Bottomless UDS?

[SmokinTim]

I was contemplating my drum build and was wondering if anyone ever tried a bottomless UDS. It would make fire tending easy, just lift it over the coal basket, add, or tend without removing the grates above. Also cleanup would be easy. Just thinking out loud here, any thoughts? Air control is the one issue so you would need a good seat in place to seal the bottom of the drum.

[ptt49er]

For the seal you could just use a sand bed.

There's not much of a reason to get to the fire basket during the cook, but I can see an advantage for clean up.

[DDave]

Some folks have "flipped 'em over" and made the top ring lock lid the bottom then cut the bottom out and used a Weber lid for a top.

But I'm curious . . .

add, or tend without removing the grates above

what would you need to add or tend that would require removing grates?

Dave

[SmokinTim]

Never cooked on a drum so excuse my ignorance. If I needed to add coal I would need to remove both racks to tend the fire inside a drum thinking it through or am I doing it wrong?

With my Brinkman I find I need to add half starter basket of fully lit coals every 2 1/2 hours to maintain temp. I usually start another fire as soon as the temp begins to dip. with no air intake control and the mods I did on the fire basket the minion method will all burn in the first 3-4 hours and too hot for my liking.

I need to find a consistent charcoal too, it seems to burn cooler and longer than the lump.

[DDave]

Never cooked on a drum so excuse my ignorance.

No apology necessary whatsoever.

Drums are a different animal. Load 'em once and they're good to go for 15 hours + on a single load of fuel. No fire tending necessary.

Load the charcoal basket (mine is 13.5" in diameter by 8" high) light 10 or 12 pieces of charcoal in a charcoal chimney, pour 'em on top of the charcoal basket, lower the basket into the drum and let it warm up. You gotta play with the intakes a little bit to catch the temps on the way up.

Once it settles in, it's good to go as long as you don't lift the lid too much. And even if you do, if you just do it quick to spritz, mop or whatever, the temps will usually settle back down.

Here's a thread that's a good read if you're thinking of building a UDS.

Dave

[smokemania]

The uds is a great smoker last smoke I smoked 3 butts for 12 hours and never added a single piece of charcoal or wood. I may never use the side burner again.

[Mark R]

Noob question, can you use lump in a UDS? I really dislike the taste of charcoal.

[nomorecoop]

Noob question, can you use lump in a UDS? I really dislike the taste of charcoal.

Sure. That's all I use in my UDS.

Temps may vary a little more based on the unevenness of the chunk sizes, but it's really no big deal to control. With briquettes, you get a more of an even burn.

[Mark R]

Sure. That's all I use in my UDS.

Temps may vary a little more based on the unevenness of the chunk sizes, but it's really no big deal to control. With briquettes, you get a more of an even burn.

Cool Thanks!
Now

[davidmcg]

The uds is a great smoker last smoke I smoked 3 butts for 12 hours and never added a single piece of charcoal or wood. I may never use the side burner again.

After I built my UDS that was how I felt also. After I completed my cabinet smoker, I was done with the side burners forever. Both the UDS and cabinet provide a more stable platform and use less fuel than any sideburner I have ever seen.

[Slanted88]

Got mine mounted on a wood platform with wheel's. With a ash pan under the basket clean-up is pretty ez for me. I have run the shop vac in there a few time's. Stay's pretty clean really.

[curious aardvark]

the cocoshell briquettes are supposed to have zero smoke - so none of the horrible bitter briquette taste.

The vast majority of my smokes are under 5 hours - so woulda uds be any good for shorter smokes without throwing away a whole bag of charcoal each time ?

[SmokinTim]

Great discussions. Got my brinkman running how I like so I'll just have to finish the build and get cooking then. I'm sure I'll have a learning curve so I'll cook some butts and chuckies and see what she'll do. Looking forward to some jerk half chickens for the first run too.

On the charcoal issue what are you guys using? I have to find a source for decent coals nearby. I have used a few types already and they are all different. The Kingsford seems to be the most consistent but I am starting them in the coal basket until they are done smoking when I add them to the smoker. With the minion method would the smoke stink up the meat? Does lump burn slow in the UDS? It makes my brink run real hot.

[nomorecoop]

the cocoshell briquettes are supposed to have zero smoke - so none of the horrible bitter briquette taste.

The vast majority of my smokes are under 5 hours - so woulda uds be any good for shorter smokes without throwing away a whole bag of charcoal each time ?

On a UDS, when the smoke is done, you simply cap off all the vents & exhaust. The fire goes out pretty quickly. You can then reuse the remaining charcoal. Over time, I've learned to just empty the ash pan every couple smokes or so, top the basket up with lump & wood & you're ready to go.

Very economical smoker. Very little wasted charcoal.

I use Royal Oak lump. Tried a bunch of brands & it seems to be the best product.

[DDave]

The vast majority of my smokes are under 5 hours - so woulda uds be any good for shorter smokes without throwing away a whole bag of charcoal each time ?

I do ribs in mine all the time. Five or six hour cook time depending on babybacks or spares plus a little warm up time. I just put as much as I think I'm going to need in the charcoal basket. I would guess I get 2 to 3 rib smokes out of a 12 pound bag of Kingsford Comp.

Or a little extra doesn't hurt like nomorecoop since you can reuse it. But I'm not completely convinced that reusing the extra gives me the same burn but that's just me.

On the charcoal issue what are you guys using? I have to find a source for decent coals nearby. I have used a few types already and they are all different. The Kingsford seems to be the most consistent but I am starting them in the coal basket until they are done smoking when I add them to the smoker. With the minion method would the smoke stink up the meat? Does lump burn slow in the UDS? It makes my brink run real hot.

I use Kingsford Comp in mine. It doesn't have that light up stench that the blue bag stuff does. One thing that made a HUGE difference for me was an extended warm up time. I'm talking 60 to 90 minutes from lighting to putting the cook grate on then the meat. I used to get a somewhat bitter taste on the surface of the meat. But since I've been waiting longer to put the grate and the meat on, no more bitter taste. Now I wait until I can't really see any smoke coming out of the lid. Then I know the fire is burning nice and clean.

Occasionally I would get a little "fresh lighting" smoke after I lifted the lid to do something. But the diffuser plate really helped with that.

Lump will burn slow in a UDS. You just have to have tight control over the amount of air you're letting in.

Dave