My new UDS

[Revill]

I'm new to UDSmoking. I got mine from a guy up in N. Austin. I think it was his first attempt. Pretty good attempt too. Better than I could have done.

After a couple of uses, I wanted. He'd gone to the trouble of cutting an access door at the bottom and building an airtight door for it. But using that door was not pleasant. You have to stand on your head to futz with the fire.

There was also the runaway grease fire I had once while futzing with the meat. The only thing to do is close the lid and watch the temp go up. And up. It hit 600 before the fire went out and things cooled off. Amazingly, the meat wasn't damaged. Just a little black. The drippings were making a gooey gunk on the bottom of the drum too, that looked to me like it might encourage rust.

So, to make fire futzing easier, I made a drawer to fit the door out of JATG (Junk around the garage). You can pull it clear out to mess with the fire if you need to. Or just shove some more charcoal in and shove it back. Easy Peasy.

For the dripping issue, more JATG. There's this steel ring with legs that once was a round glass top outdoor end table. It fits in the drum perfectly. And there's this old grill.... and I've got a cut off wheel.. Now I've got a nice stable platform to put a diffuser/drip catchpan.

Aah, technology. I 'attached' a photo. I hope you can see it.

[jlh]

I think you'll love the UDS once you get familiar with it. Don't know why you need to tend to the fire though, once it gets going it should cruise at whatever temp you get it set at. I love mine it is the best for chicken and pork. Just put a aluminum pan below the meat and your good to go.

[Revill]

The fire drawer is the best! I smoked a fillet of salmon last week. I was able to keep the temp down to below 90 degrees for 12 hours, and actually got smoked salmon instead of smoke roasted salmon. There's no way I could have done this without the drawer.

Revill

[jlh]

I'll have to say, smoked salmon is mighty tasty... I guess there is a use for a fire drawer.