UDS Part 2. Building a coal basket.

To get the best use out of a UDS (or ugly drum smoker), it is important to take just as much care over the container that holds the fuel, as the smoker itself. From what I have seen the heat is usually produced using charcoal briquettes or lumpwood.

To get best results, plenty of airflow and easy access is required. I decided to go with a charcoal basket design I'd seen on a UDS forum.

The basic design is two XL disposable BBQ cooking grates (bolted together using short stub nuts and washers). This 'tube' was then bolted to an old grate from a cheap camping portable BBQ I no longer used.

I had some of these small U bolts in the shed. Ideal for holding the mesh tube onto the grill base.

The whole thing is then raised on 4 x 3 inch bolts resting on a pizza pan I bought from a pound shop.

A drum smoker is quite deep, and difficult to reach into over hot coals, so a handle made from an old wire coat hanger works perfectly.

To prepare and test the UDS, I first coated the inside of the drum, the lid and the grill with cooking oil (using a clean rag).

Then I half filled the basket with lumpwood charcoal. Leaving a small well in the middle.

I lit a chimney starter of charcoal briquettes until they were glowing and dumped them into the well in the lumpwood.

I lowered the whole basket into the bottom of the drum and put the lid on.

Opening all vents for a hotter burn (to bake some of the oil).

The charcoal lasted for 6 hours on full burn, and the inside of the drum was coated in a good layer of baked residue. 

Some things I learned were.

a) The cheap thermometer fitted to the UDS is useless. My digital thermometer gave readings well about 250⁰F, whilst the needle on the dial jumped up and down from 0 to 100⁰F.

b) Whilst seasoning the UDS it can be a good excuse to play with the settings without fear of ruining an expensive cut of meat.

c) Good quality fuel is important. The cheap charcoal I used for the test burn was clearly not up to the job of providing a clean smoke or good flavour. 

It took me two full days to build this smoker and I'm very happy with the results.

Now the UDS is ready for a good few cooks. Fingers crossed. I'll post the cooks as they happen, and share how it goes.