UDS build Questions

[Speedway73]

I soooo want to try 1 of these type smokers!!



Questions:



What is the optimal height of the food grate from the top??

If using multiple levels of grates....doesn't the bottom grate run a bit hotter...being closer to the charcoal basket?

Has anyone built a round charcoal basket that just slips inside the I.D. of the drum, taking full advantage of the space and providing longer smoke times??

How low of temp can a typical UDS build hold and for how long??

Flat lid or domed??



Thanks all. Looking forward to building 1 of these!!



Roger

[Vermin99]

I soooo want to try 1 of these type smokers!!



Questions:



What is the optimal height of the food grate from the top??

If using multiple levels of grates....doesn't the bottom grate run a bit hotter...being closer to the charcoal basket?

Has anyone built a round charcoal basket that just slips inside the I.D. of the drum, taking full advantage of the space and providing longer smoke times??

How low of temp can a typical UDS build hold and for how long??

Flat lid or domed??



Thanks all. Looking forward to building 1 of these!!



Roger

7" from the top

yes, the bottom grate will be hotter

I built mine using corrugated metal around a Weber 22 charcoal grate and it is plenty big enough for anything I have cooked with plenty of charcoal to spare

I don't know how low it will go, the lowest I have had mine was at 225*F

Domed if you plan on running 2 grates.

[tenacious bee]

I soooo want to try 1 of these type smokers!!



Questions:



What is the optimal height of the food grate from the top??

Standard school of thought is 24" s above the charcoal grate

If using multiple levels of grates....doesn't the bottom grate run a bit hotter...being closer to the charcoal basket?
From what I have gathered it can be the opposite. I am just researching my build so I can't say for sure but the are others that will chime in


Has anyone built a round charcoal basket that just slips inside the I.D. of the drum, taking full advantage of the space and providing longer smoke times??

you want a bit of clearance from the drum so heat will not transfer into it. Two inches from the bottom and some space around the perimeter

How low of temp can a typical UDS build hold and for how long??

Low 200's for twelve plus hours is not uncommon

Flat lid or domed??
I am going domed with two racks on mine. I see no downside to it and plenty of up side.


Thanks all. Looking forward to building 1 of these!!



Roger

Be advised, I am in the building stage of mine . I have done lots of research but mine is not built. Hands on experience trumps research. DDave , dales and a few others have built well running uds's and have hands on experience.

[dales133]

Yep, mines 24 inches above the charcoal grate from memory and the top ones about an inch and a quater down from the drum top.
As for the charcoal basket a weber charcoal grate is an ideal size and if you make the sides of it about 10 inches high you'll never run out of fuel regardless of cooking temp or time.
I did a 15 point chuck for about 15 hours @225 and still had fuel left.
As for air intakes I used 2 x 1 inch intakes off others advice and it runs well high or low temps.
Get an old weber and use the lid, cooking grate and charcoal grate for you charcoal basket

[Slanted88]

Use the tutorial...Finished one for my Dad's friend about a week ago. Find a weber lid...you'll be glad ya did & you'll have more room. They are fuel efficient. I made a rotisserie for mine. Thinkin about a pizza oven UDS...that is work in progress...Cheers Man glad ya here!

[DDave]

Looks like most of your questions have been answered. I'll just add a couple of things.

I
Has anyone built a round charcoal basket that just slips inside the I.D. of the drum, taking full advantage of the space and providing longer smoke times??

If you made the charcoal basket so it just slips inside the ID of the drum, you wouldn't be able to put it in OR take it out since it has to clear the bolts that the racks sit on. My 13.5" by 8" basket has provided 16+ hours of cooking time with no deflector. The 17" by 6" basket has gone for 18+ hours with a deflector. How long do you think you will need to cook something.

IHow low of temp can a typical UDS build hold and for how long??

It will hold 225° for 18 hours if air control and lid fit are good. There is really no good reason to hold lower than that from a food safety perspective.

If you were smoking cured stuff like sausage I would venture to guess you could go lower but if you have to remove the lid to check things it would be difficult to keep the temp below 200° if you are giving it occasional blasts of oxygen by removing the lid.

Hope this helps.

Dave

[Speedway73]

Guys....

Thanks for all the advice/answers!! I've got a much better understanding now and....

just need to find a clean drum!!

[hankll]

Use the tutorial...Finished one for my Dad's friend about a week ago. Find a weber lid...you'll be glad ya did & you'll have more room. They are fuel efficient. I made a rotisserie for mine. Thinkin about a pizza oven UDS...that is work in progress...Cheers Man glad ya here!

I want to do that with mine, but I barely achieve 300 degrees wide open with lump....but I was thinking of modifying my basket to have some "outrigger" tabs. I was thinking to use some 1" channel x 1/2" sides and bend them into a 90 elbow and weld the corner into the elbow, and bolt them onto the side of my basket. Line them up to match my bottom food rack bolts, and set the basket off the floor but setting on the bolts. It would place the basket directly under the top food rack and the heat would be hotter. Put the stone on the grill and let it get hot. Slide your pizza off onto the stone and close it up. I use a Weber lid on mine, so my top rack is just a little down from the rim of the barrel.

What ya think? In theory, I think it would work.

[Slanted88]

I want to do that with mine, but I barely achieve 300 degrees wide open with lump....but I was thinking of modifying my basket to have some "outrigger" tabs. I was thinking to use some 1" channel x 1/2" sides and bend them into a 90 elbow and weld the corner into the elbow, and bolt them onto the side of my basket. Line them up to match my bottom food rack bolts, and set the basket off the floor but setting on the bolts. It would place the basket directly under the top food rack and the heat would be hotter. Put the stone on the grill and let it get hot. Slide your pizza off onto the stone and close it up. I use a Weber lid on mine, so my top rack is just a little down from the rim of the barrel.

What ya think? In theory, I think it would work.

Think ya got a great idea. I can get the drum pretty dern on on blue kingsford with a load in the basket. Get after it...my lot aka son's are wide open fixin airplanes with me right now...

[jetmek]

Hey Slanted, glad to see your still bending wrenches! Doin' an inspection on a big G-V and wishing I was home working on a smoker! I am getting ready to build a UDS myself. Gonna cater my daughter's wedding reception!

[byounghusband]

Like many have already said, my cooking grill is 24" from the Charcoal grate, which happens to be 2" off the bottom of the drum.

I have a flat lid right now with Qty: 8 1/2" holes in the lid.

My charcoal basket was built with 12" expanded metal wrapped around a BBQ Propane tank. It will hold 15+ lbs of charcoal and I got a combined 40 hours off the first load after I built it.

I have not tried a weber lid, but plan on building an extension out of another drum I got at the same time.... Gonna cut it just below the rib and massage the metal to make it fir. That'll give me room for two more racks to cook on.

[Johnny_M]

Guys....

Thanks for all the advice/answers!! I've got a much better understanding now and....

just need to find a clean drum!!

Find one that was used for honey or cooking oil. mine had butcher blend oil in it, and it did NOT have the dredded poly liner inside...$20.00

[Rich Parker]

I soooo want to try 1 of these type smokers!!

Questions:

What is the optimal height of the food grate from the top??

If using multiple levels of grates....doesn't the bottom grate run a bit hotter...being closer to the charcoal basket?

Has anyone built a round charcoal basket that just slips inside the I.D. of the drum, taking full advantage of the space and providing longer smoke times??

How low of temp can a typical UDS build hold and for how long??

Flat lid or domed??



Thanks all. Looking forward to building 1 of these!!



Roger

I use a dome lid and the top grate is an inch or two below the drum lip.

I use a terracotta pot base as a grease catcher and diffuser so my bottom grate which is about 6" below the top grate is roughly 10 - 15 degrees cooler.

Not sure what you mean about the round charcoal basket. I made my charcoal basket with the charcoal grate (roughly 16" - 18") out of a 22" Weber grill. I than put 6" of expanded metal around it connecting to the grate with stainless steel zip ties and then put four 3 1/2" bolts as legs.

My drum can take a full bag of Kingsford blue around 20lbs and runs 225 250 for 16+ hours. I have personally never had to add fuel when cooking on my drum.

With two grates and a dome lid you can cook an easy case of pork butts (8 butts, 90+lbs)

[Speedway73]

Ok guys...worked on my UDS build a little more....

???....How large of an exhaust vent should I go with on the lid?? The lid I have is solid...no bungs. Does the length of the vent matter?? I figured I'd make a pipe or stack type vent.

[S.W. Oh. smoker]

On mine I have the top rack a couple of inches from the top because I use a domed lid. Another reason to use a domed lid is because a UDS is a moist cooking environment and you can get nasty tasting condensation dripping on the food with a flat lid, but a domed lit tends to have the condensation run down the sides of the lid and barrel away from the food.