The Good...the Bad...and the UDS - First Time Build

[rippinntearin]

Hello Everyone!

Just wanted to drop a quick line and say hello, first post!  It all started a few years ago after my first trip to Pappy's smokehouse in St. Louis.  Sitting there with my brother-in-law, enjoying some great ribs and brisket, I thought to myself...why am I not "smoking"?  I've been a long time backyard warrior but had yet to create any true, low and slow, BBQ.  Shortly thereafter I headed to HD to purchase my first smoker.  I live in townhouse so a big off-set wasn't in the cards, therefore I settled for a square vertical charcoal Brinkman...ie junk!

Shortly after returning that one to HD, I stumbled upon this site and decided to build a UDS.  Below are some pictures of my build.  A little father son project...if you will.  This thing runs perfect sitting right at 225 degress!  No leakage!  And runs for hours!

Enjoy the Q-View!

 

[cowgirl]

Great looking drum and chow!! Welcome to the forum!

 

[meateater]

Welcome to the ugly side ! Great looking Que. 

 

[rippinntearin]

Thanks for the welcoming!  The hardest part of the build was figuring out the charcoal basket.  We used expanded steel and I bought a weber charcoal grate and tied them together with metal wire (no welder).  It should hold for a while, if not, I will just tie it back together. 

  The cool thing about it was that my pops and I used every bit of that crappy $30 Big Lots grill.  We utilized the bottom of the kettle as the ash pan by cutting it off at the bottom, and cut down the legs to keep it about an inch off the bottom of the drum.  And of course we used the lid as well...with a little bit of muscle to bend it down and then hammer to seal it up.  Below is a pic...

 

[cowgirl]

Great job using the little grill!

 

[fpnmf]

A very cool UDS!!!!

And the fattie looks great too!!!

Welcome..

This site has tons of info.

I would suggest you spend some time reading all the different forums and the WIKIs.

Then use the handy dandy search tool for specific interests!!

Take the awesome free E-Course!!!

Have a great day!!!

Craig
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/wiki/about-jeffs-5-day-ecourse
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/wiki/basic-pulled-pork-smoke
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/wiki/finishing-sauce-for-pulled-pork-by-soflaquer
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forum/thread/82034/how-to-post-qview-to-smf
http://www.susanminor.org/forums/showthread.php?736-Curing-Salts
http://www.educationbug.org/a/marinate-vs--marinade.html