OT: validation of a hobby/passion (BBQ)
@JimmyinSD might find this interesting since he is my Q brother. I have become something of an enthusiast over the years and am constantly looking for validation of my techniques and reviewing against others. Jimmy probabaly knows every time I cook, or at least a good number of times I cook as I usually drop him a text asking him "what was the the how you did that thing with the chicken/ribs/beef etc again?" I reached my pinnacle achievment of validation recently when a friend of my wife's from Austin TX told me that my brisket stood up to anything she had ever had before.
So something that I find satisfying is looking at a list of local BBQ joints and reading the reviews to see things like "AMAZING! BEST BBQ in the MIDWEST" and other such raving reviews, only to try it and find out your own is like 10 times better.
Today I went to a little local hole in the wall called "Smoke In The Pit BBQ" in South Minneapolis... And I mean that's all it was, a hole in the wall your order through and get your food out of. I actually usually take that as a good sign. So I talked to the people running it for a bit.Saw a pic of their pit and sure enough it was a drum.... but sideways. Told them they had their drum knocked over.... I think they were taken aback by a white guy that looked like he could be Andy Griffith's deputy chatting them up about their Q. But they were friendly folks.
Anyway I got a pound of their brisket and a tub of slaw.... Well the brisket was decent. It had moke flavor and there was a bit of a smoke ring but nothing to write home about. It had ok bark for how moist the meat was but you could tell it was sliced and set in beef broth for keeping. I suppose that's how it goes for serving as a restaurant. The only real problem with the product was that every other bite had a big piece of fat in it. I don't mind fat but you gotta trim your fat caps on your brisket. I can imagine if you are a restaurant trying to stretch the product that it would be easy to leave a bit too much fat on but honestly the product would have been markedly improved if there wasn't sooo much fat flavor in there never mind the texture that too much fat provides. Then again there is so much room for opinion in Q as to what people like. But in my opinion fat imparts a flavor of it's own and too much of it takes away from the flavor provided by the meat fibers.
The slaw was a creamy mustardy slaw that for my preference had too much "juice" to it. I like a creamy slaw but not when it is too soupy. This would have been great on a pulled pork sandwich as a topper, but as a standalone was a bit too soupy for me.
Anyway I gave them 3/5 stars in my review. If you are in Minneapolis and haven't been there I would recommend giving it a try. And then after that let me serve you dinner sometime.
Is this thing STILL on? | Skol Vikes! |
Wow. I'm a HUGE 'Q fan. My buddy at work is a lifelong Austin, TX resident, and ebeters competitions all of the time. His BBQ is incredible. Mine is good, but something about his is great.
His brisket is East Texas style... Dalmatian rub, and maybe some garlic powder. That's it. For fuel he will use a combo of post oak, hickory, and mesquite (depending on what he's cooking).
He uses a custom built smoker on a trailer (he fabricated it... He's serious...). He also uses a PK, that he's been doing Beef Ribs in that look amazing...
Myself, I have a Green Egg, which my wife has said she gets if we ever get a divorce (lol...), And a Time. I want to make a UDS, but haven't found the time yet.
Thanks for posting. It's got me itching to get out there again.
@"Clanzomaelan" said: Wow. I'm a HUGE 'Q fan. My buddy at work is a lifelong Austin, TX resident, and ebeters competitions all of the time. His BBQ is incredible. Mine is good, but something about his is great.His brisket is East Texas style... Dalmatian rub, and maybe some garlic powder. That's it. For fuel he will use a combo of post oak, hickory, and mesquite (depending on what he's cooking).
He uses a custom built smoker on a trailer (he fabricated it... He's serious...). He also uses a PK, that he's been doing Beef Ribs in that look amazing...
Myself, I have a Green Egg, which my wife has said she gets if we ever get a divorce (lol...), And a Time. I want to make a UDS, but haven't found the time yet.
Thanks for posting. It's got me itching to get out there again.
I used to use a shit load of spices in the rub, and steps in my brisket until one day i didnt.... now its pretty damn simple for me as well. kosher salt, course ground BP, granulated garlic, granulated onion, and paprika (mostly for color) and thats the process. my next one I am thinking about dry brinning with the salt for a couple days in the fridge and then adding the rest when I throw it on the cooker. I have been dry brinning my steaks lately with a reverse sear and its made a great piece of meat even better.
@"JimmyinSD" said:@"Clanzomaelan" said: Wow. I'm a HUGE 'Q fan. My buddy at work is a lifelong Austin, TX resident, and ebeters competitions all of the time. His BBQ is incredible. Mine is good, but something about his is great.His brisket is East Texas style... Dalmatian rub, and maybe some garlic powder. That's it. For fuel he will use a combo of post oak, hickory, and mesquite (depending on what he's cooking).
He uses a custom built smoker on a trailer (he fabricated it... He's serious...). He also uses a PK, that he's been doing Beef Ribs in that look amazing...
Myself, I have a Green Egg, which my wife has said she gets if we ever get a divorce (lol...), And a Time. I want to make a UDS, but haven't found the time yet.
Thanks for posting. It's got me itching to get out there again.
I used to use a shit load of spices in the rub, and steps in my brisket until one day i didnt.... now its pretty damn simple for me as well. kosher salt, course ground BP, granulated garlic, granulated onion, and paprika (mostly for color) and thats the process. my next one I am thinking about dry brinning with the salt for a couple days in the fridge and then adding the rest when I throw it on the cooker. I have been dry brinning my steaks lately with a reverse sear and its made a great piece of meat even better.
Keep us posted on the dry brine!My buddy always says that the more simple, the better.
Anybody ever do beef ribs? I'm scared to need those up. He says they're easy as pie, but he has skills I lack!
Also... If I wanted to build a UDS, anybody got an idea on cost, and where to get the materials? My brother in law is a fabricator, and I'm sure he'd love to build one with me.
@"Mike Olson" said: Let me know how that dry brining goes Jimmy
will do. like I said, on the steaks it is great. I will salt them minimum 4 hours but prefer about 12 hours ahead, leave them in the fridge until about 2-3 hours prior to grilling. season with a little BP and garlic, Indirect heat (with or without a little smoke) until they get to about 115-120 depending on finishing temp. I then get the coals rocket hot and sear both side and then rest lightly tented for about 10 minutes.... amazing results. it adds about 20 minutes to the cooking process, but its worth the extra effort IMO. I cant imagine the same wouldnt be true for a briskie...minus the reverse sear of course.
@"Clanzomaelan" said: Anybody ever do beef ribs? I'm scared to need those up. He says they're easy as pie, but he has skills I lack!Also... If I wanted to build a UDS, anybody got an idea on cost, and where to get the materials? My brother in law is a fabricator, and I'm sure he'd love to build one with me.
For the basic smoker......
Any chance yer in the Twin Cities?
If you are Call Consolidated Container and get a new unlined drum without rust inhibitor. About $50 bucks. (they might have other locations across the country)
Then go to Menards/HomeDepot. get yourself:
(3) 3/4black pipe close nipples.
(2) 3/4 black pipe caps,
(1) 3/4" ball valve.
(1) 3" stainless steel 1/4" bolt
(7) 2" stainless steel 1/4" bolts
(6) 1" stainless steel 1/4" bolts
(12) stainless steel 1/4" fender washers
(8) stainless steel 1/4" lock washers
(9) stainless steel 1/4" jam nuts
(1) stainless steel 1/4" wingnut
1 large pizza pan
12" turkey fryer thermometer (walmart sells em)
2 pieces of 12"/24" expanded metal (they have at home depot if not at menards"
A small spool of stainless steel wire (look at picture hanging area)
Menards sells 22" (2.5 maybe?) weber replacement grills for like $8
Get an 18" charcoal grate (I know HD has these)
All of that is going to be about ~$75 give or take $20
If you couldn't get a new unlined barrel you will need the following:
2 cans of hi temp bbq paint ~$20
While you are there get yourself a weed burner they are $20. If you know someone who has one borrow it.
Build instructions to follow.....
@"Clanzomaelan" said:@"JimmyinSD" said:@"Clanzomaelan" said: Wow. I'm a HUGE 'Q fan. My buddy at work is a lifelong Austin, TX resident, and ebeters competitions all of the time. His BBQ is incredible. Mine is good, but something about his is great.His brisket is East Texas style... Dalmatian rub, and maybe some garlic powder. That's it. For fuel he will use a combo of post oak, hickory, and mesquite (depending on what he's cooking).
He uses a custom built smoker on a trailer (he fabricated it... He's serious...). He also uses a PK, that he's been doing Beef Ribs in that look amazing...
Myself, I have a Green Egg, which my wife has said she gets if we ever get a divorce (lol...), And a Time. I want to make a UDS, but haven't found the time yet.
Thanks for posting. It's got me itching to get out there again.
I used to use a shit load of spices in the rub, and steps in my brisket until one day i didnt.... now its pretty damn simple for me as well. kosher salt, course ground BP, granulated garlic, granulated onion, and paprika (mostly for color) and thats the process. my next one I am thinking about dry brinning with the salt for a couple days in the fridge and then adding the rest when I throw it on the cooker. I have been dry brinning my steaks lately with a reverse sear and its made a great piece of meat even better.
Keep us posted on the dry brine!My buddy always says that the more simple, the better.
Anybody ever do beef ribs? I'm scared to need those up. He says they're easy as pie, but he has skills I lack!
Also... If I wanted to build a UDS, anybody got an idea on cost, and where to get the materials? My brother in law is a fabricator, and I'm sure he'd love to build one with me.
Ive done the dino bones with mixed results. LOW and SLOW is a must as there is a shit ton of fat intermixed in the layers of meat. they are awesome ....they are crazy rich in flavor so definitely worth the effort, but to get all that fat rendered out without turning them into char bombs is a trick. other than that, season like you do a brisket.
Sp the reason I said stainless steel and black pipe is because I don't like putting galvanized or zinc plated stuff stuff in my smoker in any place that might get super hot. It can flake off and I prefer paprika, garlic and salt and pepper as my seasonings. Some people say it is too paranoid to do all that but if I am going to write a parts list for someone I am going to give the least toxic option.
The worst part of the build....Prepping the drum
Ok so let's assume you have a drum that isn't brand new and unlined and all that. Make sure (as best you can) that it wasn't used to haul toxic materials. Note Oil and other things are not toxic. Bug spray and other nasty shit is. Find out what it held and then research to see if it would be bad.
Get out your trusty weed burner and start flaming away at the outside of the drum. You want to get ALL of the outside paint off, and make sure that any liner on the inside is gone too. if you are heating it up to close to red hot on the outside chances are you are removing the inner liner as well. To check to see if there is bare metal on the inside splash some water on it and come back in a few hours and see if there is rust present. Rust good, no rust bad.
Lightly sand any debris
Some people take their drums in to be sand or bearing blasted.
This is all why I say if you are going to build one try to get one that requires the least amount of work. (truth be told I always blast mine with the weed burner just to be sure)
Paint that drum soon. Or the outside will rust. Not the inside. Paint and BBQ, fire and bbq is nasty.
Fun Part... Building
Ok now you are going to need some tools.
Drill, wrenches, screwdrivers, beer, and a step drill bit up to at least 1". Harbor freight has them cheap that will work for this build.
Flip your drum over so the opening is facing down.
Find 3 points on the bottom of the drum equidistant apart around the circumference of the drum and mark those points.
Then on the side of the drum measure down 2" from those marks.
Using your step drill create holes for the close nipples. As you get closer to the size needed for the nipple stop to check at each step to see if the nipple will thread in. You do NOT want drill a hole to big. 
Take a swig of your beferage
Grab Yer Nipples!
You could have a welder friend secure the nipples in your drum as opposed to the next step.
Next take a Conduit nut and thread it onto your close nipple. Don't run up to the nearest girl and accost her, just use the plumbing parts from the store.
Ok from the inside of the drum reach in and insert the nipple into the hole (kinky!) and on the outside thread another conduit nut onto the nipple.
Use a flat head screwdriver and a hammer to tighten the conduit nuts inside and out.
Ok go inside and grab some vegetable oil and coat the inside of your black pipe caps and put em on yer UDS nipples. Not your own nipples.
Now put your ball valve on the remaining nipple.
Take a few more swigs of beverage.
Now mount the Rack!
Ok looking down at yer nipples (that means yer fat) follow a line up from the nipple at the bottom and then on that same line from the top measure 7" down from the lip of the drum and drill a 1/4" hole. Do that three times for each spot where there is a nipple. 
Ok with the holes drilled now repeat this process 3 times:
take a 2" 1/4" bolt and put a washer on it. Insert it into the drilled hole from the outside. THen place another washer and a lock washer on it from the inside and secure with a jam nut.
Voila you have the supports to hold your rack... err grill.
Charcoal basket next......
Time To make the Basket
Take your two pieces of expanded metal and overlap them about 1-2 spaces of the grid. Now secure with 3 sets of the following:
1 1"screw, a flat washer, place through the grid opening and then on the other side another flat washer, a lock washer and a nut.
If you have a friend that can weld you should have them do it for you. Maybe they live in south dakota and their name rhymes with jimmyinsd? 
ok now you want to use those muscles and bend that piece of joined expanded metal and then secure the other two ends like you did the first.
Be proud there are lots of people that struggle with how to do this. It's rocket science. After this go build rockets.
Okie dokie now you are going to take that 18" charcoal grate and secure the roll of expanded metal you just made to it. Personally I use that stainless steel wire and sew it together. I'll let you figure that one out it's not tough and now you know how to build rockets so yerup for this challenge.
Hey look at that you almost have a charcoal basket
She's got Legs... she knows how to use them!
Do this four times: Ok now take one of those remaining 2" bolts and slip a fender washer on it. From the inside of your basket then in a corner of the basket (yes I know it's a circle) slip it through the grate and secure on the underside using another fender washer, a lock washer and a nut.
Now you have a basket with legs Tada!:
Ok so take that pizza pan and drill a 1/4" hole right in the center of it.
Now take that 3" bolt and place a fender washer on it, slide it gently into the hole (it's the first time) in the pizza pan. Secure on the other side of the pan with a fender washer a lock nut and a jam nut. (your pizza pan looks REALLY excited right now!)
Next take a nut and a fender washer and thread the nut down about halfway and place the fender washer on that. (ok now just don't worry about those pieces for now).
Next take the basket with the sexy legs and place on top of the pizza pan with a boner.
With the pizza pans 3" protrusion (don't be jealous) inserted into the center of the grill, next take another fender washer and put it on the center bolt. Followed by the wing nut. Tighten until the 4 corner bolts are snug against the pizza pan.
Remember that nut and washer I said to not worry about? Now snug that up against the underside of the grate. 
Ok now you need to make a handle on that basket. Use some more of that stainless steel wire. You got this one sport. Just run a couple of strands of it between the spots where the expanded metal is joined..... ah hell here's a shitty picture just to show ya.
Yer just about done.
Now drill a hole for your 12"thermometer. about 1" under your cooking grate. You might want to find a way to keep it from drooping inside the drum. Hint Lamp parts (threaded tube) work great for this)
And yer basically done.
Next episode will be how to use the thing......
Ok so yer ready to smoke.
You got yer meat all prepped and you ready to kick this can.
Take your protein of the day out and let it warm up a bit while you go outside and get your charcoal ready.
Take your thermometer out first! Or you will break it and have to buy a new one (spoken from experience) then take your grate out, and then the charcoal basket out and dump 10 briquettes (start using briquettes so you get a feeling for how much to use as a starter) and place them in your chimney starter (you have one right? if you are using lighter fluid sell your drum and go to famous dave's because you don't know what BBQ is anyway) Ok get your ten briquettes of kingsford blue going.
Now dump a good amount in your charcoal basket (at least a few inches of the bottom of the basket - I just use the whole bag and save whatever is leftover for later) Take a few fist sized pieces of whatever smoking wood your're using and toss it into the basket (I like to cover the wood with a few charcoal pieces).
When the coals in your chimney are almost all white (nobody has the patience to ever wait until they are totally white, dump the coals over the charcoal basket.
With a leather glove on lift the coal basket into the drum.
Replace the cooking grate.
Replace the thermometer.
Replace the lid.
Remove the 2" bung (I said it) cap form the lid and remove the nipple caps from bottom of drum and open the ball valve all the way.
Now monitor the temp, when the internal temp gets up to 200 place one of the caps back on it's nipple, when it gets to 225 place another. Use the ball valve to control the temp between 225-250. If you want higher temps or are having trouble getting to the temp you want, remove a nipple cap and back off the ball valve slightly.
Remember changes take ~20 minutes to see reflected.
When the smoke is no longer white but a whispy blue smoke, go grab yer meat (the food) and quickly put in the smoker.
If you are beginning, a food temp probe is a good idea. YOu will want to drill a small port for that in the side of your drum. ONly as big as you need to get the probe into the can.
Do not open the lid unless you need to. Opening the lid will introduce lots of oxygen and can create lots of HIGH temps after an initial drop in temp. If you need to open the lid I suggest closing down the vents in the bottom for a few minutes before opening the lid. This will let the fire exhaust some of the readily available oxygen in the cooker so that when you let air in it limits what it can burn. leave the vents closed for a few minutes after opening the lid and then return them to the previous configuration. Monitor temp changes for the next 20 minutes or so.
That's my basic story on how to build and use a drum cooker.
Nice work Mike, you forgot the most important part though. about 8 inches down from the set of holes for the cooking rack, drill an identical set of holes. get yourself another set of bolts, nuts, and washers, and an additional rack. now you have a place to put a foil pan full of beans for your ribs to drip into while you are cooking... trust me on this, the second rack is a must have.
( its also nice to add a heat diffuser on high temp cooks, or a drip pan on longer fatty cooks to keep a true meat and smoke flavor... some like the flavor from burnt drippings, some dont.)
oh and forget the damn conduit lock washers... go get yourself a wire feed welder and a tank of gas... so much more fun!
@"JimmyinSD" said: oh and forget the damn conduit lock washers... go get yourself a wire feed welder and a tank of gas... so much more fun!I have had lock nuts on mine for 7 years. They are basically welded on at this point
S@"Mike Olson" said:Until the caps are a little rusty and won't come off easy, then those nipples will spin out.....and burning metal is so much more fun.@"JimmyinSD" said: oh and forget the damn conduit lock washers... go get yourself a wire feed welder and a tank of gas... so much more fun! I have had lock nuts on mine for 7 years. They are basically welded on at this point
I made a basket out of a old milk crate for my UDS. Really been looking at them Hunsaker drum kits.
I have a Lang 84D that is 9 years old.
7" from the lip to grats is what we have always done. 5" doesnt give you too much cooking space
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