New unlined UDS drums still have a rust inhibitor!?

I just posted a thread on my completed UDS. I have not had time to season it. It's just sitting there looking pretty.

I bought a new unlined drum because I didn't want to do a high temp burnout. For some reason I started looking into whether "unlined" actually meant "pure steel." It turns out that unlined drums (at least mine) have a rust inhibitor applied internally. After calling the company and numerous other companies it appears that no one knows what this rust inhibitor actually is. I finally talk to an engineer from another company who says they use a clear alkyd paint on the inside of new unlined drums for rust prevention. He advises a propane torch and wire brush to clean this rust inhibitor off of this "unlined" drum. He said it is not food safe at "high" temps.

Damnit.

Seems like I need to disassemble the smoker and either light one hell of a fire in it or get out the propane torch. I went with the original drum paint so I guess I'll be repainting after the exterior paint and interior rust inhibitor are gone.


Anyone agree or disagree with this?

Thanks,

John

foam2 said:

have it sand blasted

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Good idea. I just put in for a quote. There's a place right up the street.

I'm not opposed to a big burn out. I have a bunch of wood from a tree we cut down that I could not only get rid of but use to fuel a big burnout. The problem is the neighbors, my wife and the fire department may not be too keen on that plan.

Haveuseen1? said:

I dont have a UDS although I read threads here quite often about them. Could you just dump a couple of bags of lump charcoal in there light it and let it burn? I use Royal Oak and can get the temps up to 700 pretty easy. If you did that you would have a long hot burn. Maybe that would work. Just a thought.

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That's a good idea. I wonder what the temp difference is between a few bags of lump like you say and a big fire. I wonder if 700 is high enough?

jrn said:

Grilling24x7- Dont sweat it. From what i can gather, the rust inhibitor is a normal step during manufacturing process. Looks like all barrels get it. Personally I'd take it apart and burn it out. Just remember if you ever want to take the paint off a lid, use a angle grinder with wire wheels and/or cup brushes. The heat from a fire or torch will warp the lid.

Plus burning is free vs paying to have it sandblasted. Some businesses will give you their old and broken pallets. 2 or 3 is plenty.

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Thanks man. I just found a pallet source so I think I can get 4 of them for 2 drums to burn out. My buddy and I will do this on Saturday. Hopefully we'll be able to get the burn done, get a quick wire brush scrub, an acetone wipe down and a quick coat of paint on before the day ends. We really only have one day to knock this out..

Unless the sandblasting quote comes back real real cheap we'll go through with this burn out.

We actually already burned out the lids. We learned the hard way. We used a propane torch (i.e., cheap Chinese made third degree burn death torch) and burned the hell out of the lids. In fact we did warp one of them but luckily bent in back to a tight seal on the drum (total luck). We were so pissed off from the burning lid process we decided "why are we burning these new unlined drums? the guy said they have nothing in them." Well, the drum salesman assumed we were burning out and didn't mention rust inhibitor.

Anyway - thanks!

John