My first smoke on the new drum

[donnylove]

Since I finally finished my drum last week, Saturday was my first chance to burn some pig. Overall I was extremely pleased with how the drum performed, though one basket of fuel only got me through about 8 hours before I had to reload. I smoked three butts on Saturday and two more on Sunday. Here are the pics . . .

2 1/2 hours in



Humming along at 300* under the center of the grate



Later in the day



Ready to be foiled



The finished product



Love that drum!



Thanks for looking!

 

[wutang]

Looks great. I finally got mine built. Hope my first smoke turns out as good as yours did.

 

[grothe]

Great lookin piggie.....nice job on the first run!!

 

[blacklab]

Looks great, nice ring to boot! What was the wood flavor?

 

[wmarkw]

good looking drum!

 

[old poi dog]

Great looking drum and even better looking pork.....Congratulation on two jobs well done...

 

[pineywoods]

Both the drum and the pig look great

 

[morkdach]

nice job on both

 

[donnylove]

Thanks for all the kudos. I used RO lump, with hickory chunks and a few apple chips mixed in for flavor. My only diasappointment was the fuel running out so quickly. Not sure if I need a bigger charcoal basket (I actually built my basket before I found my drum, so the basket was intended for a 55-gallon drum) or not, but it wasn't any real big deal to add some more lump at the end.

 

[the dude abides]

That's a fine looking drum. Congrats on it's maiden voyage!

Points

 

[swinging meat]

Great job on both the drum and the butts. Looking good

 

[guvna]

nice smoke ring!

 

[jaye220]

That's another great-looking drum and the pork looks delicious too. Nice work all around.

 

[pinkmeat]

How much charcoal does your basket hold? Was it started full? On a full basket I have had one accidentally going the next afternoon...like 18-19hrs I think.

I usually use briq's versus lump in the uds only because they seem to burn a little longer and more evenly.

 

[donnylove]

My basket is round with a 14" diameter and 11" of height capacity. Part of the short longevity was probably because I ran at 300* all day, but it probably wouldn't hurt to have a bigger diameter basket since it's an 85.

 

[rickw]

Great looking drum and real nice Q. I would most certainly build a larger basket for that size drum. You could use a 22" grate and that should get you the long burn time we get from the 55 gal. drums.

Try and keep the temps down a tad too.

 

[porked]

Nice lookin' pork, looks like you christened it in right. Great pics.