So, you’ve been blessed with a big 55 gallon steel drum? You happen to be somewhat handy? You like BBQ? Me, too! Here’s what I did to turn this unsightly industrial refuse into a BBQ smoker, cheerfully named Big Blue.
Quick disclaimer: If your drum contained anything hazardous or you even remotely think it may have contained anything hazardous, DON’T USE IT TO COOK FOOD. Flat out, if you get some barrel that says Chernobyl or Three Mile Island on it or it mentions any type of remote health hazard and you turn it into a smoker and get sick as hell / grow a few more ears, you are at fault. Not me. Read my general Disclaimer. Don’t be stupid.
On to Big Blue:
Unsightly industrial refuse
I made some loose plans for turning this thing into a functional smoker. Plenty of online research into what other people have done went into my planning. No sense re-inventing the wheel, or smoker.
Detailed smoker plans
In essence, the drum needs to be cleaned out, have some strategically-placed holes drilled into it, be painted, and have some stuff bolted/screwed on.
To get started, I constructed the coal basket. I took two pieces of 12″ x 24″ perforated sheet metal and bolted it into a cylinder. This will rest on a Weber grill grate with four 3″ bolts to act as legs.
Coal basket (left) and base (right)
The coal base will allow two important things: the burnt ashes to fall from the active coals, and the air to surround the burning coals. This gives the fire enough oxygen fuel to burn efficiently without being snuffed out. One simply rests on the other in the center of the base of the smoker.
Ready to smoke some meat!
Now that the guts are assembled, time to get to work on the steel drum. You need a special drill bit that can cut through steel. I did some pricing and these things are incredibly expensive, to the tune of $30-$40 and up. I’m told you can get one for less than $20 at Harbor Freight Tools, but they may only withstand a few holes. Luckily, there is a handy guy in the parish who happened to have one for me to borrow.
Specialty tools cost $$$!
The cool thing about this bit is that you can drill any hole between 1/4″ and 3/4″ in increments of 1/16″.
The drum has a 6′ circumference and I want four baffles around the base, meaning the holes will be about 1.5′ apart. With the coal cage being 4″ off the ground, my baffles will be 6″ off the ground. The baffles will be ball valves with 1/2″ holes.
To make my life easy, I am using all 1/4″, full thread, hex screws. With some consistency, drilling holes, using washers & nuts, etc. is straightforward.
In addition to the baffle holes, I want four similarly equidistant 1/4″ holes near the top of the barrel so that I can run some 2″ hex screws into the barrel. These will hold my 22.5″ Weber kettle food grate. I will put these about 6″ down from the lid. This will give me a good amount of vertical space for making bigger food (like a dressed turkey!).
Finally, the 9th hole will be a 1/2″ hole below the 6″ depth of the food grate holes for my thermometer. I am putting it right below the food grate so that I can tell the temperature within the chamber right near the food.
Once all the holes are drilled, I washed the inside with some diluted CRL. Then I added some vegetable oil and lighter fluid. Fire cleans all.
FIRE BURN!!!
At this point, I’d like to take a moment to add a lawyerly disclaimer. Don’t do this, particularly after drinking beer all day. This is dangerous and the cops / fire department will not be amused.
On the plus side, the fire burned off some arm hair the pesky labels that I could not remove.
After this fiasco cools down, wipe down the inside and outside again. It’s ready to paint.
Clean, but still needs to be sealed
I am painting the inside with a quart of Rustoleum High Heat specialty paint.
Ah, that's better. First coat of fire paint applied.
The outside will get some regular Rustoleum – my son picked out Royal Blue. In an effort to avoid any Cubs loyalty confusion, I will make a Cardinals stencil out of posterboard and spray paint that design over the blue in another color.
One coat isn't going to do it...
A second coat of paint is needed to hide the original black undercoat.
Ah, that looks better
I am planning to spray paint on some Cardinal logo decorations from my homemade stencils, or maybe some Billiken stuff in honor of an alma mater.
Once this puppy dries on the outside, it’s time to screw on all of the hardware. Having consistently bought 1/4″ hardware, this is a simple process that takes mere minutes.
Smoker guts inserted...
Thermometer bolted on... needed a washer on the inside to make it snug
Four ball valves to serve as air baffles near the base... each also needed a washer for snugness
Can't go wrong with a Weber kettle BBQ tool rack
Drop in a hinged 22.5" grill grate, and put on an old 22.5" Weber kettle lid, and you're done!
Voila! Smoker is complete; Big Blue is born. Time to get some rub paste on 11 lbs of brisket for the family gathering tomorrow. Dinner is at 3pm, so I need to get up at 7am. (Pics to follow)
I’m inspired by Ernie Hudson in Ghostbusters: “We have the tools; We have the talent!”
Nice job. As a lifelong Cubs fan, I could have done without the bashing, but I understand. I’ll be making a steel drum BBQ pit soon. Mine is going to lay flat, as opposed to your design, but I like your ideas. Thanks.
Larry, that was meant for my die-hard Cubs fan father. We love the Cubs here in STL… good for at least 15 wins per year.
Can I use an oil drum to make the pit?
Like… one that had crude oil in it? I wouldn’t recommend anything that had toxins. The answer may be yes, structurally, but it could be risky from a health point of view.
Hey there!
When u did your burn, did all the outer paint come off? I have a new unused drum, bare inside and black paint outside, I am thinking I need to remove this… also the outside paint on yours, was it high heat paint or was that only inside? Why paint the inside, does it make it easier to clean?
Thanks a million!
Cheers,
Ivan
Ivan, I painted the inside with high heat black Rustoleum and the outside with regular metal-cover Rustoleum. Why paint the inside? I wanted a clean, new finish that was basically what I would get from a new BBQ pit. Although I was sure it was clean and safe, I still wanted to encapsulate the old interior and coating, and get a nice new durable finish at the same time.
Hey man. Nice rig. Just wondering how the paint on the exterior held up to the heat. Looking at doing something similar, but spraying it on. Hate to have it just burn off though. Do the small ball valves work well enough to control temps?