Ummm...my basket is too big....

linepipe

Newbie

Original poster

Dec 15, 2012

16

10

• Jan 16, 2013

• #1

I am in the process of building my UDS...you know, just living the dream...  The main requirement for my build is that it must happen with all the junk metal I have laying about the farm.  No costs other than gas for the welder.

I got the dims for a basket off of here:  12" by 15".  I am thinking that this is entirely too tall, especially when combined with the 3" feet.  See below:

cooker.jpg

• linepipe
• Jan 16, 2013

I keep seeing the requierment for 24" from the top of the basket.  This is a standard 55gal drum and I dont see how that is possible AND to use a flat top lid.  I am missing something here.  The bands on the barrel are at 12". 

Where am I going wrong?  Thanks for the help.

Linepipe

 

wneill20

Fire Starter

Mar 3, 2011

34

10

Murrieta Ca

• Jan 16, 2013

• #2

I think you got the wide and high backwards. Try 15 wide 12 tall.

 

linepipe

Newbie

Original poster

Thread starter

Dec 15, 2012

16

10

• Jan 16, 2013

• #3

It is 12 tall by 15 wide.  Add the 3" legs and it becomes 15*15.  The barrel is ~36" tall, so 15" tall + 24" distance from the basket for the grate is 39".  Not going to work.

24" requires that 2' of the barrel be taken out immediately for space, leaving only 1' for the basket, grate and clearance for the meat from the top.

Still missing something here.

 

facepeeler

Newbie

Nov 4, 2012

23

10

Romance, AR

• Jan 17, 2013

• #4

The basket Im making for my UDS this weekend is going to be 14"x14"x5" high, with the diagonal of my box being 19" across. Im okay for fitting in the barrel. Next check the volume, which comes out to about a half cubic foot of capacity, which is about a bag of charcoal, which is plenty to cook with. Im keeping the grate 3-1/2" off the bottom, and my second grate will be roughly 17" from the bottom of the grate. Too low, right? Not necessarily. Im planning on having a diffuser plate/water plan on a rack right above the coal basket, which should be enough deflection that I dont torch anything I cook. And with the lower grill height, I can run two racks with a flat lid.

This is all still theoretical, of course, until I get my first test burn in this weekend to know for sure.

 

papagrizz

Meat Mopper

Dec 28, 2011

266

13

Back to the "People's Republic of Illinois"

• Jan 17, 2013

• #5

howdy linepipe,

My basket is about 8" tall and 15" wide, It will hold a 220* temp for over 20 hours with room to spare.

Untitled 0 00 00-15.jpg

• papagrizz
• Apr 28, 2012

Hope that helps. You are going to love what comes out of there.

PaPaGrizz

 

big griz

Fire Starter

Dec 9, 2012

45

10

Broken Arrow, OK

• Jan 20, 2013

• #6

Correct me if I'm wrong guys, but I think the 24" is from the level of the charcoal grate (the bottom of your basket) and not from the top of the basket.  In other words, if the legs on your grate/basket are 3 inches and you add 24 inches to that, then you come up with 27 inches thus the approximate 7 inches from the top for your barrel depending on the exact heighth (mine is 34 9/16"),  At least that's what I have understood from several different sources. 

 

facepeeler

Newbie

Nov 4, 2012

23

10

Romance, AR

• Jan 20, 2013

• #7

Big Griz said:

Correct me if I'm wrong guys, but I think the 24" is from the level of the charcoal grate (the bottom of your basket) and not from the top of the basket.  In other words, if the legs on your grate/basket are 3 inches and you add 24 inches to that, then you come up with 27 inches thus the approximate 7 inches from the top for your barrel depending on the exact heighth (mine is 34 9/16"),  At least that's what I have understood from several different sources. 

Click to expand...

Correct. If it were 24" from the top of the basket, there's no way you would be able to build a UDS with one barrel. 

 

linepipe

Newbie

Original poster

Thread starter

Dec 15, 2012

16

10

• Jan 21, 2013

• #8

OK, that is good to get cleared up and makes the math work better.  This weekend I was working on the rest of the UDS and had a thought:  it shouldn't be from the top of the basket, it should be from to top of the coals.  That made much more sense, since that is where the heat starts.  But if I need to use the bottom of the basket itself, so much the better.  That means that the 24" is a general guideline, correct?

So based on this thread I modified my basket this weekend by cutting it down some, from 12" tall (legs not included) to 7".  I had an old 10 lb charcoal sack, but no charcoal.  So I filled it with cattle cubes and used it as a general guideline on where to cut the basket:

P1030989.JPG

• linepipe
• Jan 19, 2013

.

Basically I have another basket 3/4 of the way done made of heavy guage expanded metal, so there is no loss there at all.