploading the video to youtube but it's taking forever.  Here is a picture of my new UDS.

udsPic.png

• jamiem
• Nov 19, 2013

What you think??  Followed Sneekeey1's plan on youtube.  I'm in the process of seasoning it right now and will be smoking some ribs on Saturday.

 

[fwismoker]

 
I finally finished my UDS!!!!  I am in the process of uploading the video to youtube but it's taking forever.  Here is a picture of my new UDS.

udsPic.png

• jamiem
• Nov 19, 2013

What you think??  Followed Sneekeey1's plan on youtube.  I'm in the process of seasoning it right now and will be smoking some ribs on Saturday.

That is one gorgeous machine!  WOW very very nice ...

The only thing i'd suggest is maybe add a couple of nipples for more air... What other air intakes are there besides the uprights? 

 

[flyboys]

That is really nice! Good job

 

[jamiem]

I have the 2 uprights and one nipple in the back for intake.  At the top I just have 2 holes drilled in the lid cause I don't have my exhaust pipes yet.  That will probably come this weekend too.  I've had it seasoning for the past 4 hours and it's holding steady at about 230.  I took the lid off to simulate basting the meat so that I could handle flareups.  It took me a few minutes to get it back.  It went up to 250 and finally got it back down to 225 after about 8-10 minutes.  About to shut down all the valves so I can go to bed.  I was going to let it burn all night until it burned out but a little worried about that since this is my 1st one I'm not sure if I should.

 

[fwismoker]

 
I have the 2 uprights and one nipple in the back for intake.  At the top I just have 2 holes drilled in the lid cause I don't have my exhaust pipes yet.  That will probably come this weekend too.  I've had it seasoning for the past 4 hours and it's holding steady at about 230.  I took the lid off to simulate basting the meat so that I could handle flareups.  It took me a few minutes to get it back.  It went up to 250 and finally got it back down to 225 after about 8-10 minutes.  About to shut down all the valves so I can go to bed.  I was going to let it burn all night until it burned out but a little worried about that since this is my 1st one I'm not sure if I should.

Ok that helps.   Eventually you'll transition into higher heat cooks like 250 to 350...The bends in the uprights cut the flow by about half.   You'll definitely want a couple more nipples, maybe two 1" and also have enough  exhaust.   How big are the holes for the exhaust?

Again..that is one sharp ( non ugly) UDS!

 

[mchar69]

Again..that is one sharp ( non ugly) UDS!

I agree it's an UGLY thing.

The uglier, the better.

Nice

 

[magslam]

 
I finally finished my UDS!!!!  I am in the process of uploading the video to youtube but it's taking forever.  Here is a picture of my new UDS.

udsPic.png

• jamiem
• Nov 19, 2013

What you think??  Followed Sneekeey1's plan on youtube.  I'm in the process of seasoning it right now and will be smoking some ribs on Saturday.

It looks great. I've been tempted to go with a UDS built. So far I have kept "beating" my OTG Weber kettle.

 

[bbq pit vulture]

Bigr314

Nice idea using the Weber lid for the UDS.

Too bad it is not just a few inches larger diameter.

 

[rtbbq2]

Very nice...Congrats!...