First time smoker!

[somapop]

Oh for sure the maverick is really useful for remotely monitoring pit temp. I've been using my UDS though so temp stability isn't an issue on my last 10 hour cook I had to tweak the vents maybe 3 times. The thermometer is side mounted just below grate level and I have a diffuser in there; tested against my maverick it's pretty damn accurate!

On a typical cook I don't adjust the vents on my WSM at all, with briquettes in it it seems to maintain a stable temperature with all vents 100% open. It the temp moves +/- 25f or so I just leave it to do its thing. In the main the only time I get stability issues is if it is very windy outside - sometimes it kills the fire others it boosts it. As I said main use of the maverick these days is just to keep an eye on proceedings, quite a few of my long cooks tend to be overnighters so it's nice to have that extra bit of reassurance without going outside. In terms of whats best to get I think that depends on your budget and interest levels. With the exception of maybe modding my smokey joe into a mini WSM I've never been interested in UDS's. Not because I think they are bad smokers (cause I don't) it's just actually making one holds no interest so purchasing a WSM made sense to me.

Re the ops problems with temps I suspect that's down to a combination of airflow and the thickness of the metal used in the construction of that kettle.

Thanks Robin - I suspect the thinness of the metal isn't helping (tad bit stronger than a milk bottle top!)

Yes, I'm certainly considering the maverick - I think it will help, definitely whilst I'm getting to grips with smoking. Overnight cooks would be ideal...often out at the weekends so hard to keep an eye on the BBQ.

Many thanks.

[YetiDave]

As it happens I just read a thread you contributed to when you started to design yours. Did the 22" lid fit fine in the end? How do you secure/stick down the fire rope - fire resistant silicone?
Did you create a guide when you built that? Tad unsure of picking up the right parts for the coal basket (were you lucky picking up the washing machine part or are they easy to come by?). There's a recycling plant/tip in Sharston that has sections for washing machines/TV's etc...might try my luck down there perhaps? I guess I'd just need to know the size of the drum then find a washing machine part to fit in there.
Not sure if I should do away with a built in thermo and put the money towards a Maverick instead. I know a few sites/smokers tend not to be convinced about the lid thermos...but what do I know!

These UDS don't seem to have doors - simply a case of lifting the coal basket in/out?

Many thanks!

The 22" lid did need teasing out with pliers, but once I did that and added the gasket it sealed up fine I used this stuff for the gasket http://www.amazon.co.uk/10mm-Metres-Adv ... stove+rope

I bought the washing machine drum off ebay for £8, they're all over the place on there. Unfortunately I didn't create a guide, but in terms of steps to actually put it together -

1) Remove the lid of the drum by cutting around the inside of the lip with an angle grinder
2) Drill 4 x 1 inch holes around the base of the drum, these will serve as your air inlets
3) Burn that barrel out with a nice hot fire to get rid of remaining oil and strip the outer paint
4) Measure up and drill holes for your cooking grate supports and install them - I used thick bolts w/ washers. Just bare in mind they may need to be trimmed down a little later on as those washing machine drums are big
5) Drill hole for thermometer
6) Tweak out the BBQ lid to fit on the drum
7) Spray the lid and drum with high temperature paint, something like this is perfect http://www.amazon.co.uk/Simoniz-Very-Te ... ture+paint
8) Install the thermometer
9) Put your fire basket together - drill loads of extra holes in the bottom of the washing machine drum and give it some legs - bolts again. It'll allow the ash to fall out so your fire doesn't get choked
10) Add the stove rope gasket to the lid and start putting everything together!

There are no doors with a UDS which is what makes it such an efficient cooker, you just add the wood and charcoal to your basket and put it in the drum, then tip on some lit coals and get cookin'! They're extremely fuel efficient, so you won't need to top up fuel so long as you add a decent amount to begin with (always add lots, you can just close down the vents once you're done cooking to put out the coal and reuse it on your next cook)

Also I forgot to mention - temperature is controlled, on mine at least, by covering the air intakes with sheet magnets. Some people get fancy and add ball valves, but I couldn't be bothered so I took a simpler approach You can put one of these things together in a weekend. I'll take some pictures of all the parts separately later, it's a very simple design but it works far better than my Excel

[RobinC]

All vents 100% open?? I do that on my UDS and my temps are quickly going to start pushing 400F+! Same with my Excel

Yep on my 47cm WSM everything stays open and on the majority of cooks the WSM will run at 250-275f. This is cooking either with Heat Beads or Weber Briquettes and I do still use water in the pan. Only need to fuss with the vents if it is windy or if it is a particularly hot day and I've sat the WSM in direct sunlight. I've got a 57cm WSM which seems to need a little more fussing (though not much) but I've used that one so few times that I'm not sure it has built up a good enough level of soot etc. on the interior to stabilise it.

[YetiDave]

Sounds like you should be getting a lot more heat out of your fuel if you've got the vents all the way open I'm guessing it's the water that's saving you from the inferno. Either that or the vents are tiny, but one inch vent fully open and maybe 1/4 of a second on the drum gets me to 250F. Never been tempted to ditch the water? I bet you'd save a hell of a lot of fuel if you did

[BRUN]

its definitely the water, on mine (WSM47) without the water on a good day it sits at 350-360F

[RobinC]

Sounds like you should be getting a lot more heat out of your fuel if you've got the vents all the way open I'm guessing it's the water that's saving you from the inferno. Either that or the vents are tiny, but one inch vent fully open and maybe 1/4 of a second on the drum gets me to 250F. Never been tempted to ditch the water? I bet you'd save a hell of a lot of fuel if you did

I'm not lighting the smoker with too many lit briquettes. Weber in the UK run their WSMs in the same manner and get the same sort of performance. I can boost it if I want to by changing to charcoal, using more lit or ditching water. Never had it at 400f but there again never tried as I have various grills for that sort of heat.

I have cooked a number of times without water. Can't say I particularly monitored the fuel consumption but I found the WSM more prone to spikes than I got with the water so I've stuck with water. On a full fuel load in the WSM I've certainly had cooks of 14-16 hours whilst using water and there has been fuel left over at the end that gets mixed into the next cook, I've yet to actually test how long it would go with just one fuel load.

[YetiDave]

It just seems totally counterintuitive to me to leave the vents wide open when you're shooting for 250-270. Every time I've fully opened vents I've got extreme heat and comparatively damned quick fuel consumption

[RobinC]

It just seems totally counterintuitive to me to leave the vents wide open when you're shooting for 250-270. Every time I've fully opened vents I've got extreme heat and comparatively damned quick fuel consumption

The WSM is designed to cook at a low heat so it kind of makes sense to me that you shouldn't have to fuss too much with the vents to get it into a normal smoking zone. When I first got it I played way to much with the vents and got alsorts of spikes as soon as I learned to relax and let it do its thing its given me consistent results.

[YetiDave]

So, the charcoal basket
http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/ii5 ... 8ixtzp.jpg

Diffuser support which is the charcoal grate from the bbq I used the lid from. Just with added bolts and washers
http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/ii5 ... algvrj.jpg

Diffuser, which is a pizza pan cover (?) I bought off ebay. Just went for the largest size I could
http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/ii5 ... 1fseoh.jpg

And this is how it sits inside the drum
http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/ii5 ... gdbvvo.jpg

And here's the badly cut and poorly measured drum (it's supposed to be ugly, right?)
http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/ii5 ... fv1ih2.jpg

[somapop]

As it happens I just read a thread you contributed to when you started to design yours. Did the 22" lid fit fine in the end? How do you secure/stick down the fire rope - fire resistant silicone?
Did you create a guide when you built that? Tad unsure of picking up the right parts for the coal basket (were you lucky picking up the washing machine part or are they easy to come by?). There's a recycling plant/tip in Sharston that has sections for washing machines/TV's etc...might try my luck down there perhaps? I guess I'd just need to know the size of the drum then find a washing machine part to fit in there.
Not sure if I should do away with a built in thermo and put the money towards a Maverick instead. I know a few sites/smokers tend not to be convinced about the lid thermos...but what do I know!

These UDS don't seem to have doors - simply a case of lifting the coal basket in/out?

Many thanks!

The 22" lid did need teasing out with pliers, but once I did that and added the gasket it sealed up fine I used this stuff for the gasket http://www.amazon.co.uk/10mm-Metres-Adv ... stove+rope

I bought the washing machine drum off ebay for £8, they're all over the place on there. Unfortunately I didn't create a guide, but in terms of steps to actually put it together -

1) Remove the lid of the drum by cutting around the inside of the lip with an angle grinder
2) Drill 4 x 1 inch holes around the base of the drum, these will serve as your air inlets
3) Burn that barrel out with a nice hot fire to get rid of remaining oil and strip the outer paint
4) Measure up and drill holes for your cooking grate supports and install them - I used thick bolts w/ washers. Just bare in mind they may need to be trimmed down a little later on as those washing machine drums are big
5) Drill hole for thermometer
6) Tweak out the BBQ lid to fit on the drum
7) Spray the lid and drum with high temperature paint, something like this is perfect http://www.amazon.co.uk/Simoniz-Very-Te ... ture+paint
8) Install the thermometer
9) Put your fire basket together - drill loads of extra holes in the bottom of the washing machine drum and give it some legs - bolts again. It'll allow the ash to fall out so your fire doesn't get choked
10) Add the stove rope gasket to the lid and start putting everything together!

There are no doors with a UDS which is what makes it such an efficient cooker, you just add the wood and charcoal to your basket and put it in the drum, then tip on some lit coals and get cookin'! They're extremely fuel efficient, so you won't need to top up fuel so long as you add a decent amount to begin with (always add lots, you can just close down the vents once you're done cooking to put out the coal and reuse it on your next cook)

Also I forgot to mention - temperature is controlled, on mine at least, by covering the air intakes with sheet magnets. Some people get fancy and add ball valves, but I couldn't be bothered so I took a simpler approach You can put one of these things together in a weekend. I'll take some pictures of all the parts separately later, it's a very simple design but it works far better than my Excel

Wow - thanks very much for this post. Entirely doable around all the other house projects (and far more urgent...like a floor for instance!)

Just trying to add the costs up really. Probably looking at around £50 - £60 (including the 22" kettle - £27 cheapest I've seen - barrel, paint, rope, washing machine drum and nuts and bolts).
I know where that North Sea Oil place is now - it's almost next door to Sharston recycling plant. Was wondering if I might be able to pick up a drum from the old washing machines they have there - I guess it's worth asking, but possible it's simply not allowed these days. Do they differ in size (looking for a drum less than 22" wide).

Just in case I can't pick up an oil barrel, might you have a 'conduit' for other places..or a spare?! I'll pop down towards the end of the week and ask anyhoo...

Couple of questions on the build (and it would be a perfect design for me...I can't really afford more time on something more extravagant, not that I think it needs anything else):

* Did you place anything under the washing machine drum to catch the ash rather than it falling to the bottom of the oil drum? I saw a design on line American vid) but it cost a fair amount to get a welder to knock it together. I think I could use a round tray to do the same (bolted to the washing machine drum raised on legs/bolts).

* Is the diffuser used in place of a water tray/clay/sand bowl? Again, one hack suggested using a pizza tray (already full of holes). Is this to catch drips and to maintain a temp?

* Not sure the neighbours would appreciate a fire near their back gardens (to clean that oil out). Might have to think about that one.

* The ball valves look good, but would they allow enough air to flow through? I could also take off my existing lower vent (as in my mini kettle) and use that.

* I'm guessing a cooks blowtorch won't remove the outer paint Need to hire a flame thrower?

Might it be a cat amongst the pigeons to ask whether those 'TecTake 3in1 BBQ Charcoal Barbecue Smoker' are any good at £40? The brinkmans also (£80 ish) or are they a bit 'bobbins'?

Tectake:



Huge thanks again.