# Ugly Drum Smokers



## swamprb (Sep 27, 2007)

I built these based on the Big Drum Smoker design and these suckers ROCK!
I have two 38" drums with 2 grate capacity and a 34" with one 22.5" grate.
Direct heat-NO waterpan, steady temps, excellent results and easy to use!
I personalize mine with Weber lids with dome thermometers, but the drum lids work work perfect too!  Hope you enjoy!

Brian
Midnight Ramblers


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## hawgheaven (Sep 27, 2007)

Looks good Brian!


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## deejaydebi (Sep 27, 2007)

I like em! How do you reach the meat in the bottom though? Is there a door or do you need 4 foot long tongs? I've always wondered about that being only 5'2" tall a drum comes up to my chest!


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## peculiarmike (Sep 27, 2007)

Deb, the meat is not in the bottom, it's on top on the grate. Fire (charcoal) is in an expanded metal basket in the bottom. The grates are 24" above the fire. Drippings drop into the fire and add a lot of flavor, like on a charcoal grill.
You could easily handle cooking in a drum.


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## richtee (Sep 27, 2007)

Kinda sounds like a good brand name "The Ugly Drum"- your ticket to beautiful food!


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## chadpole (Sep 27, 2007)

How do you set up the vent/damper system in the bottom for more/less air. I tried tyo see it in the picture but it doesn't show the bottom very well. They look like awsome cookers.Job well done. Happy smoking!!


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## scooter (Sep 27, 2007)

where can a guy get good clean drums?  Don't want one that has had Petro. in them or any hazardous material

thanks Scooter


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## richtee (Sep 27, 2007)

Deal is..it don't much matter WHAT was in the drum<Excepting chems!>. Roast the hell out of it, and it'll be fine. BTW...roast it BEFORE welding and such...

Well, perhaps some chemicals might be a bad idea, but oil and such, no worries.


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## sksmoker (Sep 27, 2007)

A few things - You either can have just holes drilled in the sides, about 1-2" above the bottom, you can use ball valves, galvanized pipe with caps, etc. Almost anything that lets air in that you can regulate, you can use. I use two 3/4" full flow ball valves on my drum.

As for clean drums, you can check around bakeries, restaurant supply houses, feed stores, or drum suppliers. The whole idea of the UDS, is cheap, but sometimes you can't find the right drum. Some people have had success with orchards, or even food suppliers like Sysco having old drums. You want a food grade drum, and that is what I would look for if you can find it. 

Never use a drum that has a spray on epoxy coating. You'll never be able to burn it off. I lucked out, and my drum had a heavy plastic liner it in that was removed, so nothing touched my drum walls at all. I just wire wheeled the inside to take off surface rust, and seasoned it with Pam.


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## richtee (Sep 27, 2007)

Of COURSE...it's best to get a food grade. But you can burn some clean. yeah..that epoxy crap is tough... also, that may indicate chems were in it and I'd steer clear of that, cause ya never know.


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## ajthepoolman (Sep 27, 2007)

I will wait a while longer.  I have heard positive feedback on the use of these drums, but I can't get over the fact that my yard will look like an oil tanker ran ashore.  

Maybe we can find ways to "pretty" them up.


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## crewdawg52 (Sep 27, 2007)

Got the BDS 2343 and I love it.  All can read up about BDSs'  at 

www.bigdrumsmokers.com


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## webfoot (Sep 27, 2007)

Maybe a little hi-temp paint on the *outside*.


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## ajthepoolman (Sep 27, 2007)

I'm thinking more like encase it in bricks so it looks like a built in grill!  

So what is the secret to these things?  I see people with Webers, I have an electric Brinkmann.  What is it about the drums that work so well?


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## smokin for life (Sep 27, 2007)

The heck with the drums, man did you see that food  YUMMY.


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## Deer Meat (Sep 27, 2007)

Awesome idea, is there a door near the bottom to add wood and coals?

Mand that food looks great!! Thanks for the Qview


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## redbrinkman1955 (Sep 28, 2007)

Let the food do your talking those drums rock be sure to post more pics.
Good luck and Good smoking
Redbrinkman1955


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## zapper (Sep 28, 2007)

Ain't nothing much to it, all you got to do is put the smoke to it! Just about any rig will give you great Que, IF! you can control the HEAT!


Anything from the "Flower Pot Smoker" to the "Lang 60" and more, it is about the heat. There are alot of great Pics there, for sure! And that just goes to show that someone has gotten up and done some work! And made me damn hungry!


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## swamprb (Sep 28, 2007)

You are cooking with live fire, direct heat @24" or more above the coals, using wood for smoke. You load @10lbs of briqs and you will run out of meat to cook before you will ever have to add more charcoal/lump! No waterpan, no doors to fall off to add charcoal, I could go on and on! I have WSM's and the drums will hold more meat, easier to use and I don't get temp spikes in the drums like a WSM. Plus I have the satisfaction of cooking on something I built.


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## salbaje gato (Sep 28, 2007)

i agree with that , its very satisfying cokking on something that you built yourself, and you cant blame the manufacturer for burning you butts


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## geek with fire (Sep 28, 2007)

Man, if you could find a way to easily get it in and out of a whole in the ground, you could hold on to even more heat for those really long smokes.  It would solve the "yard waste" issue as well.

Nicely done!


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## swamprb (Sep 28, 2007)

Since the drum cooks with direct heat the meats cook faster than an offset or indirect smoker, you do need to turn and spray or mop, but the fats dripping on the coals have a basteing effect or convection, I've done two 9lb. shoulders, 4 racks of trimmed spares and four 4lb chickens with one load of briqs, spread over @ 13hrs and it was still holding @225*when I was done.
I have a small charcoal ring that I'll use for short cooks,whole chickens, thighs, wings and drums, salmon, ribs, ABT's and fatties.


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## peculiarmike (Sep 28, 2007)

What size are your charcoal rings??


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## coz (Sep 28, 2007)

I built one of the drum smokers and have used it twice and am fairly impressed with it.Always one for over kill I put a door in the bottom to take the charcoal basket in and out.I got the drum from my bro in law who works for a canning company.It had  food safe grease in it  and a removeable liner.I think SKS did his with no welding if I remember correct.maybe he could put a pic of his valve assembly up.


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## sksmoker (Oct 1, 2007)

Ask and ye shall receive! I did a no weld build due to lack of access of a welder at the time


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## sksmoker (Oct 1, 2007)

So here is what I used:

3/4" full flow ball valve
7/8" OD copper pipe
M-F union with one threaded end
3/4" electrial washer
F-M union with one threaded end

So as you can see in the pics, the ball valve gets a copper pipe extension, as far as you want it, that goes into the union with the female threaded end, and you drill a hole through the drum so that the male threaded end goes into the female end and you tighten the electrical washer on the inside of the drum to "clamp" it together. 

This setup is very very sturdy and easy to do. I had to goto a local plumbing place though, as my HD did not have any of the parts I was looking for. You can make the copper extension as long as you want to. I wanted to have enough room so that the handle wasn't near the drum at all.


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## sksmoker (Oct 1, 2007)

The standard is 13"D x 6"H. Many make various sizes, some even make smaller rings that fit into the big ring for shorter cooks. I made mine 15"D x 9" tall, because I only had to cut the sheet of expanded metal once 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





I think I may have made it too big, but I did fill it up once. It will hold more than one bag of charcoal!


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## gramason (Oct 1, 2007)

How far does the charcoal sit off the bottom of the drum ? It looks like it is sitting on a cooking rack but can't tell if air can get under the basket.


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## deejaydebi (Oct 1, 2007)

Thanks Mike! 

I really believe that the height of the large drums will make a moister end product. It would seem unlike the horizontal smokers the height keeps the moisture farther from the direct heat so there'd be less dehydration - less instantanious evaporation. What do you think? The vertical smokers seem to produce a moister product. Am I over thinking this. 

Have you used a water pan in the drums? You probably don't need it.


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## peculiarmike (Oct 1, 2007)

No water pan needed. The design places the meat over the fire (direct heat) for the purpose of letting the drippings fall into it. They burn and add that flavor, same as on a grill. You get a different flavor smoked meat from a drum. 
I don't think moistness is effected either way. I feel cooking technique produces moist or dry meat. Cook it too long and it is dry. $.02


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## sksmoker (Oct 2, 2007)

The charcoal basket is sitting on a charcoal grate from a weber 22.5" kettle <about 17"D>.

That sits on top of 1 1/2" steel square tubing.


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## gramason (Oct 3, 2007)

Thank for the info, I found some barrells that had fruit juice in them, and I want to see how one of these things work.


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## urban griller (Oct 3, 2007)

I Get my drums from those Self Brew joints, you know, where you and a bunch of mates can go and brew beer using their equipment, they are happy to sell empty food grade drums.


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## ma?tley ca 1/4 e (Oct 3, 2007)

I have a local container company that sells new open head drums for $50.00

Thinking about getting a couple just for the heck of it.


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## sksmoker (Oct 3, 2007)

For those of you making one of these, make sure it is as air tight as possible. Air leaks will kill you on these things. I fought with mine while trying to addressing the air leak problems with my lid. The tighter you can make it, the better.


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## fatback joe (Oct 3, 2007)

Very sound advice for any smoker project.   Any air that you don't have control over just makes your job more difficult.


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## carl spackler (Oct 3, 2007)

They say beauty comes from within and it looks like its true!


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## gramason (Oct 8, 2007)

I made a drum smoker last week and tried it out yesterday. I could'nt get the temp below 350. I cooked a pork butt and it was done in 4 hours at 200deg. It tasted ok, but it was a little harder to pull than the others I did on my char-griller. May try putting a water pan in to try to bring down the temp. Any suggestions.


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## stl-rich (Jul 6, 2010)

I love the idea of making one of these but how do you attach the ball valves on the bottom?


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## tom37 (Jul 7, 2010)

> I made a drum smoker last week and tried it out yesterday. I could'nt get the temp below 350. I cooked a pork butt and it was done in 4 hours at 200deg. It tasted ok, but it was a little harder to pull than the others I did on my char-griller. May try putting a water pan in to try to bring down the temp. Any suggestions


One of two things is happening,

1 You light to many coals, but I kinda don't think so since you didn't say it ever came down.

2 Which is my guess, you have air leaking in letting the fire build to big.

Most of us only light 1 briquette per ten lbs or so then dump them on top.


> I love the idea of making one of these but how do you attach the ball valves on the bottom?


A simple pipe nipple and a couple EMT conduit jam nuts works pretty good if you use 3/4 nipple threaded in a 1" hole and the jam nuts to lock it down good.

A bunch of people have just used the thread the nipple in the 1" hole with no jam nuts and not had any problems.

A few have also just drilled there holes and used frig magnets to cover or partially cover the vent holes with good success. This way would drastically cut down on the build price.


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## ikester (Jul 8, 2011)

i dont know if i would use galvanized pipe that might give of some toxic fumes..


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## papitt (May 14, 2013)

How do you get the Weber lid to fit your barrel . I got a weber lid but it is the same size as the 55 gal barrel . Do I cut the top ring off the barrel . Or somethng else.

.. I was so proud when I for a free weber lid but it doesn't fit.

.   Please send answers to my email.. as I'm having trouble getting on this sight . send response to ...... [email protected] ........

... THANKS GUYS.

.............

... I'm working on a UDS.... after trading for a 220 gal propane tank smoker last week end .

.. Crazy but I really expect this UDS to smoke better than my new TANK.

...................

... But I'm from Texas and we like our Big Ass BBQ Smokers....

..........................

...............................

..........................BOTH WILL BE WELL USED..........


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## fwismoker (May 15, 2013)

PaPitt said:


> How do you get the Weber lid to fit your barrel . I got a weber lid but it is the same size as the 55 gal barrel . Do I cut the top ring off the barrel . Or somethng else.
> 
> .. I was so proud when I for a free weber lid but it doesn't fit.
> 
> ...


2 ways to go...some will weld or bolt a ring inside the lip of the drum to sit the Weber lid onto.

Personally i like using my flat lid because its a natural fit but sometime i'll mount an additional grate about an inch or so from the top....So in order to have the versatility of using either lid this is what i'm going to do.  

I have access to extra drum lids so what you can do is weld the weber lid to the extra lids outer rim and then cut out the middle. By doing this you will have a Weber lid that will fit the drum exactly.


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## ikester (May 16, 2013)

Yeah all I did was riveted a piece of 1 1/4 steel banding on the inside so about 1/2-3/4 an inch stick above the barrel.. that way the weber lid will fit tightly to the ring..


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