Ugly Drum Smoker

Bbq Bubba said:

#2.....will season tomorrow.

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Awesome looking drum. Can't wait to start building mine!

Newbie got his barrel!

Hello!

...my first post to this thread (and bbq-brethren.) :icon_blush:

Truly epic thread! Thanks everyone! Nice barrel stevemiller!

After using most of Thanksgiving weekend (deep-fried a bird) to read every post, I'm "only" on page 260. :shock:

But, I have to report in that I have procured my used barrel. Woo hoo! :biggrin:

I made calls from work Monday (couldn't wait!), took a long lunch, and got my free barrel from the local soap/shampoo company.

Unlined, open-top, with lid+ring+bolt, only a soapy residue to wash out! :icon_cool

I also bought the step drill bits on Monday. I will begin in earnest Friday. Yes!

I still can't get over the dedication to this thread! I would proudly wear the t-shirt, even though I don't know why so many of us feel compelled to read every word. Please, don't answer that. :wink:

More Parts!

Where the heck did all the pages from this thread go?

Here are more parts that I picked up today:




Drilling and washing barrel, assembly of coal basket tomorrow:!:

For any north central Massachusetts bretheren looking for barrels, I just met this guy. <barrelguy@rocketmail.com> . Steve has 55 gallon used veggie oil drums (no liner) with tops cut off that fit a weber lid perfectly. Bought 2 last night.:wink:
sean

How much and where is he?

He's in Westford and $25 ea

Interesting. I'm going to be in Westford tomorrow taking a class. I might need to pick one of those one up as a spare.

More Build Pron

Got out the power washer today, but not before writing down all the info on the barrel and reading all the labels. Turns out this D.O.T. non-toxic barrel contained upwards of 30% of a material that's considered toxic when vaporized at high temps.
No big whoop. Got out the can of acetone, gloves and paper towels and got rid of most residue. Also power washed off all the loose paint and loose rust.
Next, drill the bottom vent holes and do a high-temp burn-off.




What the heck is extra-strength acetone? That's totally bogus!




Found rust under what looked like good paint. Whatever survives the fire will become part of the primer coat, I guess.
Easy to see which side of the barrel faced the wall.




Trusty power washer.

The lid is kinda concave down, in towards the center and inside the drum. The inside center of the lid looks like it will turn into a condensation problem spot. I can either keep the meat from the dead center of the grill, or perhaps hammer that lid the other direction.
Any ideas or advice for reshaping that lid either flat or concave up?

Also got out the drill and wire brushes and got the inside of the lid cleaned-up pretty well. This is the before picture. Hopefully more shiny steel picts tomorrow.

Smokin D: Yes... they told me they would ball blast them for free if I requested it in advance. For some reason they said they can't sell them bare metal, and apparently the finish is part of the manufacturing process...

What is the 3-2-1 method you are referring to? Sorry if I missed it on an earlier post.

It's a cooking method = 3 hours to cook, 2 hours to cook wrapped in foil, 1 hour to finish... This is the simple version... There's info on the all over the internet.

Having a hard time getting my drum clean. Burned it twice to the point that it was glowing on the outside. I can still see the $%# red lining on about 50% of the inside.

Has anyone tried using a water soluble remover? Also thinking about taking a weed burner to it.

Thanks for any help.

did you drill the intake holes already? that'll help get that fire really roaring

Pole D said:

Also thinking about taking a weed burner to it.

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When I tried the ol' weed burner the flame kept going out due to lack of O2 inside the drum. I ended up paying a guy $20 to sand blast it.

Typically said:

did you drill the intake holes already? that'll help get that fire really roaring

Click to expand...

Yeah, was wondering about that... if the intake holes on the bottom aren't there yet, the fire will be going up and not down -- fire feeds, it needs oxygen, no oxygen in one direction, no fire movement.

IronStomach said:

Yeah, was wondering about that... if the intake holes on the bottom aren't there yet, the fire will be going up and not down -- fire feeds, it needs oxygen, no oxygen in one direction, no fire movement.

Click to expand...

I lit my fire with out drilling the holes....top of the drum is ready to go, bottom, still has the paint on it. I drilled the holes and I am going to burn again tonight after work. Then, my buddy is going to sand blast it for me. I will be doing a test run tomorrow, shoulder on Sunday.

Uncle Buds BBQ said:

When I tried the ol' weed burner the flame kept going out due to lack of O2 inside the drum. I ended up paying a guy $20 to sand blast it.

Click to expand...

$20 well spent there! Most guys who use the weed burner do it from the outside but for $20 you can't go wrong with a sand blast.

OK, I have a question about your charcoal baskets.

My expando steel cube is the same on each size. I mean, I have noticed some charcoal baskets have wider spaced expando on the bottom then on the sides. I was thinking of just putting the same spacing expando on the bottom...is that OK?

I dont want to go buy another sheet of expando when I already bought one if I can get away with it.

I was thinking of going to my BBQ boneyard and using an old grate for the bottom? that might work as well, if i couldnt use the same expando I had been using.

Thanks!

Just makes it eaiser for the ash to drop to the bottom. Otherwise you may have to bang the drum more often!!

Paul B

ok, If I bang the drum, will my food get covered in ash? if i use an old grate attached to my expando, will i go through more coals cause they are falling through as they get smaller??