Being that I already had the grates and lid, I headed to Lowes yesterday and picked up my pipe nipples, caps, nuts and after lunch got started on my Mini UDS build. I was thinking I probably didn't need 3 inlets on such a small drum or even a valve to help control air flow, but went with 3 anyway due to the fact my main goal is to be able to cook 2 chicken halves on one of the racks at 300 degrees while at a comp along with 2 halves on my trailer smoker cooked at 250 degress and turn in which ever one comes out best for that day.
A pic of one of my turn ins from last year...
I also would like to be able to smoke some small cuts at 250 if I choose or hot grill while at comps for breakfast (maybe some sausage or other meaty snacks if I choose, so my feelings were going with 3 inlets would give me the ability to get it hot if need be.
I got the 3 nipples in place, the 2 sets of bolts to hold the upper and lower grates and built a small charcoal basket out of scrap pieces of expanded metal left over from my build last year...
The basket is 8" square on the bottom and 6" tall all the way around. In this pic I have 40 unlit coals and 20 lit coals..
As you can see, it's not even halfway loaded. I did not add any wood chunks or chips in this test run. Let this sit out for a few minutes to make sure the lit coals were going good, then dropped it in the bottom of the drum with all 3 intakes open and the lid off for about 5 minutes. I ran my exhaust on the lid open for the entire test also. Then I put the lid on with all 3 intakes left open, quickly I had temps of 475 on the bottom grate (according to my Maverick 732) and 385 on the top grate. So I shut down 2 of the intakes, took the lid off for 30 seconds to allow for the heat to evacuate, about 30 minutes later it had settled in at a bit over 300 on the bottom grate and 280 or so on the top grate. It pretty much rode there for the next 2 hours, staying about 15 degrees hotter on the bottom grate. I think you can easily fit an 8 pound butt on each rack or even 4 whole chickens under 5#'s each (2 on each rack). It would be idea size to do some pork loins or tenderloins as well. Ribs, unless the racks were cut in half would be tough, briskets would have to be separated into point and flat sections. As for grilling, steaks, sausage, burgers, hot dogs, pork chops would all work well in the Mini UDS.
Here is the test in progress..
A pic of the coals, grates and temp probes during the 30 second evacuation..
I'm thinking a diffuser plate of some sort would help, now finiding a 14" or slightly smaller pan or plate is the real challenge. This should help with even heat and obvious grease and juice splatter on the coals, preventing flareups. I am also thinking after my test run that I may need to add a valve to one of the inlets, so that I can fine tune a bit. I feel I can get 300+ with 2 inlets open, but having 1 be adjustable won't hurt other than the pocket book. My total test time was nearly 4 hours and I was still over the 250 mark when I pulled the probes and headed off to bed. My belief is that if I hadn't tried the "see how hot I can get it" test, it would have lasted a good 6 or more hours on 60 coals if I choose to smoke at 225 or 250. I plan on either another test run tonight or I might go ahead and do the burn out on the drum. Either way I'll post more pics and updates as I continue my design and build.
