Relative Newbie From RI

[SKO96]

Hey Yall,

Glad to have found this community and have access to all the discussion - knowledge here. I'm a big time BBQ eater, and attempting to be a big time BBQ maker. In my household as a child, grilled food was part of every meal. I also love fire, sitting by it, cooking with it, looking at it. So it seems fitting to me that I am finally getting into to smoking meat.

I purchased a very suspect Kingsford kettle about 7 months ago, and have gotten pretty proficient at grilling steaks and such, but I have a craving to start smoking some meat. To that end, I am in the process of building a UDS. I would love to learn on an offset, but I dont have the money to purchase a good one (which I have read is pretty necessary). My plan is for a 55 gallon not so ugly UDS, but who knows! I figured the larger the drum, the better in terms of an efficient clean burn. More heat, more clean smoke. Does that sound right? Regardless, happy to be here and stoked to participate in these forums!

Best,
Chris

 

[TNJAKE]

Welcome from Tennessee. You definitely ended up in the best place. 55gal drum will serve you well. Post up some pics of your build and food. Some of our members can't read so pictures help them alot lol

 

[DougE]

Welcome from Kentucky. You ended up in the best place possible, but get your wallet out.

 

[bauchjw]

Welcome from Virginia! You came to the right place! UDSs are awesome! You’ll be very happy with the results, can’t wait to see what you put out!

 

[bigfurmn]

Welcome from Minnesota.

 

[SmokinEdge]

Welcome from Colorado. Yup this is a great spot for you to land, they will all help you along with kid gloves.
As to smoking, nothing wrong with the ugly drum, or the kettle, but I was in my local Home Depot and saw the smaller Masterbuilt gravity series 560 on sale for $400.00 clearance for the new inventory coming for spring. I’ve also seen where guys have been picking the grills up at big box stores for as low as $300 so may give that a look as well. Folks like these cookers a lot. I have a buddy with the 1050, he likes it and I’ve had the food off it,,,,,, it’s guud.

 

[sandyut]

Welcome from Utah

 

[912smoker]

Welcome to SMF from SE Ga !

 

[GATOR240]

Welcome from Pa. We'll help you spend your money....We enjoy being enablers!! Seriously, you came to a great place.

 

[Brokenhandle]

Welcome from Iowa!

Ryan

 

[Sven Svensson]

Welcome, from California. I’m in agreement with many here, get your wallet ready. And start thinking about storage, too.

 

[DougE]

Welcome, from California. I’m in agreement with many here, get your wallet ready. And start thinking about storage, too.

Or just leave your shipping address and credit card at the door, and we'll take it from there.

 

[thirdeye]

My plan is for a 55 gallon not so ugly UDS, but who knows!

​

Drums are highly under rated, I've cooked on them for 20+ years. You made a fine choice to build one.

 

[schlotz]

Welcome Chris from Indiana. We're here to help. All ya gotta do is ask.

 

[DRKsmoking]

Welcome from Nova Scotia

This place is full off great people and information , all with a helping hand

David

 

[normanaj]

Welcome from a fellow RI'er.

 

[Cajun Smokes]

Welcome from Louisiana. Seen some nice drums on here but never had one myself. May be my next project.

 

[SKO96]

Thank you for the warm welcome from all over the country normanaj DRKsmoking schlotz thirdeye DougE Sven Svensson Brokenhandle GATOR240 912smoker sandyut SmokinEdge bigfurmn bauchjw TNJAKE ! Was not expecting that. Thank yall.

Broke the news to my girlfriend that I joined a meat smoking forum and she didn't understand it. Such is life. While I am sure yall would have a field day with my wallet, I am not sure you would have as much financial latitude as you were hoping. Alas, enough latitude for a steal drum no doubt, and I guess thats all you need.

I have a few questions so figure Id ask you guys. I have got suck into the rabbits hole of drum smoking thermo dynamics, science, and a bunch of stuff that probably has much less of an effect on meat than me not knowing squat; but now I must be sure. Some background first, I want to have this UDS for a long ass time, and I want it to effectively (or semi effectively) be both a smoker, grill, and pizza oven. I get a kick out of multi use items. That said, I don't want to force it, and instead want to design it properly so that I can get better at all this stuff on one device. And I know... Pizza Oven. Well, I love pizza so hell yea!

My design idea is as follows, with my rational for each decision after that:

55g drum: more volume will require more heat leading to smoke woods burning cleaner.
Two racks: the first located 9 inches down from the top of the lid, the second 5 inches below that
Diffuser: ill cook up a cheap on and throw it 10 inches above the coals
Intake: I want to be able to get this MF hot, so I was thinking that slide Intake from UDS parts. I know for smoking its over kill, but for pizza we gotta be talking 600-800. That sound possible? Could I get this hot with two 1.5" intakes on the 55g drum?
Exhaust: I know that air in = even more air out, so I was thinking two, two inch square exhausts
Exhaust placement: this is where I am having the most trouble, again, cause I have no experience. Should the exhausts go on the drum lid? Center or sides? Should the go on the side of the drum opposite each other? Would side mounted vents cause hot spots where they meet the drum side? I must say I am leaning towards mounting the exhausts on the side about 1-2" down so that there is more radiant heat coming down on my pizzas from the lid. Do you guys think putting the exhausts on the lid would result in more or less heat coming down?

Does that sound like a quality plan to yall, or a crock of BS and I should just drill some holes in it and call a day? Thanks!

 

[Sowsage]

Welcome from ohio!
Ive had my drum that I built for 9 years now. Still solid as can be.
My advice would be keep it as a smoker only.. Dont over complicate the build. Mine has (3) 3/4" intakes with ball valves to regulate temps and one 2 3/4" exhaust. A round charcoal basket that will hold 20 lb of charcoal. One rack directly above it to hold a difusor plate ( large round cake pan) and one cooking grate 7" down from the top of the drum.. Thats it. Real simple set up.

As far as pizza goes.... You have a kettle and it can be transformed into a fantastic pizza oven.. I think you would be happier using that one as your Dual Purpose cooker. And keeping the drum as a stand alone smoker.

 

[thirdeye]

Some background first, I want to have this UDS for a long ass time, and I want it to effectively (or semi effectively) be both a smoker, grill, and pizza oven. I get a kick out of multi use items. That said, I don't want to force it, and instead want to design it properly so that I can get better at all this stuff on one device. And I know... Pizza Oven. Well, I love pizza so hell yea!

I'll toss out few thoughts, and try to give some insights to your questions. A 'drum', UDS, BDS, can, or whatever you call them can be extremely simple or have more gadgets than Carter has pills. I think you could get away with using a drum as a smoker and a grill..... but a pizza oven might be reaching unless you blind bake the crust, but that is a whole different conversation. If you have not visited some of the popular drum sites, do so and take notes of what you like and what you don't like. Those would be Pit Barrel Cookers, Gateway, Hunsaker (also sells parts), UDS Parts and Big Poppa Smokers (parts, kits, drums and has an excellent 'how to' video).
===
I think it will be easier to insert my comments within your list of ideas:

My design idea is as follows, with my rational for each decision after that:
55g drum: more volume will require more heat leading to smoke woods burning cleaner. Yes, I believe bigger is better, my drums were specially made and are 43" tall and have a straight section without the expansion rings. I have supersized the charcoal baskets to increase my burn time. Mine double as a cold smoker, so I want plenty of volume.

Two racks: the first located 9 inches down from the top of the lid, the second 5 inches below that - My drums came with two racks, I stopped using the lower rack after 6 or 8 cooks. Yes, a second rack improves capacity but tending the food on the second rack is cumbersome. You will need a folding table to hold the upper rack, and if you want to rotate racks you need to work fast and a second person really helps. Plus the 'original' concept of a drum is to simulate the 'open pit' style of barbecue so I do all my cooking on the highest rack.

Diffuser: ill cook up a cheap on and throw it 10 inches above the coals - A diffuser goes against the 'open pit' style and restricts the little flavor bombs of fat dripping into the coals, which are what gives your barbecue a unique flavor. I tried one and did not like it at all. Hunsaker uses a 'vortex' diffuser and many owners really like it. They sell it as an accessory on their website.

Intake: I want to be able to get this MF hot, so I was thinking that slide Intake from UDS parts. I know for smoking its over kill, but for pizza we gotta be talking 600-800. That sound possible? Could I get this hot with two 1.5" intakes on the 55g drum? A slider style intake (UDS Parts and Big Poppa) will get the temp rocking for sure. The bolt-on riser tubes work great and you don't have to bend down when adjusting. Many guys use ball valves. My drums have (3) 7/8" holes spaced at 120° to each other. I use electrical box knock-out covers or magnets to control intake.

Exhaust: I know that air in = even more air out, so I was thinking two, two inch square exhausts - That would be workable, both UDS Parts and Big Poppa sell exhausts. Unless you use a hinge system I could see the exhaust fixtures making the lid unbalanced. My exhaust vents are (8) 1/2" holes in a circular pattern on the lid, also adjusted by electrical box plugs or magnets. My exhaust holes are generally open and I control heat with the intake vent holes.
Exhaust placement: this is where I am having the most trouble, again, cause I have no experience. Should the exhausts go on the drum lid? Center or sides? Should the go on the side of the drum opposite each other? Would side mounted vents cause hot spots where they meet the drum side? I must say I am leaning towards mounting the exhausts on the side about 1-2" down so that there is more radiant heat coming down on my pizzas from the lid. Do you guys think putting the exhausts on the lid would result in more or less heat coming down? - This is usually a lively topic for discussion because when intake and exhaust work in harmony, you achieve a whirling, swirling kind of convection going on in the drum. This is why it's possible to hang racks of ribs or pork tenderloins and only sacrifice a little meat on the charcoal basket end. I'm biased with my exhaust holes, but I have not used a drum with other styles of vents.