Drum smoker help

[hog warden]

My primary smoker is a UDS.....built to original plans, now modified using some internals acquired from Mark Hunsaker of Hunsaker smokers fame. Works great for the normal smoked meats, but have had a time stepping it down to temps used for smoking sausage.

Trying to get it to 130 start.....then 150F plus smoke for a couple hours.......then 175 to 180F to finish. About an hour. So all told, roughly 4 hours start to finish and no wild runaways in excess of 200F at any time. The best plan seems to be to limit the amount of fuel in the drum at all times. The best method I've used to date is fill a charcoal starter chimney to about 1/3 full. Lite it, get it started, then place it in bottom of drum. I then poke the Hunsaker vortex baffle into the chimney, then load sausage and seal it up. As smoke and fuel is needed, remove sausage, lift vortex battle up, drop in some charcoal or fist size wood chunks, then meat goes back in and seal it back up. Very cumbersome.

Talked to Mark about it and they do not offer any options or accessories for that kind of work. He suggested I contact the Hunsaker smokers group on Face Book to see if any of them had solved the problem. I'm not on Face Book so decided to ask you guys instead.

If anyone is on Face Book and would like to ask the Hunsaker bunch same, I'd love to hear what they have to say.

 

[hog warden]

My secondary smoker, the one I actually use for sausage is also a 55 gallon drum, but not a UDS. This one I cut a 10 inch diameter hole in the bottom if it, intending to place it on a larger fish cooker burner. The one I place under my pressure canner. That one struggles as it is about 60,000 btu banjo burner that is hard to throttle back that low. If you do, wind will snuff it instantly. I have since switched to a 7,500 btu single burner Coleman camp stove, and it puts out more than enough heat, but can also be throttled down to a whisper. It sits under the barrel, just below the big hole. Wind doesn't seem to affect it. For smoke, I use an A-Maze-N smoke tube. Set it inside the barrel.

This works, but means two barrels. Trying find something that will work on the Hunsaker or UDS that Mark can offer as an accessory.

 

[mike243]

Get a electric smoker for sausage imo is the only fix

 

[Winterrider]

^^^^^this^^^^^
Ideal for sausage, jerky, fish

 

[hog warden]

One design that might work is to take the stock fuel basket, which has solid outside walls, and install a 2nd inner liner, creating a circular channel around the outside edge. Fill that with fuel, then let it burn its way around. Has anyone tried that? If so, how wide did you leave the channel? And how deep did you stack the fuel?

 

[thirdeye]

Trying to get it to 130 start.....then 150F plus smoke for a couple hours.......then 175 to 180F to finish. About an hour. So all told, roughly 4 hours start to finish and no wild runaways in excess of 200F at any time.

Well, you need a small fire, and adequate venting to maintain it. I either use a charcoal snake (briquettes) around the edge of my regular charcoal basket, or use an insert basket. Light the charcoal with a torch, don't drop in a bunch of nuclear coals from a chimney.

 

[thirdeye]

This would be the size of the snake I'm talking about. For reference, this is a Weber Smoky Joe.

 

[hog warden]

The snake method has merit. If memory serves, I tried that once, but had trouble keeping it going. Wondering what would happen in first photo showing smaller basket inside larger basket, if charcoal / fuel were stacked between outer basket and inner basket? The charcoal could stack higher and may do a better job of burning?

To start, throttle it down with lower damper, then open damper as needed to raise temps?

 

[thirdeye]

The snake method has merit. If memory serves, I tried that once, but had trouble keeping it going. Wondering what would happen in first photo showing smaller basket inside larger basket, if charcoal / fuel were stacked between outer basket and inner basket? The charcoal could stack higher and may do a better job of burning?

To start, throttle it down with lower damper, then open damper as needed to raise temps?

Keeping your pit temp at 130°, then stepping up to 150° and 180° is going to take some experimentation with your vent settings. I'm not familiar with a Hunsaker drum, but drums usually have good natural draw.

As long as you have plenty of contact between briquettes, staying lit should not be a problem. Lighting with a torch will give you 4 or 5 red hot coals to feed the snake.

Yes, you could put charcoal in between the baskets. Or you could start off with 6 or 8 briquettes in the small basket, and add a little more over time.

 

[broozer]

I have an Oklahoma Joe's Bronco smoker that runs on charcoal; I believe it's similar to a UDS in function. I struggled with low temps initially, but after doing some online searching, I found a solution that works for me. It's all in adjusting the air intake, while leaving the exhaust wide open all the time; it essentially acts like a throttle on an engine. I'm able to maintain 130˚ to 220˚ easily; you just have to keep an eye on the thermometer and adjust the air intake as needed.

 

[hog warden]

The concern with that method is if you have much fuel in the basket, the fire tends to spread to lite it all.....then when the lid comes off, the fire can take off and get out of hand. Not a big concern with a brisket but can do some damage to delicate sausages.

The snake method sounds like a good option using the stock baskets as you can still load enough fuel to finish the job, yet the amount of fire going at any one time is limited. But fire management process works the same, speed it up or slow it down using the bottom draft control.

 

[DougE]

You might could just cold smoke the sausage in the drum with a pellet tube until you get the color you want, then finish by poaching.

 

[JckDanls 07]

The snake method sounds like a good option using the stock baskets as you can still load enough fuel to finish the job, yet the amount of fire going at any one time is limited. But fire management process works the same, speed it up or slow it down using the bottom draft control.

Yup... You have the concept... Now just apply it... If you can't keep it low enough with just the intake... Don't be afraid to close the exhaust down a little too...

 

[frankie007]

I went around the problem on my UDS by cutting out the piece on the bottom and fitting in a draw which I can pull out and put in charcoal, or open for extra ventilation. It is a gane changer

 

[JckDanls 07]

There ya go... Now ya have easy access... Good Idea...

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

I use my WSM for this kind of stuff. I've been just using the Signals/Billows to regulate temp, but I've also in the past used the snake method. Here's a picture of one of the snakes I made also using the Billows to regulate temp.

I usually start at 150 and bump to 180. Also you have to consider ambient temp. What works in the winter doesn't necessarily work in the summer. My WSM can be 130 in the summer with no fire.

 

[chopsaw]

I went around the problem on my UDS by cutting out the piece on the bottom and fitting in a draw which I can pull out and put in charcoal

That's a great idea . I was thinking if adding a door from a 22" WSM would work , but I like that idea better .