My new smoker

[silverhatch]

I just got this a few weeks ago. So far it has worked very well and holds temp great. I am new to smoking food. I grill 3-5 days a week all year. Any tips or recipes would be great. So far I have done a few racks of ribs, Pork tenderloins, smoked hot wings, a small ham and a whole chicken. They have all been good but nothing has been great yet.

[GrayStangGT]

Awesome looking Ugly Drum smoker. Did you make it or buy it somewhere, I've got a friend that might be interested if you can buy them like that.

[petyweestraw]

Cool

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[soap]

Nice.

[silverhatch]

Awesome looking Ugly Drum smoker. Did you make it or buy it somewhere, I've got a friend that might be interested if you can buy them like that.

I got it from woodysmokers.com If you can get a few people together to buy a few the price goes way down.

[Trick Pony]

A lot of purists hate on them because there is direct heat, but they make great bbq if you know how to use them. Some folks have actually won some big time bbq contests using them before (only if the judging is blind and doesn't know it was cooked on a drum though).
I have an ugly drum and a big horizontal offset but I find myself using the drum a lot more because it's so easy to hold temps and you don't have to add any fuel for the duration of the cook, even with a brisket.
They are super easy to build if you want to make one yourself. I think I have about $100 in mine. Mine isn't near as pretty as the OP's though.
I use the 'minion' method to start the charcoal, then put wood chunks on top once I've poured the started coals in.
One thing to be aware of is that the temp in the middle will be a lot higher than toward the edges until it burns outward some. I used a long fryer thermometer to tell the temp in the middle.
For all of the following I smoke at 225.
For brisket I do a simple injection with beef broth, salt, pepper, and a little worcestershire. You don't want to mask the beefy flavor, just enhance it and ensure that it will stay nice and moist with the injection. Then I rub it with a little olive oil and plenty of rub. Smoke it to 165, then put a little squeeze butter on it and wrap it in foil. Pull it off at 205 and let it rest.
For pork shoulder I slather with mustard and rub. I smoke it to 160 then wrap it and it's done at 190. No need for any injection or anything when you wrap. Pork shoulder is probably the most forgiving meat to cook on a smoker. Let it rest for a while and then pull it.
For ribs I do St. Louis style and use the 3-2-1 method. Rub em and smoke for 3 hours. Then you wrap them. I put some squeeze butter and a little brown sugar and pour 1/4 cup of apple juice in the bottom of the foil and then smoke for 2 more hours. Next I open the top of the foil to let the bark crust up again and let them smoke for 1 more hour.

[petyweestraw]

I've been meaning to try one. Have access to 55 gal drums for free. Seems like a no brainer lol. Problem is they normally have had some type of chemicals in them.

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[bcoop]

Some folks have actually won some big time bbq contests using them before (only if the judging is blind and doesn't know it was cooked on a drum though).

You can win categories in a bbq competition in almost anything but an electric smoker. And the reason I exclude electrics is because I haven't seen one yet that produced a nice smoke ring. A local Chili's won the rib category and they didn't even use a smoker, technically. They used a combination oven that has a "smoker" option. A combi oven is an oven that uses steam, moisture, and convected air to reduce cook times, reduce temperatures (thus reducing energy consumption), and gives a higher product yield. The smoker portion of it basically works as a cold smoker. Calrod element with a box that sits inside it with wood chips. When in smoking mode, this is the only heat source.


Anyhow, my point is; if you know what you're doing, and competition sucks, you can win with just about anything.

[Baron Von Crowder]

/|\ that's very true.

A customer of mine finally bought an indirect after wining a couple local cook-offs in the austin area with one of these:

[silverhatch]

A lot of purists hate on them because there is direct heat, but they make great bbq if you know how to use them. Some folks have actually won some big time bbq contests using them before (only if the judging is blind and doesn't know it was cooked on a drum though).
I have an ugly drum and a big horizontal offset but I find myself using the drum a lot more because it's so easy to hold temps and you don't have to add any fuel for the duration of the cook, even with a brisket.
They are super easy to build if you want to make one yourself. I think I have about $100 in mine. Mine isn't near as pretty as the OP's though.
I use the 'minion' method to start the charcoal, then put wood chunks on top once I've poured the started coals in.
One thing to be aware of is that the temp in the middle will be a lot higher than toward the edges until it burns outward some. I used a long fryer thermometer to tell the temp in the middle.
For all of the following I smoke at 225.
For brisket I do a simple injection with beef broth, salt, pepper, and a little worcestershire. You don't want to mask the beefy flavor, just enhance it and ensure that it will stay nice and moist with the injection. Then I rub it with a little olive oil and plenty of rub. Smoke it to 165, then put a little squeeze butter on it and wrap it in foil. Pull it off at 205 and let it rest.
For pork shoulder I slather with mustard and rub. I smoke it to 160 then wrap it and it's done at 190. No need for any injection or anything when you wrap. Pork shoulder is probably the most forgiving meat to cook on a smoker. Let it rest for a while and then pull it.
For ribs I do St. Louis style and use the 3-2-1 method. Rub em and smoke for 3 hours. Then you wrap them. I put some squeeze butter and a little brown sugar and pour 1/4 cup of apple juice in the bottom of the foil and then smoke for 2 more hours. Next I open the top of the foil to let the bark crust up again and let them smoke for 1 more hour.

Thanks I will give those a try.

[Juiced4v]

I love it...any picks of the inside?

[Trick Pony]

Anyhow, my point is; if you know what you're doing, and competition sucks, you can win with just about anything.

I was actually talking about the American Royal BBQ competition, so I wouldn't think that all the competition there would suck.

[Country cracker]

OP that's a bad mother, congrats!

[billybob81]

What do those cost if you don't mind me asking? Also, where can you pick one up at?

[lowthreeohz]

/|\ that's very true.

A customer of mine finally bought an indirect after wining a couple local cook-offs in the austin area with one of these:

I have the 18.5 wsm and love it