finished it up this afternoon. started the morning off with a Perdomo ESV91 cameroon tubo


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sliced open a section of brass tube to use as a sleeve for the air intake. sanded it up, and slid it on. drilled holes for the intake, and finished attaching the handle. works well, not too tight or too free.

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next i cut another section of tube open and flattened it out. cut a circle out cruedly with a grinder and ground it round and sanded smooth. used this as a door for an extra air inlet that i can open or close if need for extra airflow.

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lined the sides of the milk crate with some expanded steel so the coals dont fall out the larger holes on the side.

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i added a cheap thermometer installed at the cooking grate height for right now. later i will upgrade to a nice digital with a meat probe sensor as well. for right now i wanted to do this on the cheap. i think i got about 40$ into this, not to bad.

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Cool, looks very steampunk-ish. LOL.

Is that ashtray what I think it is? Which is made from concrete poured into a plastic bag and some items pressed in while still wet to mold the shapes for the cigar fingers and the bowl?
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actually it is ceramic tile grout, set up in a plastic bag. after it starts to cure i carve out the bowl. when completely cured i use a angle grinder and a diamond blade to cut the rests
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How do you refill the charcoal while cooking?
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from the research i have done, looks like i shouldnt need to. if i end up needing to, i will build in an access door. i have 2 extra barrels i can use one to make door parts out of.

i also cut your mulberry up. i should get it out today or tomorrow, need to find a smaller box. it was cut last year, but still a bit green inside.

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Neat. Thanks.
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Looking amazing! And I must say...those Perdomo ESV 91 Cameroon tubos are wonderful...I've been holding onto my last one!
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yup, definitely tasty smokes.
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made the shelf today. used some more leftover brass, and had some old cedar planks that were used as shelves in my old garage before i tore it down and built a new one. added a couple "S" hooks and ready to go.

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now to ponder what to cook up this weekend....
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Looks great Wes. Have to call it a PDS though (Purty Drum Smoker).

Pork butt (shoulder) and 7-bone beef chuck roast are both easy. Cook 'em, shred 'em, optionally add some sauce and serve 'em on rolls. Both are very forgiving of cooking errors, I personally feel that 7-bone chuck is more forgiving due to the fact that the cooking method diverges into almost an unbasted but sealed roasting for the last two hours or so (at least the way I do it, it does), but that's just my opinion. Spare ribs are also easy and a shorter cook. I believe that, outside of Texas, it's traditional to break in the smoker with pork...
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thanks for the suggestions my friend! care to share your 7-bone recipe?
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Sure, easy....

Get a 7 -bone chuck roast, thick cut, the night before cooking, coat with Worcestershire sauce and cover with whatever rub you like, Go easy on the salt, if you are using a commercial rub, cut it with sweet paprika and garlic powder by about 1:1. Stick it in a pyrex baking dish and cover with sran wrap, or if it's a boneless, you can wrap with a few layers of saran wrap. Let it chill in the refrigerator overnight or longer. Start your pit with the minion method and add the roast immediately - the cold roast will help keep your temps down from the start. (Read THIS and you'll understand) Cook at 220-240F until it hits about 190F internal - start checking after about an hour or so per lb. When it hits about 190F internal, pick it up, drop it in a foil pan, cover it tight with foil, jack up the smoker temp or stuff it in an oven at 350F until you can stick a fork in it and twist it like it's spaghetti (about an hour or so for a 4-5 lb cut) pull it off, drop the pan into an ice chest that has been pre-heated with hot water. Leave it in the ice chest for about an hour, Lacking a spare ice chest, preheat an oven to 200F, stick the pan in there. Pull it out, shred it, and mix it back into all the juice in the pan. Mix what you are going to eat with sauce if desired, bag and freeze the rest.

Some roasts can be stubborn and can take longer, it's all about the feel.

Serve on rolls with any combination of the following per your taste - pickles, slices of onion, peppers, cheese; strong flavored is best - swiss, blue, gorgonzola, chev (goat cheese),
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excellent, thank you sir. may just try one this weekend.
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You're welcome, but dammit Wes, we've known each other too long for that crap, don't call me sir my friend.
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LMAO! you got it... Jackazz!
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That's more like it!

BTW - last minute modification the above recipe, based on something I noticed with the 7-bone chuck I just did tonight: after the chuck is finished after the 350F cook and rest period, take it out of the foil pan and drop it into a pyrex baking dish and shred with forks, don't dump the juice from the foil pan into the shredded meat just yet. Taste the shredded beef - if you like it that way, leave it the way it is. If you don't, dip a piece into the juice, see how it tastes.

The juice in the foil pan consists of a high percentage of grease - now, if you plan on freezing the pulled chuck and reheating it in a pan with a bit of water, you kind of need at least some of this - once it starts sizzling, you'll get this wonderful bacon-ish type crisping and flavor, but if you are serving straight up, I think it tastes better without the juice as it muddles the flavor a bit.

You could also chill the juice, and skim off the solidified grease and dump the remainder back in if you wanted too.
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I am going to have to say that Drum Smoker is simply amazing.
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thanks for the kind words! hope it cooks as good as it looks, lol
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