Ugly drum smoker

[J M Brown]

I’ve been looking at building an ugly drum smoker. Does anyone cook on them that can give me some reviews. I’ve watched several videos on YouTube but was just wanting some opinions from folks on the forum. Thanks look forward to hearing some reviews.

 

[mattkm]

Hey JMB, I love mine! I have a full sized one and a mini that I take camping with me:( https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/my-uds-builds.277660/ )
What I love most (besides the cooked final product!) is the whole diy aspect of them, building them from scratch, and the look on new people's faces when they eat some wicked meat that came out of an old scrap drum!
What I do tell people who are interested in them though, is that it does take some practice and playing to run them. I'm pretty confident in my full sized drum now, that I can get it loaded, lit, and adjusted right, I can go do other things and trust it will stay consistent. It took a bit of practice to get there. I've built 2 other uds' for 2 different friends, that are both having trouble getting them to run smoothly. They've both only tried a couple of times each though, and I believe their main problem is not being patient enough. When you make a small adjustment on the air inlet, it takes a while to change, neither can wait for it, and start messing more and more with the adjustment. Then they end up chasing the temps up and down. I get about 100 texts from them every time they fire them up. I've read where someone compared it to steering a ship, and that's a very accurate statement.
I built an offset smoker this summer, and my plan was for it to replace my bigger drum, but, I'm not sure I will get rid of it now, I love that thing!

 

[daveomak]

mattkm, morning... Nice builds... I like you stuck with 1/2" ball valves without extension pipes... most folks don't follow those recommendations... I think that's why you have such great control...

JM Brown...
In my thread below, I have documented Ecto1's drum smokes... He's won many BBQ contests...
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/uds-builds-by-ecto1.247697/

 

[hardcookin]

Commercial drums such as the Gateway & Hunsaker have been pretty popular with competitions.
UDS is fairly easy to make, and will maintain a fire for about 12 hours.
They smoke really good chicken...

 

[billdawg]

Hey JMB. I built a UDS about 6 years ago, and it is still my go to smoker. Here is the build https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/finished-my-first-uds-build-pics.119312/#post-789174 It is consistent, and is easy to get up and running to temp for a smoke. It will also burn for a LONG time without worrying about adding fuel. I did break down a couple of years ago and buy a Pitmaster IQ110 https://pitmasteriq.com/products/iq110 Since then, I put longer cooks on at night, set the desired temp, and go to bed. When I wake up in the morning, I am on the last couple of hours of the smoke. It is as close to set it and forget it as you can get.

 

[J M Brown]

Thanks for the replies. I’m getting pretty excited about building mine now. I’ve been researching and watching YouTube videos for a while now. It’s good to hear from people who use and love them. Thanks again for all the replies.

 

[sanga mathews]

Reall

Hey JMB. I built a UDS about 6 years ago, and it is still my go to smoker. Here is the build https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/finished-my-first-uds-build-pics.119312/#post-789174 It is consistent and is easy to get up and running to temp for a smoke. It will also burn for a LONG time without worrying about adding fuel. I did break down a couple of years ago and buy a Pitmaster IQ110 https://pitmasteriq.com/products/iq110 Since then, I put longer cooks on at night, set the desired temp, and go to bed. When I wake up in the morning, I am on the last couple of hours of the smoke. It is as close to set it and forget it as you can get.

Really nice buddy.
Looks great...

 

[Binford 6100]

my version of the uds


https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/binfords-horizontal-double-barrel-smoker.275483/

 

[mattkm]

That's cool Binford!

 

[Binford 6100]

That's cool Binford!

thanks, I am enjoying it!