Ugly drum smoker

E

Eric n Kc

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
Hey all
Christmas time is here. And I'm needing/wanting something new.
On the kc. Craigslist there's a guy building and selling the ugly drum smoker. His has a quite a few upgrades from the standard build. (Webber lid, wheels, thermometer, better fire bucket)
I thought I'd consult the BBQ brain trust here.
Anybody got any experience or input on these?
Thx, Eric
 
Looks like a nice one. I have one that I have used successfully for turkey and chickens. With a large turkey I may remove it after 2 hours or so to limit the smoke and finish it it in the oven.

I have also had good results with ribs. I tried a brisket once but was not happy. It seemed a bit dry. YMMV. Enjoy it.
 
Hey
I got it fired up tonight. I sprayed the interior with cooking spray and ran it up to 400° then messed around with temperature control. To see how to get it down to a working temp.
Thawing out a couple slabs (baby backs) I'll give them a try tomorrow. Eric
 
Hey
Yeah, the guy that builds them buys new webbers and cannibalize them for the lids, grates, handles, and such. He plasma cuts the center out of the original barrel lid. Then welds the webber lid onto it. Then mounts hinges onto. Pretty clean setup.
I've decided to go with one slab of ribs and a chicken.
Eric
 
I'd have to know what was in the barrel before I cooked with it. It does look like a nice unit.
 
Hey
From what I was told the barrel was sand blasted. Then I seasoned it for 2 hrs. at 400°. So I'm a thinking its pretty much cleaned out. (Knock wood)
I did some learning today. Apparently if you use too much wood smoke it will stifle the temperature. It took 2 hrs.to get to 250°. After the the wood burnt out the temp moved to the temp as advertised.
I just did the 1 slab of ribs tonight. I might try the chicken monday or Tuesday .
Kinda frustrated. Eric
 
Hey
After tasting them, I'd give them a 6. That's only because I know the cook.
Oh well tomorrow's another day. Eric
 
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Hey
I forgot to touch base on the results of my chicken.
I split it in half rubbed in with some cookshack chicken rub .
After my struggles with the b.back ribs I took all my great ideas off the uds.(heat deflector, charcoal saving bricks in the fire box)And low and behold it performed as advertised.
The temperature reacted as it should and cooked almost in the suggested time.
So the uds will be in use again this weekend. Eric
 
Always a learn curve with this kind of stuff. You'll get it down.
 
Hey
I hadn't updated the uds thread for a while so here go.
I've been smoking on it here and there. chicken wings, chuck roast, pork butt and such.
Its hit and miss. I need to learn some patience. I dont seem to be able to let the temp to stabilize before trying to cook. When I let the temp. stabilize I get the results I'm wanting.
I did add a side shelf last weekend. I repurposed a TV dinner tray and some old brackets I had been saving for just such an project.
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Eric
 
Hey
They surprisingly hold temperature for a long ass time even in temperatures in the 20s. I'm sold on them ,its just the learning curve that keeps kicking me in the butt. I gotta get better at building the same fire every time. (consistency)
If a guy had a source for food grade barrels you could build these for cheap. I'm gonna hit my work up about free barrels I dont think it will pan out but all they can say is no. Eric
 
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