UDS - Ugly Drum Smoker

I am going to build an UDS, or ugly drum smoker, after the holidays.  I am going to follow the general advice and directions found here:

http://www.bbqbug.com/forums/general-bbq-grilling/832-our-uds-cooker-how-build-one-part-1-a.html

I need to find a suitable drum, and don't have a good idea of where to start up here in Humboldt.  It should be open head with lid, unlined, and never used to store anything nasty. 

For anyone interested and in the area, I'm up for working together and building one for each of us.

I figure it should cost less than $200 total.

If anyone has an idea about a source for a drum this far north, I'm all ears.  I plan to have the smoker ready for the Super Bowl.  I will of course keep this thread updated with pictures of the progress.

Check craigslist, and ask local restaurants.  I'm also planning on building a UDS, I have the drum, and a few bits and pieces.

I am going to build an UDS, or ugly drum smoker, after the holidays.  I am going to follow the general advice and directions found here:

http://www.bbqbug.com/forums/general-bbq-grilling/832-our-uds-cooker-how-build-one-part-1-a.html

I need to find a suitable drum, and don't have a good idea of where to start up here in Humboldt.  It should be open head with lid, unlined, and never used to store anything nasty. 

For anyone interested and in the area, I'm up for working together and building one for each of us.

I figure it should cost less than $200 total.

If anyone has an idea about a source for a drum this far north, I'm all ears.  I plan to have the smoker ready for the Super Bowl.  I will of course keep this thread updated with pictures of the progress.

If you find the right size barrel you can use the grill and lid from a trashed weber kettle and save some bucks, and labor.
I bought a barrel at a surplus outfit and it was $15.

Great post, thanks for sharing. I plan on making a smoker from a barrel that had coconut oil in it; the wber lid is saweeet!

interesting concept, but i see a few things that i find incovienent with this design, never been a fan of upright smokers, for long smokes, ie brisket, the ability to add more fuel would cause you to lose your temp and stop the low and slow, and have to reregulate your temp causing an inconsistient product, and for the price you are planing on paying to build something like this you could by a very nice offset fire box rig, look foward to your feelings after you build this and smoke a few things, cameron

Yeah these are great.  A friend of my brother's brought one to our deer hunting camp this fall and I fell in love.  In 4 days we smoked lots of game sausage, chickens, ribs, and half a goat.  Which was good since it was late season G1 (C4 zone) and about 80 degrees during the day.  No one shot a deer - or anything else save a few quail and a rattlesnake. But ohhhh, that smoker turned out some great meat.

I've gone back and forth on the webber lid.  Haven't made up my mind yet.  The other option being to put a second rack lower in the drum, which is what my brother's buddy did and it worked great.

interesting concept, but i see a few things that i find incovienent with this design, never been a fan of upright smokers, for long smokes, ie brisket, the ability to add more fuel would cause you to lose your temp and stop the low and slow, and have to reregulate your temp causing an inconsistient product, and for the price you are planing on paying to build something like this you could by a very nice offset fire box rig, look foward to your feelings after you build this and smoke a few things, cameron

I have a Chargrill exactly like the one in your pictures.  I love it too!

its actually a brinkman, a little more solid than the chargrill, and yeah i love this rig, my neighrbors not so much , cameron

Damn that sausage looks tasty! Cameron kind is it? Looks like a great setup though.

Damn that sausage looks tasty! Cameron kind is it? Looks like a great setup though.

its my home made texas hotlink, 70%beef 30%pork with a real kick

Anyone wanting to build a smoker?
I have this one that just needs the air valve fixed on the bottom. I will let it go for any fair offer.
You must pick up in Fresno
Send pm or call me

Eric / Yakhopper
(559)284-4299

Sent from my phone cause I can

Try looking up Magnum webber, it is a Webber/UDS grill which takes into account the adding more fuel issue.  I have seen a lot of these and one thing to consider is using a small weber for a side box and run vent hose to the drum so you can do offset smoking.

http://bbq.about.com/od/customsmokers/ig/Custom-Smoker-Gallery/Magnum-Force-Smoker.htm

I got a couple drums today thanks to the sharp eye of Domenic.



Time to order parts and get to work.

I look forward to more pics and see where this takes you.  One problem with side box set ups I have seen is poor seal on the main lid, and baffles are not always situated in the correct position for long smokes.  This either allows to much unregulated smoke to escape or makes the main chamber to difficult to control temp.  That said many a handy man has overcome them with some good ideas.    These beef ribs were done in a weber with a smokenator for 8 hours.  The single biggest limitation to a weber is cooking area.  I have seen more and more attachments come out for webers as of the last few years that greatly expand the possibilities.  The only problem is every one of those nifty things has a proice tag that far out exceeds the cost of the basic grill.  It gets to a point where the 26 inch Weber Bullet/Smokey Mountain starts looking very attractive.

I've been trying to remove the liner from the drum.  It is very slow going and will probably take 15 hours+ at my current rate.  A search of the smoker forums suggests finding someone who can sandblast it out, and that sandblasting is quick and easy but finding someone to do it on teh cheap might be difficult.

If I can't find someone tomorrow I doubt I'll be ready for the super bowl. Sigh.