Boochie

Knows what a fatty is.
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I picked up a 55 gallon drum. the drum was used for food storage so the inside has orange color coating. do you think I need to burn this off?
 
I got a drum with a very thin amber liner that burned out in like 20 minutes using wood scraps and pine tree trimmings for fuel. I hear the dreaded red liner takes many hours from all reports..... and grinding... and wire wheel work....

One recent post of rolling the barrel or placing it at an angle to burn out the red devil sounds like it might help..... opt for another barrel if it does not come clean in a time you can handle...

Good luck!
 
I'd try to find a drum with NO liner in it. I had one with the red liner in it and after 3 burns and a lot of wire wheeling I decieded to get a unlined barrel. You could try a good burn and see if it comes off but if it doesn't come off easy after a burn and a wire wheel/brush, I'd say just use it for a burn barrel.
 
thanks, my brother in law gets them pretty easily, i did not ask for an unlined one, I'll ask for another one and make a burn barrel
 
Simple answer...YES...100%...YES.
Burn that liner (any liner) out completely.

Start with a raw steel inside before seasoning it or you might not enjoy the true joy of cooking on a UDS like so many of us do. It's not that hard to burn out....just do it to be certain. It's not worth the concern of "should I have" later on.
 
I built a double barrel smoker out of two food grade, syrup, barrels. They had an amber (orangish) coating in them. I ran three good fires through the smoker and everything seasoned up very well, no coating left. The meat that comes off the smoker taste great and no dysentery yet. If the coating is good for keeping syrup in it would seem alright to smoke meat in.
 
if the barrel isn't raw steel on the inside the coating needs to be removed
i sandblast mine liner gone its a dusty mess to do but quicker than grinding
make sure you wear a respirator
 
Burn out a barrel with wood, then use a weed burner around the inside to burn off any unburned liner. You can tell if the liner is burned or not because the burned liner will take on a lighter, powdery appearance. Using this method, you can then use a pressure washer or go to the car wash and literally wash out the liner. The weed burner will also burn off the exterior paint for you when you use it on the inside.

smokers004.jpg
 
All of the coating used in Food grade barrel lining are some version of phenolic epoxy. You can strip it by chemical dipping, you can chemically strip it yourself, but it will take some time barrel has to be on the side. You can use a weed burner, and burn it out or as the posts previous have mentioned use a wood fire. May take more than one burn.

If you live in an apartment, or city that has burn bans or nosy neighbors with the police on speed dial for you! There are still other ways.
You want to use a stripping wheel/disk
DSCF9793.jpg

This is the Harbor Freight version, it is a good quality disk at this time it lasts and wears about the same as the other Chinese Stripping (called imports) disks, by the tools and supply houses KBC,Prodution, Enco etc. There is an even coarser version which are generally red in color. They are good for paint, other epoxy coatings, rust and general curd.

DSCF9789-1.jpg

Here is one of the better flap disk out there a Norton/North brand also sold at HF around the country at my local HF they are under $5.00 a pop. $3.00 to $4.00 cheaper than the big tools places and the big box stores.
The Grit numbers are the smaller the number the coarser the grit. I use 40 or 80 grit and then switch to a fine disk when I want to finish up.

They have the above for angle grinders in all sizes, they also have them with mandrels for use in drill motors.

You must use eye protection, respirator when using the above.

If you do burn the lining out of the drums remember it is an epoxy base paint and the products of combustion my be hazardous to your health.
:thumb:
 
Look around for a place that will sand blast it for you. Will cost about the same as buying wire wheels and sand paper but will be much much faster and easier. Got mine done at a local heat-treating shop for $30; drum + lid inside and out and my black iron air intake pipes. Took all of 15 mins. No burning for 8+ hrs, no 4+ hrs sanding/wire brushing. Trust me, it's worth it.
 
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