Ugly Drum Smoker

colonel00 · May 2, 2011

Spicy-Meat said:
I received two nice 55 gal drums that contained juice. I noticed that the inside of each drum was redish. I read a lot of these threads and just figured the liner was a plastic coating. Mine felt like paint so I thought nothing of it. Well, I burned 4 pallets and the paint came off the outside no problem but there was barely any change inside the drum. The red is still there. I decided to spend some money and buy a brand new unlined 55gal 16g drum from McMaster Carr. If I buy a new drum do I still have to burn it out? I will still keep trying to remove the red liner and if I am successful I will have 3 UDS's.

Yes, it is still recommended to burn out a new drum. Usually this is because often there is a rust preventative to keep the bare metal from rusting. You don't have to go crazy but a good burn is always good.

As for the liner, grab an angle grinder and a wire wheel. I also highly suggest a respirator, goggles, and hearing protection. Its a beast to tackle but its doable and I always say its a rite of passage.

PhilipW · May 3, 2011

colonel00 said:
As for the liner, grab an angle grinder and a wire wheel. I also highly suggest a respirator, goggles, and hearing protection. Its a beast to tackle but its doable and I always say its a rite of passage.

I ground out my red liner as well, taking to heart the "rite of passage" effort as well. Though I thought that was over when I finshed the 550+ page of this thread.

I found it no fun, but also doable. Hearing protection, gloves, goggles and a respirator. Goggles over safety glasses because inside the barrel there is a lot of reside flying around because of the angle grinder motor.

I sent this self portrait home to my wife when I was done.

A couple photos of the work progress.

And the tools.

I since found a place to buy new barrels in Dallas for $41, so I won't be doing this again.

1FUNVET · May 3, 2011

PhilipW said:
I ground out my red liner as well, taking to heart the "rite of passage" effort as well. Though I thought that was over when I finshed the 550+ page of this thread.

I found it no fun, but also doable. Hearing protection, gloves, goggles and a respirator. Goggles over safety glasses because inside the barrel there is a lot of reside flying around because of the angle grinder motor.

I sent this self portrait home to my wife when I was done.

A couple photos of the work progress.

And the tools.

I since found a place to buy new barrels in Dallas for $41, so I won't be doing this again.

Need a portrait before ya started to see if ya made any improvements :becky:

Big_Alvin · May 3, 2011

does the red liner appear to be paint? if so looks like i got some grinding to do.

colonel00 · May 3, 2011

Big_Alvin said:
does the red liner appear to be paint? if so looks like i got some grinding to do.

Yep. If possible I suggest drilling your holes at the bottom and doing a hot fire first. This helps a bit and having the holes will help the fire breathe.

PhilipW · May 3, 2011

When I looked into the liner process it came up as a phenolic / epoxy coating that is applied to the metal before it's rolled and seamed. I'm guessing that combination of materials is why burning doesn't help remove it. I tried pretty hard with a weed burner and all I got was the outside white paint to change color, while the red just stayed red and no easier to grind off. I really only was inside the barrel an hour and a half, so it's not an endless job if you work at it.

PhilipW · May 3, 2011

1FUNVET said:
Need a portrait before ya started to see if ya made any improvements :becky:

ha. she did mention that coming home like that wasn't in the cards. :redface:

SmokerKing · May 4, 2011

PhilipW said:
I ground out my red liner as well, taking to heart the "rite of passage" effort as well. Though I thought that was over when I finshed the 550+ page of this thread.

I found it no fun, but also doable. Hearing protection, gloves, goggles and a respirator. Goggles over safety glasses because inside the barrel there is a lot of reside flying around because of the angle grinder motor.

I sent this self portrait home to my wife when I was done.

A couple photos of the work progress.

And the tools.

I since found a place to buy new barrels in Dallas for $41, so I won't be doing this again.

:shock: :crazy: :doh: :becky:

Dalek · May 4, 2011

Geez Philip, trying to scare the kids away again!

Southern Home Boy · May 4, 2011

I'm just glad I read this thread when it was only 400 +/- pages. :shock:

jaymo · May 4, 2011

AustinKnight said:
Ok so I found my side table for my uds, it's a old jim beam whiskey barrel lid but It's so old I kinda want to know if its worth anything before I go cutting it maybe someone here might know something about it. My dad has had it for years and doesn't care what I do with it. I cant seem to find anything on google..

Whiskey barrels are pretty easy to get a hold of for not too much money, so I'd go ahead and do it! (Bourbon, in particular, has to legally use a new barrel every batch, so they go through a LOT of barrels.)

Cassman · May 4, 2011

After a lot reading I have gathered most of my parts for my first UDS build. so far I have acquired 3 sealed drums for free, a weber 22" kettle for $5 for parts just need part for charcoal basket.
Thanks for all the great info here.

Big Darb · May 5, 2011

Anyone contemplating high temp paint for their uds should listen to the guys that say it isn't needed. I couldn't and used 1300 degree header paint. I christened my new baby with a brisket, 16 hours@ 225. I could hold my hand anywhere on the drum at any point during the cook.
PS- 17 hour burn and I had 1/3 basket of coal left over!

Spicy-Meat · May 5, 2011

Big Darb, what size basket do you have?

Prollo · May 5, 2011

Finally finished the thread. My barrel should be here tomorrow, I can't wait to get started. Thanks for all of the great advice/tips. Much appreciated!

AustinKnight · May 5, 2011

jaymo said:
Whiskey barrels are pretty easy to get a hold of for not too much money, so I'd go ahead and do it! (Bourbon, in particular, has to legally use a new barrel every batch, so they go through a LOT of barrels.)

Ya I went ahead and did it :thumb: cleaned all the crud off the sides/bottom of the barrel also added a diffuser rack today I'm done doing anything else to this smoker :shock:

pigdog · May 5, 2011

nice drum. Not too fond of the orange longhorn though. Should be gold and black with a big Colorado Buffalo painted on it! :boxing::laugh:

Big Darb · May 5, 2011

Spicy-Meat said:
Big Darb, what size basket do you have?

My basket is about 8" deep by 13" wide....an old wire basket my great grandfather used to collect eggs from the hen house.

AustinKnight · May 5, 2011

pigdog said:
nice drum. Not too fond of the orange longhorn though. Should be gold and black with a big Colorado Buffalo painted on it! :boxing::laugh:

Them fighting words:boxing: I wouldn't be able to take "Ace"(UDS) anywhere with those choice of colors and especially with Ralphie painted on it, hell someone might shoot my eye out:laugh:

pigdog · May 5, 2011

well done Bevo! Nice build!

Ugly Drum Smoker

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