Ugly Drum Smoker

[Skidder]

Hey all do not use RTV sealant on a cooker. If you read the directions it says it will form formaldehyde at temps over 350 degrees

[El Ropo]

Originally Posted by Skidder

Hey all do not use RTV sealant on a cooker. If you read the directions it says it will form formaldehyde at temps over 350 degrees

If that is true, many brethren will drop dead tomorrow morning!

I licked a frog that was marinating in formaldehyde in 8th grade. Now I'm 51........

[Skidder]

just repeating what it says what you do well it's up to you. Oh yeah why did you lick a frog?

[pwa]

Originally Posted by Skidder

Hey all do not use RTV sealant on a cooker. If you read the directions it says it will form formaldehyde at temps over 350 degrees

Permatax red high temp is NSF safe so I would hope its not giving of formaldehyde specially since it is rated for 600F.

pwa

[Skidder]

just reading off the warning label if your comfortable I'm comfortable

[El Ropo]

Originally Posted by Skidder

just repeating what it says what you do well it's up to you. Oh yeah why did you lick a frog?

I had a crush on a girl that lived down the street from me. You know how it is as a young boy. I tried to throw rocks at her first but missed. So that was the next logical step in an attempt to get her attention.

Probably too much info?

[Huckster]

Hey all,

I have read this entire thread over the past 10 days.

I have gotten a barrel with no liner. The place I got it from said it had food grade mineral oil in they used for making veterinary meds. There is an oil residue in the barrel. Do you think all I need to do is scrub it down with a good soap or is a barrel burning needed? I hate to ruin the existing paint as it is in perfect shape.

If I do have to burn and repaint this barrel, what is the consenses on paint? I have read most use heat rated paint. I have never used this. Do you have to wait a week to let it cure? Is regular rustoleum good enough for temps under 500F?

[chico4missions]

I've seen quite a few baskets (Klose) like this out there & thought it'd be cool to add that mod to mine. Had some scrap metal laying around at work & was able to use the plasma cutter to cut the lengths down to 9". My basket is 12" x 12" x 12".

I'll probably add slots in my basket for them to sit in so I can add & remove at will. As of now they're just sitting pretty for the pic Regular "old school" minion method works great for me but I'm definitely curious to see the results.

LOW & SLOW BABY! Thanks for all the info on this thread fellow drumheads!

[BigG_UK]

Originally Posted by Huckster

Hey all,

I have read this entire thread over the past 10 days.

I have gotten a barrel with no liner. The place I got it from said it had food grade mineral oil in they used for making veterinary meds. There is an oil residue in the barrel. Do you think all I need to do is scrub it down with a good soap or is a barrel burning needed? I hate to ruin the existing paint as it is in perfect shape.

If I do have to burn and repaint this barrel, what is the consenses on paint? I have read most use heat rated paint. I have never used this. Do you have to wait a week to let it cure? Is regular rustoleum good enough for temps under 500F?

IMHO I'd just go for a thorough good washing a couple of times and give it a good scrub with hot soapy water, then a good rinse out and then season well and save the paint job intact, if you do decide to do a burn and repaint with Rustoleum give it a low temp heat up within the first 12 hours to cure it properly with a small charcoal fire in it for an hour or two after spraying, you can cure it properly that way and not have to leave it a week which isn't the correct way to cold cure these enamel coatings. Just make sure you wear some breathing/eye protection if you spray it. Your never going to reach anywere near high enough temperatures to damage your existing paint job anyway so if I were you I'd just wash it out and save yourself some unnecessary $,time and effort. Also, Plenty of us use standard spray paints anyway and that's fine too and cheaper :-) High temp enamel paints for BBQ/Engines gives a nice finish but not essential on a low n slow UDS.

G

[Skidder]

Originally Posted by El Ropo

I had a crush on a girl that lived down the street from me. You know how it is as a young boy. I tried to throw rocks at her first but missed. So that was the next logical step in an attempt to get her attention.

Probably too much info?

desperate times call for desperate measures

[jcinadr]

During a cook, the outside of the barrel never gets HOT. That said, it can get hot when you light it with a weed burner AND get a runaway fire going with the lid off. I managed to discolor the paint on mine once when the runaway fire ignited the grease that had collected on the sides of the drum. That said - the flames were way out of the top of the drum when that happened

[olewarthog]

Originally Posted by Skidder

just reading off the warning label if your comfortable I'm comfortable

Red RTV meets NSF/ANSI standard 51. This is the standard that applies to sealants & gaskets used in coffee makers & other kitchen appliances.

[El Ropo]

Originally Posted by Huckster

Hey all,

I have read this entire thread over the past 10 days.

There is an oil residue in the barrel. Do you think all I need to do is scrub it down with a good soap or is a barrel burning needed?

Clay kitty litter will soak up any existing oil. Toss it in, wait 12-24 hours, scrape it out. Then use a concentrated degreaser to wipe out interior.

I'd still give the barrel a nice burn out after intake holes are drilled. Maybe one oak pallet broken down and fired up. This process will still ruin the exterior paint, but having a clean canvas to work with is priceless.

[Rodsboots]

Originally Posted by GlobalTJB

I havent tried lump yet but I will on the next smoke to get a feel for it (and because i have 4 bags of royal oak). Using the trader joes hardwood, natural binding briquettes, I have it dialed in to +-5 degrees (usually a +-2 degree) variation with one 1" hole half blocked with a flat magnet and fine tuning with the ball valve. I was going to ask for a auber industries temp controller for Christmas, but after using the drum a few times I cant justify it.
I fired it up for chickens yesterday and reaching temp is not an issue. I brought it up to 410 just to see if it could and I have no doubts that it could get hotter than that to make some pizzas. This thing is great and the only complaint is that the center of the grate is substantially warmer than the edges.

Currently Lump is all I use in my UDS, I have tried KF Blue but get that same gassy taste.. (i use my weed burner to light it). Lump seems to burn longer and less mess. I've used Lump for the past couple of years now. works for me.

[hewittdallas]

Okay, well I blame all of you for getting me hooked on the idea of building a UDS. I thought it would take a while to find a drum, but I actually had one in less than 48 hours. I got a really good burn on it today and went through two pallets of wood. Now this is a drum with the enjoyable red liner inside. I saw on another message board that people have had success removing the liner with a cleaner like Comet after a long burn. Has anyone tried that here with any success?

Here is a pic of the drum at the beginning of the burn just for fun.

Edit: Not sure why the forum switched the orientation of the pic. Sorry!