How long should I wait before...

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dahn626

Newbie
Original poster
Jun 1, 2013
3
10
So I've just completed my first ugly drum smoker build and gave it a paint job 2 days ago with high heat engine paint (500 degrees). I was wondering how long I should wait before firing it up to remove all the bad chemicals and around how high I should burn it to get rid of it all. 

This is my first time since high school working with tools and paint and drills, so I'm extremely ignorant when it comes to this stuff. Any help would be much appreciated! 
 
So I've just completed my first ugly drum smoker build and gave it a paint job 2 days ago with high heat engine paint (500 degrees). I was wondering how long I should wait before firing it up to remove all the bad chemicals and around how high I should burn it to get rid of it all. 

This is my first time since high school working with tools and paint and drills, so I'm extremely ignorant when it comes to this stuff. Any help would be much appreciated! 
Welcome to the group.

Your going to love your UDS. post a few pics when you get a chance.

You can fire it up now. I filled my basket full of coal. Then fired up a Chimney of coal. with all vents open i let it run for a couple of hours then started playing with the temp controls. I let it burn till it went out. Not sure how long that was. I went to bed.

Happy smoken.

David




 
Last edited:
You only painted the outside right?  ...and like Mule said you can fire it up now and if the 500 degree paint doesn't work out go up to the 1100-1200 degree paints.   
 
Hello everyone,

thank you for your replies. I've introduced myself over at Roll Call and here is a picture of my brand spankin new ugly drum 
(I had a complete brain fart when it came time to drill in the handles and ended up with handles at 3 o clock and 8 o clock...ugh)

So far, this thing has had 2 cooks on it (a rack of ribs and a 10lb brisket) and then I went ahead and painted it. I also added the little middle silver piece you see there to run my thermometers through.

I've run into another issue though. I went ahead and lit it up last night post-paintjob and post-clamp job but i couldn't seem to get stable temperatures at all! I waited an hour before going out to make changes to her, and it would hold a temperature at most for 10 minutes and then it would rise.

I don't exactly know what's going on..it seemed to be much more stable prior to the paint job. Is it possible that the clamp is letting air get in (it's a 1" hole but is covered up 3/4 of the way)? Is the paint affecting it? What other factors could there be?
 
Hello everyone,

thank you for your replies. I've introduced myself over at Roll Call and here is a picture of my brand spankin new ugly drum 
(I had a complete brain fart when it came time to drill in the handles and ended up with handles at 3 o clock and 8 o clock...ugh)

So far, this thing has had 2 cooks on it (a rack of ribs and a 10lb brisket) and then I went ahead and painted it. I also added the little middle silver piece you see there to run my thermometers through.

I've run into another issue though. I went ahead and lit it up last night post-paintjob and post-clamp job but i couldn't seem to get stable temperatures at all! I waited an hour before going out to make changes to her, and it would hold a temperature at most for 10 minutes and then it would rise. what temp was it holding? what was it rising to?

I don't exactly know what's going on..it seemed to be much more stable prior to the paint job. Is it possible that the clamp is letting air get in (it's a 1" hole but is covered up 3/4 of the way)? Is the paint affecting it? What other factors could there be?YES THE HOLE WILL MAKE A DIFFERANCE. YOU JUST HAVE TO ADJUST FOR THAT.
DO A TEST BURN AGAIN. SEE WHAT HAPPENS. THEIR IS A LEARNING CURVE TO ANY SMOKER

dAVID
 
If the handle miscue bothers you then you can always move it over the right direction by using 1 of the handle holes, drilling a new one and filling in the goof with a small nut and bolt...it won't be noticeable. 

As far as your heat goes Mules is right that you can compensate for the leak so that shouldn't be a problem.  It'll just take some time to learn your pit as far as adjusting the air.    If you ever want an automatic temperature control you can get a pitmaster iq, it works great. 

From your picture i can't really tell what you used for your probe hole, here is a mod i did that works well.  They have different sizes of conduit nipples and get the corresponding cork plug. 

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/140549/maverick-owners-probe-eyelet-solution-sealed
 
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