Hello Fellow Fisherfriends,
I spent the last couple of weekends building an ugly drum smoker (UDS) and I thought I'd share the process with you in case you were interested in building your own or, if you've built one in the past, you could chime in modifications that have worked well.
The whole thing is quite simple. I spent a bit of time researching different builds and found 99% of my questions answered on one site (
http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/tags.php?tag=ugly+drum+smoker). I couldn't wait to get started and set out to find a 55 gallon drum, opting to go with a food grade drum off of craigslist. It would turn out, however, that I didn't research thoroughly enough before starting to procure materials as the inside of 55 gallon drum that I purchased was lined with the "dreaded" red epoxy liner. I started a big bum fire in the backyard in attempt to burn out the liner and just about set a tree on fire (not a recommended method).
The burn lasted for about 3 hours and in the end only burned off about 10% of liner... I decided not to screw around and brought it a local metal cleaning shop to have the drum sandblasted. The sandblasting took about 5 minutes and the fine owner of the shop didn't even charge me! I'll be sure to drop off a 6-pack or some smoked delights soon. The drum was spick and span after this.
To be honest, cleaning the drum was the most difficult part. Most of the parts were purchased from Home Depot of Lowes and a select few items (22.5" Weber cooking grate, spiffy BBQ thermometer and damper) were ordered online. Here's the finish product:
The UDS consists of the following general components:
- a 55 gallon drum
- 3 air vents (2 pipe nipples/caps, and 1 adjustable valve that can be found in the plumbing department of your neighbourhood home improvement store)
- a 22.5" Weber cooking grate
- a BBQ damper
- a couple of BBQ thermometers (1 immediately under the cooking grate and 1 on the lid)
- a charcoal fire basket built using expanded metal and a couple of pizza trays
- 3 fence handles
I would estimate the whole build can be done for about $150 worth of materials. With the UDS complete, it was time to test it out. I had smoked salmon on the mind, so I was off to the Vedder. This nice doe had the honor of being of the first test subject:
I decided to go with a dry cure (Demerara sugar, kosher salt and garlic powder) over 6-7 hours and smoked using Sugar Maple wood for 2 hours at 150 deg F. The smoker worked very well and maintained a constant temperature for almost the whole cook without much tinkering.
The finished product was a hit with friends and family!
Now I've got ribs on the mind!
Author
Topic: Ugly Drum Smoker + Smoked Salmon (Read 8193 times)