Our UDS Cooker (and How to Build One) - Part 1

[The Big Pig]

You are my drum cooking hero Brian . I really like your fire basket design and construction too. We could have saved a chunk of change there . And that rotisserie chicken looks awesome.

Let's see...drums, eggs, Kamodos, WSMs, kettle, gasser, Cookshack, NB, GOSM, and I think you have a La Caja China too. You are amassing quite the collection of cookers.

[jon]

Picked up my new WTS today, she will heretofore be known as Heavy Duty Judy.:) She was put together by my friend Randy, and he has designated that his smokers are WTS, not UDS. While all WTS are UDS, not all UDS are WTS, or something like that....

Here she is sitting in the driveway


Her nifty little stack


And her cheap firebasket

Now I have to buy some charcoal, I don't think Judy will work with Hannah's pellets!

[jasper]

It's a very nice smoker! Have fun with it...

What does WTS stand for?

[jon]

It's a very nice smoker! Have fun with it...

What does WTS stand for?

WTS = White Trash Smoker

[jasper]

Jon,

Any chance you could snap some close up pics of your charcoal basket? Just curious about the materials and design...

Thanks!

[jon]

Here you go jasper, sorry for the delay.



The basket is some expanded metal bent around and welded to an old grill grate, about 15 inches across or so. (don't know what kind of grill it came from) The carrage bolts hold the ash pan on, it's a cheap aluminum serving tray that will soon be replaced with the 19 inch pizza pan in the picture below.



Let me know if you want to see anything else, I'll be happy to get any other pictures or whatever.

[jasper]

Jon,

Thanks! That looks great! I'm interested in the "bolt work" from the basket. Very good...

[jasper]

I experienced an interesting thing when I finally got around to testing my drum (we just had our 3rd child - been busy)..

My drum came black with a white lid. Wanting to create an awesome looking drum, I painted the lid. When I fired up the cooker, the paint on the lid became wet.

I submit myself as a n00b to the group...Any ideas how to easily get BBQ paint to stick to the lid of a 55 gal drum? I couldn't find much on the internet on the subject.

I've since stripped the paint with Goo Gone.

Thanks!

[The Big Pig]

Our drums came with tacky paint on them. The paint dried and hardened after the test burn. I've since applied some high temp flat black spray paint on rust spots on one of the lids and did not notice any problems with it.

[rthensley]

I'm in the planning stages of making a UDS.

Quick question: I didn't see anyplace in the directions about "burning out" the drum. Is this because the drum was unlined?

Everyplace else I read had burning out the drum as one of the first things to do.


BTW, should get my drum this weekend. Reconditioned, lined drum with a lid. $21. I DO have to burn out the liner......right?