The BBQ Grail

I’ve been reading about Ugly Drum Smokers (UDS) for years on various forums and last month I finally got around to building one. And let me tell you, what a disappointment it was. I had so much trouble controlling the heat. It was up to high or it was out. Getting anything near 225 degrees was impossible.

The problem was so bad that after three smokes I put the darn thing in the corner and went back to my old reliable smokers. After reading some newer threads on temp control I made some changes and what an improvement.

I LOVE my new and improved UDS. The problem was that I just got to fancy. Simplicity is the key to the UDS. On the first build I had two “stacks” on the lid. It looked great but it wouldn’t draw right. All I had to do was buy a new lid with a 2 inch bung hole and it worked like a charm.

Yesterday I cooked two racks of ribs, a five pound chuckie and four fatties all with about 8 pounds of charcoal. Once it got to temp it maintained it without two much problem. I’ll be using the UDS more often now.

Well it’s New Year’s Day 2008 and my new Ugly Drum Smoker is finally done. It’s not performing quite like I had hoped it would. Keeping the temperature down below 300 degrees is proving to be quite the challenge. I’m afraid the stacks on top are not giving me enough draft.

Here she is:

I’ve got Brisket Chili on the stove and Pastrami in the smoker. More to follow tonight.

A little advise!

When you think you’ve dropped something into the Ugly Drum Smoker you are making it’s a good idea to double and triple check inside to make sure nothing is there before you fire up the new high powered, self igniting weed burner to give the drum a good burn.

Otherwise you might end up with this: