I posted my drum smoker for sale in the Classifieds a couple days ago and, as part of that posting, I offered some notes on how I've learned to cook good bbq on this drum smoker over the last 3 years or so.

IMHO, all of the current YouTube videos showing how to cook on a drum don't produce great bbq..following the popular rules for drum smoking led to minimal bark, minimal fat render, and some tough and dry burnt spots. My early cooks turned out fairly pot-roasty.

So I started experimenting and finally in the last year have started making some really good bbq on the drum smoker. Here are my notes for the new owner of my drum smoker in case you're interested in trying one out OR if you have a drum and aren't getting great results.

Charcoal & Charcoal Bucket

• I don't see a huge performance difference between lump charcoal and Kingsford briquettes + wood chunks in the charcoal basket. Either are fine.
• It's hard to 'over smoke' something with this pit so use more wood than you think you need.
• I start the pit with 2 haystacks laid on the bottom grate, pour and layer charcoal + wood over the top, then light the haystacks from underneath.
• Let that fire catch until you see smoke and open flame from the top of the bucket, then lower the bucket down into the barrel hugging one side of the barrel. I do NOT center the charcoal bucket in the barrel.
• With the ambient temp probe in the smoker, I'll let the charcoal bucket continue to catch fire with the drum lid OFF until the ambient probe hits 110+ degrees. At this point, I'll put the lid on with the top vent at ~50% and the bottom fan 'gate' at ~30% open...the goal is to slow the temp climb so it's more controllable.
• When the ambient probe shows ~200 degrees, I'll close the top vent down to ~25% open and close the fan gate to ~10% open and turn on the fan/controller for a target temp of 225. NOTE: the fan can only raise the temp of the smoker...the fan cannot decrease the smoker temp. You decrease smoker temp by closing down the top vent and fan gate.
• I like the pit to hold steady for 20-30 mins at 225 to make sure the vents and fan are 'balanced' and there's no wild temp swings. The goal is to slightly underpowered the pit with the top and fan gate vents and let the fan provide a slight bump ever so often to boost to target temp. If the fan is running continuously to keep pit at target temp then you don't have the vents balanced well.

The Cook

• I like to put my brisket or ribs on for 3 hrs at ~225 with a ton of early smoke. I bump the temp up to 250 for the next 3 hrs as we start to form/set the bark, and I finish the brisket at 275-300 for the remainder of the cook.
• On a direct heat drum smoker, total cook time for a brisket will be in the 9 hr range...ribs will be ready in the 3-4 hr range. Everything will cook faster than you're used to with an offset or indirect smoker.
• I also put my brisket & ribs on the OPPOSITE side of the smoker from the charcoal bucket. This helps limit the direct heat hitting the brisket from below and limits burning and charred spots.
• Starting at hour 3 and once you crank the pit to 250+, every time I open and check the meat during the cook I will flip and rotate the meat to change the side that is closest to the fire bucket. Again, that's the hottest spot on the pit and we don't want to blast the same spot on the brisket or ribs and create a burnt spot.
• If you want better bark formation in a certain spot or overall, move that spot or the meat in general closer to the fire bucket. Bark formation on this pit will come from direct heat in lieu of aggressive airflow as you'd expect in an offset.

The Wrap

• You will nearly always want to wrap your brisket or ribs with this smoker...9 or 10 hrs of fairly direct heat will create a dry tough exterior bark if you don't wrap.
• You are wrapping on a drum to preserve and soften bark and to prevent charring...fat render is a secondary concern. Fat render can/will occur while your brisket is wrapped on this pit. If you wait for perfect fat render before wrapping, you'll most likely burn the exterior.
• I wrap just BEFORE the bark is perfectly formed just because I err on the side of softer and slightly less bark than take a chance on ending up with a drier tougher charred exterior.
• I wrap with butcher paper and add tallow or rendered fat. The tallow is used to soften the bark that's been created by direct heat on this pit.
• TIP: It's very easy to render your own fat/tallow with this pit. Take your brisket fat trimmings and put them in a small turkey pan and put that directly OVER the charcoal basket since your brisket is living on the opposite side of the pit. Over the 5-6 hours you are smoking your brisket unwrapped, your tallow is smoking and rendering and is ready to be used with your wrap.

The Pull

• Post wrap, still keeping your brisket or ribs offset from the charcoal bucket, there's really no difference in finishing and pulling a brisket on this smoker vs. any other smoker. Start probing at 195 or so until you get that buttery feel...
• If you don't get that buttery feel by 204 then I'll pull and rest longer in a cooler or oven then I otherwise would.
• Again, no difference from any other brisket at this point, but I like to hold/rest a brisket for a min 2-3 hrs once I pull it.

Finish off this post with some pics. LMK if anyone has anything to add

Good post. Thank you.