cooking out of a 55 gallon drum

[Judy Moist]

I was watching food network this afternoon, and they were doing barbeque, this one group of guys was not using any fancy smancy grills, they were using a 55 gallon metal drum..the top had been cut off, all they did was build the fire in the bottom of the barrel, set a grill rack down in the barrel and put in your food and cover (they used a piece of plywood, but used a stick to wedge between the plywood and the top of the barrel to allow venting...you could also adopt this method using a dutch oven for cooking other things like beans etc.. over an open fire....I thought this was just a fantastic idea.. In case of an emergency....

[Judy Moist]

and no, the plywood didn;t burn, because they had vented by wedging the stick between the wood and drum...just fascinating,,,,

[Guest Guest]

After cutting drum in half, weld hinges onto each half.. now you have a lid. If you weld a stop on the back the lid can stand up without falling backwards.

 

Now if you cut a hole in the side of the 55 gallon drum just a small one about 8 inches in diameter... well large enough or small enough to fit a stove pipe through... then add a small wood/burn box on the ground connecting the burn box with the stove pipe... You cut a hole in the lid on the opposite side of where the burn box is and add a chimmney you now have a smoker! or you can take the pipes off, and have a BBQ once again.

 

a very brief explaination.

 

You burn in the box and the smoke goes up through the smoker.

[Judy Moist]

Now I have seen the 55 gallon drums fixed like that before, especially for a smoker,,but these guys didn't even do all that,, they just built the fire in the bottom, threw a round grill rack in there and the middle ring of the form on the barrel held it in place, then just threw their food on the rack to cook,,,and to beat all they won 7th place in a national cook off with it..they said the only problem they have with their (TRASH BARREL) as they called it,, Is people walk by at the events, and pick up the lid and throw their trash in, thinking it is the garbage can....

[logcabinmama]

We had a stove like that in the basement years ago. Then we bought a better one. But, now with my allergies and all, we can't burn wood.

 

 

[Judy Moist]

They had one couple who used and old water tank and cut it in half and made a smoker out of it,, they won 2nd place with it,,,,just goes to show you , if there is a will, there is a way....

[mrsj]

I can't remember the size of the drum, we have 44 gallon drums here and also 20 I think. My Dad invented one in the 70s with a downpipe for the smoke. The grill was a plough disc I think, with a bolt to block the middle hole. The wood had a place to put it in down the bottom. We used it for years, and another that was made later.