First cook on homemade Bigmista balcony smoker clone

ultramag said:
As many as I can. Pork Butts are my main thing I was looking at. I was using some barrels on hand for measurements. They are 33" tall. If I have my charcoal ring 2 ½-3 " off the floor, 24" to the bottom of the first grate, and say even 5" of heighth on the butts that leaves me an inch or two space for a top grate and its contents.

Most generally 3 or 4 butts bottom grate, and couple briskets up top would be OK, but I figured if I had the kettle lid then both grates could be used for something as tall as butts and drunk violated chickens. :-D

I went out and remeasured to be sure I was right. I have 3 55 gal. drums at the house. They are all 23 ¼ - 23 ½ inches outside dia. of the lip the lid seats on. The Weber lid was 23" exactly.
Click to expand...

If you already have the drums, that is most of the cost....You could always build 2. LOL

I have a 43" tall X 23" diameter drum giving me 6 or 7 inches between the top grate and the flat lid. Using both grates I can do 6 full packers or 8 butts, but there is some rotating required, which is something to consider. There are 27" diameter drums out there too but they are hard to find. I do most of my cooking on the top grate (at 30 to 32 inches above the charcoal basket) anyway.
 
Here are a coupla pics of mine action. If you only got a 33" barrel, You got "shorted". Take it back and get another.

break-in14.jpg


break-in18.jpg
 
MISTA,
How far are your grates from the fire? I have ways of making the cooker with no welding. Real simple. If people want I will word document my ideas. But as everyone knows there are 1000 ways to do the same thing. Only problem I have is it will probably upset Rocky at BDS. I would have bought one of his but could not justify the cost with shipping and all. I have a couple of welders a plasms cutter and a gnarly set of toos. i had big plans but found simple approach the best. You could do this without minimal work, believe me. Maybe if Mista is ready for an addition I can help him and he could sharpen his photo/fabrication skills along the way. Don't have time to proof read, excuse spelling.
 
... what ever.... I asked Jay (Spicewine) some time ago about trying to
'simulate' BDS in a Spice smoker and the answer was NO ! I guess any one can try anything, but I can't do it with my BGE and will not try with anything less than a BDS (or clone).
 
I would be interested in anything you want to share Norcoredneck. I have been going over yours, the EDS, and BigMista's. I was a foreman in a machine shop (CNC and traditional machining) for 5 yrs. I have the skills, slightly limited on tools unless I do a little government job or two at the powerplant my Dad retired from, which is doable. What a shop.

Anyway, gathering a plan and figuring what I want to do is all I've done so far. Couldn't have got "shorted" because I haven't bought anything. These are just barrels I have on hand. Measure twice, cut once. :wink: Just want to get the max I can get out of the project. If I can figure in more space this farkin thing will still cook only one chicken wing if thats all I want that session.

My barrels seem to be the most common 55 gal. size after about 45 min. of googling barrel manufacturers. The 33 inch is the inside height, which is what I measured on mine because it's all that matters. I could only find 35 inside height so far while staying in a 55 gal. size. Found 85 and 110 gal. if anyone wants to really go BIG.
 
I would also would be interested in anything you want to share Norcoredneck
 
My bottom grate is just about 2 feet over my fire. Haven't really measured it. Top grate is about 6" from the top. Bottom grate is about 6" below that. I can do briskets and butts on the top shelf with the flat lid on and 20lb turkeys with the weber lid on.
 
How tall is your barrel BM? Inside preferably. I am figuring I need to find 39 to 40 inch minimum. Thanks!

Has anyone ever burnt and/or ground out the lining of a barrel? Research is turning up that it is just an epoxy based rust inhibitor. The ones my neighbor had were chipping up by the lip at the lid and were apparently good bare metal underneath. Not really something I want to do for fun, but if worse comes to worse I could go up there and measure until I found what I needed. These barrels have only had cooking oil in them.

I would have never thought there was this much variation in barrel dimensions for a 55 gal. barrel. A few sites had the barrel measurements and there were several different sizes all supposedly 55 gallon.
 
Norcoredneck said:
MISTA,
How far are your grates from the fire? I have ways of making the cooker with no welding. Real simple. If people want I will word document my ideas. But as everyone knows there are 1000 ways to do the same thing. Only problem I have is it will probably upset Rocky at BDS. I would have bought one of his but could not justify the cost with shipping and all. I have a couple of welders a plasms cutter and a gnarly set of toos. i had big plans but found simple approach the best. You could do this without minimal work, believe me. Maybe if Mista is ready for an addition I can help him and he could sharpen his photo/fabrication skills along the way. Don't have time to proof read, excuse spelling.
Click to expand...


Hey Norco, I just pm'd ya'....I'd love to see the plans !!!
 
Norcoredneck said:
MISTA,
How far are your grates from the fire? I have ways of making the cooker with no welding. Real simple. If people want I will word document my ideas. But as everyone knows there are 1000 ways to do the same thing. Only problem I have is it will probably upset Rocky at BDS. I would have bought one of his but could not justify the cost with shipping and all. I have a couple of welders a plasms cutter and a gnarly set of toos. i had big plans but found simple approach the best. You could do this without minimal work, believe me. Maybe if Mista is ready for an addition I can help him and he could sharpen his photo/fabrication skills along the way. Don't have time to proof read, excuse spelling.
Click to expand...

Post the document if you want to. Rocky did not invent the barrel cooker... It's been around for years!

Rocky builds a good cooker, but one can build one for much less than the purchase price of a BDS... I built my first one years ago, long before Rocky was selling them and the design was not new then... My first one was built for under $10. My dad had a barrel and I picked up the grates on clearance for $2 each. A few nuts, bolts and a couple of drill bits later I was cooking! My original has rusted out now, so I'm planning on building another one this summer... This time I will have to buy a barrel so it will cost a bit more than the first one. This time, I will use a fire ring from a WSM and I think I will copy that ball valve idea from this post for the intake! Gotta love that fat in the fire flavor!

James.
 
JamesB said:
Post the document if you want to. Rocky did not invent the barrel cooker... It's been around for years! James.
Click to expand...

Let's just say that Rocky fine tuned the drum and the cooking techniques that work so well with his designs. He is a very good dude and has a real passion for barbecue, regardless of the cook or the cooker.

25bbadff.jpg


It's obvious when you visit with him just how proud Rocky is of his product and I'm sure he realized early on that something like this lends itself to copying .... but on the other hand, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Keep us posted as you build your drum.
 
SmokeyBear said:
Where are good places to find barrels other than ordering one from somewhere?
Click to expand...

I put a want add in Craigs List for one. No hits yet
 
I cut the lip off the top of the 2 drums I have and the 22.5" Weber lid fits fine ( I ran a bead of Hi-Temp silicone gasket around the inside edge of the lid for a firmer fit) Norcoredneck-Is the ball valve the only intake on your smoker?
 
thirdeye said:
Let's just say that Rocky fine tuned the drum and the cooking techniques that work so well with his designs. He is a very good dude and has a real passion for barbecue, regardless of the cook or the cooker.

25bbadff.jpg


It's obvious when you visit with him just how proud Rocky is of his product and I'm sure he realized early on that something like this lends itself to copying .... but on the other hand, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

Keep us posted as you build your drum.
Click to expand...

As I said, Rocky builds a good cooker for sure. If he didn't folks would not buy it... All I was trying to say was that any other person can also build one. Folks have been cooking on barrels of similar design for years. I know that I have. Alsom, I did not imitate Rocky's design. I actually built my first barrel cooker the same year that Rocky purchased his first (might be only) Klose pit. A good bit before the BDS came to be. I wish Rocky and the BDS all the luck in the world. Heck if Danny Gaulden says that it is a good cooker then it is!

I'll post pictures of my next barrel build once i get back into town and track down a suitable barrel...

James.
 
I have 3. I used a hole saw and cut(drilled) holes so 3/4" pipe threaded into the holes. I put 2 3/4"X1/2" pipe bushings (black iron not galvanized) into 2 holes. Pipe plugs to close those off. I put 1 3/4" pipe nipple into third hole (black pipe not galvanized) and threaded 3/4" ball valve. My idea is plug 2 holes and use valve, if more air needed remove plug and tune with valve, remove 2 and tune with valve. The other day I had 1 out and valve @ 1/4 open. I welded the bushings and pipe in on mine. Someone could use conduit nuts on the inside if not able to weld. On the pipe bushings more like gooberd, black iron does not take to welding. But they are in there for the long run.
IMG_1907.jpg

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Metal Conduit Fitting Locknuts .
 
Only during their allocated play period, or unless the family has some school project due tomorrow/emergency situation. I'm sure you have all been there. If you are curious and not bored go to photobucket.com and search "norcoredneck" and check out the electric smoker I made for work. Worked out great, real hit at work since no fire is allowed.
Link:
http://s91.photobucket.com/albums/k296/norcoredneck/?start=0
 
Last edited:
Norco,

Do you have something in the bottom to catch the ash or d you just dump the whole barrel?
 
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