Wine Barrel UDS build with heavy Qview

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denver dave

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
SMF Premier Member
Dec 13, 2009
503
12
Frederick, CO
A while back, I posted some pics of a wine barrel I picked up. I will be competing in a wine barrel smoker contest cooking Tri Tip in August. I finally finished it last weekend. Here are pics of the build in process.

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Lots of sanding involved along with cleaning up the bands

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Screws added to hold the stays together when I cut off the top. Otherwise, you end up with a pile of oak. I used stainless steel screws.

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Ready to cut the top off.

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It was pretty nasty inside. Must have been wine residue. Nothing a good pressure wash couldn't take care of.

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Found this at Home depot. Used the bottom for the fire box. Added bonus was the vent for the top. Also got a 22.5 in grill for the cooking grill.

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Used the bung hole as the air intake. May be changing this.

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A little chestnut stain to doll her up. Added an old Bradley temp probe at grill level.

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Soaked her for a couple of hours and started the fire. There is about 2" of water in the bottom in case some coals get away. Don't want to end up with a bunch of oak charcoal and a few steel bands.

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She holds temps pretty well. Held 250* for 4 1/2 hours on one chimney of charcoal.

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Off to a comp this weekend but plan to cook my first Tri Tip next weekend

Hope you enjoyed the pics.
 
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Very nice job!
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 What a coincidence, I just posted a link to a wine barrel smoker that I found on craigslist.
 
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I think you just created a new class of smokers.  The PDS (pretty drum smoker)  that is a great looking cooker, and would be a great addition to any patio.  If it cooks as good as it looks, you are in business.
 
Dave, great looking smoker. Check out the Smokering-there is a couple of Barrel builds that are basically the wood version of a UDS.  4 intake nipples at the bottom of the barrel, 22 in food grate and exhaust vent.  There were a couple of different setups for the ash pan and charcoal basket.
 
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Dave, great looking smoker. Check out the Smokering-there is a couple of Barrel builds that are basically the wood version of a UDS.  4 intake nipples at the bottom of the barrel, 22 in food grate and exhaust vent.  There were a couple of different setups for the ash pan and charcoal basket.
Thanks Dutch. I'll take a look.
 
Nice build. I had A whiskey barrel recently and it was half falling apart so I cut the wood up and used it to smoke A bunch of stuff. Real, real good stuff. Would be neat to do A wine barrel smoke with wine barrel wood.
 
I couldn't see down in it, but on your intake you could run piping on the inside down to fire basket level... maybe that would increase the performance even more without having to drill it any more.  Maybe you did this already though and I missed it. 
 
I couldn't see down in it, but on your intake you could run piping on the inside down to fire basket level... maybe that would increase the performance even more without having to drill it any more.  Maybe you did this already though and I missed it. 
Good idea. With the intake so far above the fire, I do not have much control. Got lazy and figured I already had a big hole so why not use it.
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I totally agree, the bung hole makes a great place for intake throttle, raises the coolness factor, and keeps you from having to re-bung the barrel.

I don't think it would look as cool if you had to re-locate it, but figured if people run their intake throttles up the side for their UDS, why not run it on the inside for your WBS... I don't think it would have any negative affect as long as you continue with the same size pipe.

At any rate, an absolutely wonderful build!  I'd build one if I had a barrel around here. ;)
 
Here are a couple of links to whiskey/wine barrel smoker builds:

WBS #1

WBS #2

I have a cousin that lives in the California Wine country that's headed my direction for a family get together. . . .hmm-wonder if I can talk her into bringing me a whole wine barrel.  It sure would save on shipping costs.
 
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