hows everyone liking their drum?

Big Poppa

Administrator
If you are a newbie to drums...what has surprised you the most?

I really am still amazed at the flavor and how juicy the food is off it.....and the versitility....

your thoughts?
 

sparky

New member
i like Ursula. chicken has been the best. ribs and butt have been fantastic since i learned how to control her. i like the tri method w/ out having to raise the coal nest. thanks for the tip BP. i like pellet packets better than wood in her. the heat control is unbelievable. so easy to control the heat w/ the drums. i filled my nest w/ 2/3 full of charcoal. it burned for over 15 hours at 240°. 2/3 full nest that was it. how cool it that. can't do that w/ Hazel. i can control the amount of smoke i get from her w/ pellet packets. i'm need a stainless one soon. i love these to much. don't tell my other ladies but Ursula could replace all the others. there is nothing i can't cook on her. and very very miserly w/ the coals. i wish the thank BP to turning me on to the drum. its a great way to cook. i'm having fun too. :p
 

southga

New member
I guess I'm still a relative newbie. I only had my drum since Feb. Its not a BPS drum. Just found out about these kits, but will most likely order one when I'm ready for another drum. What surprised me most about drum smoker was how long it maintains steady temps. I cooked a lot of years on cheap offsets -- Brinkman, CharGriller. At best, I could get 2.5-3 hours of steady temps on the initial load of charcoal. Once I needed to refuel, the game was on. I would chase temps the rest of the cook. My first cook in the drum, I severly overcooked everything. Hours of steady 250 temps vs swings from <200 to >300 had my timing completely off. Once I learned how to start the fire & catch my target temp on the way up & not overshoot, cooking is a breeze compared to tending an offset.

My biggest concern in my first cooks was the big temp difference between the middle & center of the racks & also between the top & bottom rack. I used a water pan on a few cooks and the food was great, but now instead of a hot spot in the middle of the lower rack, the top rack was much hotter than the lower one. I had used a simple diffuser on the last few cooks & now have temps with 10* from center to edge & top to bottom rack.

One of the big attractions of drum cooking is the flavor of meat juices dripping in the fire. A lot of people enjoy that unique flavor. My wife does not. A drum cooker is versatile enough that I can use a water pan or diffuser to eliminate of reduce that to acceptable levels.
 
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Patrick_CT

New member
So far we are loving ours. My wife loves the taste of the food since it is more of a real BBQ. The chicken and crab legs were the best so far.
 

Steviez269

New member
My wife liked Mass produced BBQ and would only eat it ocasionally , never ate wings , hated them ! I built my smoker last year ( with lots of eye rolls and skepticism) after being frustrated with horrible results on cheap offset smokers . Now my drum gets used 1-2 times a week , my wife and 4 year old son crave spareribs and smoked wings with money seasoning ! They are the stand by ! Also love 4 inch thick pork chops on it , lobster , corn , veggies , smoked garlic butter and so much more ! It is so universal . Price wise it works better than anything you could buy for what you can put in to it ! One cook can make my families meals for days , so it saves us money on food ! Now on to building my party smoker , double barrel Horizontal smoker ! I want to do suckling pigs !
 

Kristen's Poppa

New member
Got my Big Poppa's Drum Smoker for Christmas, but had heard lots of great stuff about them---my daughter works for Big Poppa. I have done tri-tip, new york steak, chicken, veggie-kabobs and stuffed shrimp appetizers, all with various Big Poppa's rubs. Everything was EXCELLENT, and my wife is really happy-I am now glad to "cook" almost anytime!
 

rockinshelby

New member
I'm picking my kit up at my po box on Saturday morning. Then off to purchase a new unlined drum on Monday. I'll keep you posted. I'm super excited about this smoker. A couple of questions for Big Poppa. The unlined drum, should I burn it out real good with pallets, etc. or just wash it down, and burn a bag of lump in it and then season it. Also, do you prefer wood chunks or a handful of pellets to produce your smoke. I realize these questions have been asked thousands of times but everyone has their own opinion. I'm also looking forward to any future instructional videos from BPS. I've watched them all and they are extremely educational. Thanks, Jeff.
 

chingador

New member
I was surprised how much more smoke flavor I get out of this pit compared to my Primo Kamado. Same goes for the smoke ring. Very easy to use. The only negative surprise is how quickly it goes through a basket of charcoal, but that is not a huge gripe.
 

wneill20

New member
I love mine also, have two pellet smokers and a gasser that sit there on the weekends. Week days it is the pellet smoker great flavor and so easy.
 

sheepdad

New member
I'll tell you, I really have a good time cooking and smoking on my drum. The thing that surprised me is the versatility my BPSUDS offers. High Heat, low heat, water pan, no waterpan, smoke, grill, fast, slow....this thing really does it all. The thing that attracted me to the UDS was all the raving reports of the taste of the food that came off these drums. This was evident after my first cook and has me consistently turning out food whether grilled or smoked, that gets big thumbs up from friends and family.
Like others here, my gasser gets limited duty now :rolleyes: ...basically a $800 hamburger cooker....oh well lol
 

1Dusty00a

New member
I think I Love it??? I got my kit just before Winter here in S.E. Wisc. and started using it right away!!!!!!!! I first tried using a Water Pan but while it kept the Product moist it left my BPDS with ALOT of condensation!!! So I tried using the BPDS without the water and found that the Direct heat was to much for what I was cookin. SO I got a Diffuser from Barrel Smokers and that has Helped VERY much in letting me have a Indirect heat source!!!!! I Really love my BPDS but, even though there isn't a water pan inside I still get Condensation!!!! How have you folks stopped that?????
For the Long Smokes how do you pack your baskets?? I fill my basket, form a Crater in the center and in my Chimney I light a full chimney of Lump charcoal and put it in the Crater. That lasts for about 4-5 Hrs. After that do you prestart another chimney or put cold Charcoal in the Basket? It takes awhile for the cold charcoal to kick off and the Temps plummet for about 30-40 min.

Also Big Poppa, you couls maybe get a Cover for 55gal Drums to protect from Rain and Snow, just an Idea!! Other than All of the above I really love my BPDS and even plan in the Spring to go to an 85gal Drum.

Dusty
West Bend, Wi

---------------------------
RED - BPDS
Brinkman Pro_Grill Gaser
Maverick ET 732
 
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Big Poppa

Administrator
I think that you are lighting too much charcoal....You just need to get aboput 8 coals hot and you should increase your burn time by newarly double. The covers are just too expensive to buy in the quantities I am at now
 

1Dusty00a

New member
Thanks B.P. Instead of lighting a Basket full just light 1/2 a Basket, with the same method (Crater and small amount in the crater Lit)?
I'll give it a try soon as the Ice disappears in a week or 2 (hopefully)

Dusty
West Bend, Wi

------------------
Red - BPDS
Brinkman Pro-Grill Gaser
maverick ET-732
 

MrAdam

New member
Thanks B.P. Instead of lighting a Basket full just light 1/2 a Basket, with the same method (Crater and small amount in the crater Lit)?
I'll give it a try soon as the Ice disappears in a week or 2 (hopefully)

Dusty
West Bend, Wi

------------------
Red - BPDS
Brinkman Pro-Grill Gaser
maverick ET-732

Even half a chimney full is too much. Count out 8 briquettes. It's usually about 1/4 chimney. Fill your basket right up to the top with charcoal and flavor wood. No need to make a nest, just dump the lit coals right on top.

Sent from my SGH-I727R using Tapatalk 2
 

scooter

Moderator
Staff member
I agree with Mr Adam as half chimney would still be too much. I used to start with about 1/2 weber chimney of K blue bag briqs. Now I use about 15 lit briqs put right on top and ease it up to 230 then set my vents to 1/2 hole each open and it will cruise up to about 250 at the side.
 

backbay2

New member
I was in love with my drum to begin with... Quite the learning experience! Once I learned the BBQ basics, since I was new to smoking altogether, and figured out how to stabilize my drum.. I was primed, locked, and loaded.... And then WORK (sorry bout the four letter word) decided its going to take my time for the last two months.... So my drum waits patiently for the next adventure..... Did that sound like a sob story ;)
 
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