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Ugly Drum Smoker

I'm new here and I just thought to post some questions. Found a drum for free but with 2 different obstacles. 1. It is a closed head drum and 2. Had either hydraulic oil or Glycol. I'm thinking not to use it for smoking just because all the work to burn and clean all the nasty stuff. I live in Indy and haven't found a place to buy a good food grade drum.

Other issue is that I can't burn anything right now because of the drought, the city is dry and they will fine me.

Does anybody here knows where to get food grade drums in Indy. Unlined and food grade ideally. Thanks
 
Food grade drums all have liners, to the best of my knowledge. Just saw "trash Barrels" for $13 in a Rural King ad. Haven't laid eyes on the drum, but might be worth looking there. One in Martinsville and one near Columbus. Let us know what ya find. Good luck.
 
got my barrels

i just got 2 closed top drums from a feed store near my home...no liner.......now the fun can start.....i remember reading about a process of removing the tops a closed drum with a grinder and cutting through 2 or 3 of the metal layers....but i can find the youtube clip..can anyone help....thanks Joe
 
fastfleetline said:
i just got 2 closed top drums from a feed store near my home...no liner.......now the fun can start.....i remember reading about a process of removing the tops a closed drum with a grinder and cutting through 2 or 3 of the metal layers....but i can find the youtube clip..can anyone help....thanks Joe
Click to expand...

Honestly many folks me included cut the very top bead off to make some kind of lid fit. If you can figure out if you have to cut that top bead off anyway, why not just slice it off now ? I cut mine off by setting the 4.5" makita on top of a bench level on the "blade gaurd" then moving the drum around the cutting blade, some lay it on the concrete floor to do the same job.

If you look at a soda can you will see I think the same construction as a drum head, now take that can out and run the top rim on your bench grinder, and you can pop the top right out, probably would work on a drum too if you still want the "ring" in place. My flat lid came from another drum and was too big of a dia to fit inside the "ring".

Bill
 
fastfleetline said:
i just got 2 closed top drums from a feed store near my home...no liner.......now the fun can start.....i remember reading about a process of removing the tops a closed drum with a grinder and cutting through 2 or 3 of the metal layers....but i can find the youtube clip..can anyone help....thanks Joe
Click to expand...

The closed top drums are really three pieces all fit together. If you can picture it, a machine crimps and rolls the edges of (the rim) of the barrel and the lid to make a "permenant" seal. If you grind away the top edge you will cut through the lid part and release it from the barrel. Before you start cutting be sure of the fit of your lid. If you are using a sealed drum I would assume you will top it off with a kettle lid, right? Dad always said "you can't cut more onto it".
There is something to make note of that is simple but still needs to be considered. Make sure you are fully aware of what was inside that barrel and if it is flamable. Even one that has been emptied and washed out has risk of an explosion. Some have been seriously injured and even died from overlooking this. Mine had thinner in it, was "empty" of fluid but full of fumes. I filled it to overflowing with water and used a sawsall to cut off the top. I got wet but didn't blow up.
If you get a drum with the liner in it just take it to a small body shop. They will sand blast the whole thing and then all you have to do is put it together. Burning out one of these drums is pretty labor intensive. Just decide how much your time is worth.
 
Well, found a new drum for about $60. I might have to go with that. I'm almost sure it has that terracotta color rust inhibitor paint in it thought.
 
First UDS

Hello everyone,

New to this forum and just finished making Paul's Ostrom's design for the UDS. Pretty simple but I do have a couple of questions in regard to the build. The only thing that was deviated from the plan was mine has 2" feet instead of 1" on the ash pan which puts the lip of the ash pan @ 2 1/2" above the intakes which were drilled per specs @ 2" on center. My first question is will there be sufficient air flow with the intakes below the ash pan? Even with the original design of 1" legs on ash pan the intakes are about 1" below the lip of the ash pan. Am I looking at the engineering of this wrong. It just seems that the intakes should be more at the level of the actual fire basket and not under the ash pan.

My second question relates to the first one in that because I have 2" feet it leaves only 22 1/2" between the bottom of the fire basket and the cooking surface of grill instead of the desired 24". I lost the 1/2" somewhere else within the basket. If it is a major deal, I can always cut the feet down to 1" and get 23 1/2" between surfaces.

I'm looking to do a test burn tomorrow so input is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Sparky
 
I'm planning on the ash pan sitting directly on the floor of the drum, then three in legs on the coal basket...that would ( having 24" between) have the grate at 8 ins below the top rim...
 
sparky66 said:
Hello everyone,

New to this forum and just finished making Paul's Ostrom's design for the UDS. Pretty simple but I do have a couple of questions in regard to the build. The only thing that was deviated from the plan was mine has 2" feet instead of 1" on the ash pan which puts the lip of the ash pan @ 2 1/2" above the intakes which were drilled per specs @ 2" on center. My first question is will there be sufficient air flow with the intakes below the ash pan? Even with the original design of 1" legs on ash pan the intakes are about 1" below the lip of the ash pan. Am I looking at the engineering of this wrong. It just seems that the intakes should be more at the level of the actual fire basket and not under the ash pan.

My second question relates to the first one in that because I have 2" feet it leaves only 22 1/2" between the bottom of the fire basket and the cooking surface of grill instead of the desired 24". I lost the 1/2" somewhere else within the basket. If it is a major deal, I can always cut the feet down to 1" and get 23 1/2" between surfaces.

I'm looking to do a test burn tomorrow so input is greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Sparky
Click to expand...

Welcome Bay Area brother!

I would do a test run and see how your temps hold with current intake config. Maybe throw on a Fattie! You can always change (move holes up) if you need to. You'll just want to do it before you get the cooker too greased up from cooking on it.

On second question...I wouldn't worry too much about the grate being exactly 24" inches above basket. There will always be some variation based on how much fuel you're using anyway. I don't think mine is 24" either and it's always done just fine.
 
Peddler said:
I'm planning on the ash pan sitting directly on the floor of the drum, then three in legs on the coal basket...that would ( having 24" between) have the grate at 8 ins below the top rim...
Click to expand...

You must have a drum taller than 34" then. Because mine is a standard 34" with the cook surface @ 7" below top with the ash pan only 2" above the drum floor. So I lost an inch between the basket and weber grill.

Sparky
 
Peddler said:
Why elevate the ash pan ... The coal basket is really (if i understand correctly) the only thing that needs to be elevated.

Scroll down the page and you'll see what I mean.

http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=43943&page=6
Click to expand...
You want the ash pan to sit off the floor of the drum so more heat radiates up instead of into the base of the drum. What I've read and if you think about it, it does makes sense. It's already built like that anyway. I'm going to do a test burn in a few minutes. I may or may not cut an inch off the feet depending on how things go. I'm also waiting on my dome thermometer but will just be using a candy thermometer today.
 
sparky66 said:
Thanks. Yeah, I'm going to do a test run today. A Fattie?

Sparky
Click to expand...


Fattie...usually the first item to be cooked on a drum. Many, many variations...thousands posted here. It's a chub of sausage smoke cooked. It can be plain or have any number/kind of ingredients stuffed inside and some wrap in bacon.
 
Well I thought id post mine here now.
4418834d-2f73-852f.jpg

4418834d-307a-9090.jpg

4418834d-30cc-750c.jpg

My ash pan is a brinkman smoker lid modified. Free off curb trash day:D
 
Shopping basket

Has anyone used a shopping basket for a firebox? In the UK, these are pretty easy to 'acquire' and they seem to be up to the job.

Please forgive me, I have read through 169 pages of this thread so far and plan to read the whole lot. However, I haven't seen anyone use one of these. Maybe it's because in the US you don't have these?

Anyway, great forum! Lots of useful tips!
 
In the US, all the shopping baskets I've ever seen are plastic. Obviously limiting their usefulness in a UDS.

My drum burns roughly a pound of charcoal an hour when smoking. I think you could put some 2-3" bolts through the bottom of that basket to use as legs and capture a pizza pan below it to catch ash.

If you use a heat diffuser, the rectangular shape of the basket wouldn't create hot spots in the smoker.

But before you go too far, make sure it will easily slide into your drum, with the bolts in it to hold the cooking grates. This thing will be getting hot in a hurry and wouldn't want to struggle to get it in.

My basket as an example is 17" in diameter and 8" high. I used 3.5" bolts and drilled holes through a pizza pan to pass the bolts through. After this shot was taken, I've had to slide little pieces of copper pipe onto a couple of the bolts to push the pizza pan down and ensure the gap between the pan and the bottom of the basket grate.

43af592f-d1e4-3371.jpg
 
Thanks for the advice. Most baskets in the UK are metal. Tesco have a 'free' supply! I think I'm going to give it a go. I have a pizza pan for an ash tray. The feet setup was exactly what I was going to go for.

I was hoping that the rectangular shape wouldn't have much of an effect, considering the food will be 24" away from the base of the fire.

Anyone else have an opinion on this point?
 
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