Ugly Drum Smoker

Found them in the 'special' drawer of my tool box.

I just use the wire for tying rebar to assemble my basket and then use the wire to tie it to the grate, very easy:icon_bigsmil

I used hog rings. The rings themselves are real cheap but the pliers are a bit pricey ..... around $20.00 if I remember right. You can find them at a farm & tractor store or an upholstery supply store.

so, i finally read through all 100 and some odd pages of this thread.
I've been looking into building one of these for 6 months now.
I have my plan, it is going be very similar to jerry's
I was able to score the exact same cheap walmart kettle for $20, I wasn't planning on hinging the lid, because they don't quite line up right, but after looking at his, i am going to revisit that idea.
I even had the same basic idea of the charcoal basket, a little bit different but similar design as his. Which makes me feel good, like i know what i am doing or something.
I burned the barrel 2 times, very high and hot flames, burned all the paint on the outside off. Scrubbed it down with a wire brush on my drill. rubbed it down with some pork grease.
Now i am ready to start drilling and screwing :-O

here is my delima: I bought the drum off of craigslist, and have no idea what was in it before i got it. I emailed the d00d who sold it to me, and he said he doesn't know either. Untill now, i figured the burns plus the scrub would get any bad juju out of that thing. but now i have second thoughts. Should I carry on, or look for a new barrel? I really don't want to burn another one out. I am shocked the laws didn't come out for the last 2 burns. Do I press my luck a third time?
So far my investment is:
barrel ---------- $20
grill ------------ $20
brush----------- $4
carwash machine $2.50
-------------------------
total ------------ $46.50
the big question is, should it say this:
Having a barrel you can trust didn't have MEK and/or Karosene in it.......PRICELESS

If you get that barrel red hot, especially around any seams, Id have a hard time believing that there is any residue from anything left. If there is no residue anywhere, Id run it as is... If it will ease the mind, hit it with a weed burner or even a rosebud

But thats my .02 for what its worth

If you burned it out 2 times it should be fine.

Beerwolf said:

If you get that barrel red hot, especially around any seams, Id have a hard time believing that there is any residue from anything left. If there is no residue anywhere, Id run it as is... If it will ease the mind, hit it with a weed burner or even a rosebud

But thats my .02 for what its worth

Click to expand...

thanks, it burned hot. hot enough for the outside paint to flame up and fall off.
I was waist deep into the thing, head first, while brushing it out, and it didn't smell funny or anything.

Info for Burgs95

Hey Burgs, fellow Easley guy here. I now live in Greenville now and I can help you. I know a guy in Union that comes to GVille once a week and he has food grade drums.

I have been reading through all of these posts, gathering all the information I was needing to build my first UDS. I still have one question I am needing an answer for, well maybe 2. I am going to install a vertical intake, right now I have cut a 2 -1/8th hole 1 inch from the bottom and also the same on the removeable lid. I am going to have my brother-in-law weld an exhaust on the top. OK here's my question...Do I have to make the intake pipe go to the center of the barrel or the hole with the intake welded on the outside of the drum work. I am going to install a damper like your common smoker on top of the pipe to control the air flow. Is there any need for more intakes with this setup??

Any help is much appreciated!!!!!

Burn baby burn

First of all thanks to all that have helped me with my build and I'm on my way:!: Then I got word on a bread company that'll hook me up a food grade drum when they empty out the flour. With that 2nd drum, I'm gonna take N8's advice and use my 1st drum to extend the height and grates. Here's the drum as she is heated up a little:!::twisted:

Must be nice to live in Omaha where you can have a fire like that! The wire wheel routine is a lot of work to get the liner out of one of these babies.

Don't always have to burn wood. Might work in San Francisco

Got this barrel and since there is no liner can I just do a good burn and go to work no need to wire brush correct?

That's what I'd do.

That barrel looks too clean. Hurry up and get it dirty. looks like there might be a light light film of oil on it. Like the godfather of UDS said, a good burn would probably take care of it.

I'd do all of my build out on it first and then burn it, then it's cleaner to work with.

Should be able to burn then power wash it out right no wire wheel?

Correct fordman. Get it done and get it dirty. Just wipe it down with some kind of fat after you wash and dry it, then fire that bad boy up!!!!!!

Just in time to hormeal boston butts 99 per lb at the store thinking first cook. Does lump burn hotter and longer that brickets? plus 10lbs should last correct?

fordman, lump will burn hotter and bricks will burn more even and longer. I mix about half and half, (experiment with your drum as they act a little different), do some cooks and see what works for you and stick with that combination. Some burn all lump, some burn all bricks...just experiment. Either way will work just fine. 10lbs or maybe a little more should do the trick. Add plenty and see how much is left for the next burn. A little too much will keep you from fighting the fire in the latter stages of the burn and anything left over will keep just fine for the next cook. You will be just fine. Have fun and keep notes.

Due to the rain now and tomarrow looks like a good garage project tomarrow.

That's okay fordman, at least you are making progress. Problem is, you are going to get real antsy to fire that marvelous smoker up. Get some type of easy-up tent and then the rain will not stop you from firing up the drum. The wifey and I cook year round, rain, snow, cold, whatever. The drum works well under a variety of weather conditions.