UDS build questions.

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lostirishfan

Newbie
Original poster
Oct 21, 2010
6
10
Ok working on my first UDS and ran into a couple of questions. 1. I am looking to smoke a bird for t-day coming up but i am having trouble finding a taller lid that i can use to accomidate the height of where my rack needs to be and the top of the bird any ideas on how i can lift the lid a few inches? 2. what have ya'll found to work best for the charcol basket? I cant really find anything other than an old chain link fence. thoughts there? Thanks for all the help!
 
Not sure what to suggest for the lid, but a charcoal chimney with more holes punched in it may work for a basket. I would think it would run 5 or 6 hours that way.

Other then that the local hardware store will have light weight expanded metal that can be bent and bolted together into a box.
 
Expandable metal is the way to go for the walls of your basket and use a charcoal grate for the bottom. I just tied them together with wire ever few inches. Also about your lid. A lot of people use weber lids but depending on the barrel it may or may not fit right in. Some some have to do some fabricating to get it to fit. Are you putting two racks in your UDS? If so I just put my turkey on the bottom rack and leave out the top rack then you don't have to worry about a dome lid the regular flat lid works fine as the bottom rack is around a foot below the flat lid so there is plenty of room for your bird.
 
I agree with the expanded metal for the basket. I got two of the pices they sell at Home Depot in the hardware section. I know it's overpriced but I was in a hurry. Anyhow I laid the pieces end to end with a little overlap to accomodate some hardware to bolt them together. I then rolled them a propane tank to give them a rough shape. I brought the ends together and formed it into a cylinder around a Weber charcoal grate also from Home Depot grill section. I held the grate about 3.5 inches up so that the expanded metal forms it's own legs.

3ac1bb9f_Basket.jpg
 
I agree with the expanded metal for the basket. I got two of the pices they sell at Home Depot in the hardware section. I know it's overpriced but I was in a hurry. Anyhow I laid the pieces end to end with a little overlap to accomodate some hardware to bolt them together. I then rolled them a propane tank to give them a rough shape. I brought the ends together and formed it into a cylinder around a Weber charcoal grate also from Home Depot grill section. I held the grate about 3.5 inches up so that the expanded metal forms it's own legs.

3ac1bb9f_Basket.jpg


Nice work, Pit!  That is the cleanest basket I've seen yet!  I will incorporate that into my UDS build this winter!
 
I agree with the expanded metal for the basket. I got two of the pices they sell at Home Depot in the hardware section. I know it's overpriced but I was in a hurry. Anyhow I laid the pieces end to end with a little overlap to accomodate some hardware to bolt them together. I then rolled them a propane tank to give them a rough shape. I brought the ends together and formed it into a cylinder around a Weber charcoal grate also from Home Depot grill section. I held the grate about 3.5 inches up so that the expanded metal forms it's own legs.

3ac1bb9f_Basket.jpg
That is exactly how I did mine, except I used concrete wire ties to attach everything. then I used a handle off of a 5 gallon bucket. Easy, simple, and effective!
 
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