Ugly Drum Smoker?

[durell81]

I am interested in building an "UDS" Ugly Drum Smoker, but I am having the hardest time finding a food grade 55 gallon Steel drum. Does anyone have idea where I can find one close to Symrna or Murfreesboro area? I see them for sale all the time on cragislist but they always tend to be at least 2 hrs or more away. I can't see driving that far to spend $20 bucks.

[E4 No More]

I am interested in building an "UDS" Ugly Drum Smoker, but I am having the hardest time finding a food grade 55 gallon Steel drum. Does anyone have idea where I can find one close to Symrna or Murfreesboro area? I see them for sale all the time on cragislist but they always tend to be at least 2 hrs or more away. I can't see driving that far to spend $20 bucks.

There's a guy that sets up in the parking lot of an abandoned business on Almaville Road just off of I-24 that sells all sorts of barrels. I saw that he had numerous 55-gallon drums that appeared to be food grade. EDIT: Coming from Antioch you'd turn right on Almaville Road and he was in the first parking lot. He was there on a Saturday morning, and from the look of his truck set-up he does this regularly.

 

There was a cat on here that lives off of Smith Springs Road and I-40 who sold me a barrel a couple of years ago, but I don't remember his screen name. He might see this and answer. Mine had contained Canola oil.

 

But, there are a few places online who sell them that have never had anything in them. More expensive, but clean.

Edited May 15, 2015 by SWJewellTN

[durell81]

Thanks SWJewell,

 

I will go by Almaville Road this Saturday to see if the guy is out there. Thanks for the reply. Would you happen to have the name of the places online that sells them?

[E4 No More]

Thanks SWJewell,

 

I will go by Almaville Road this Saturday to see if the guy is out there. Thanks for the reply. Would you happen to have the name of the places online that sells them?

Uline is one. Google will come up with several, like this: http://www.bestcontainers.com/5668l.html

[E4 No More]

You also might check with KSG steel. They are up off of Nolensville Road north of I-440. They have good prices on steel. They come up for steel drums, but I haven't bought any there.

[durell81]

Thanks again for the help!

[klamb5]

Most of the food grade barrels have a coating that will be affected by high temps. Now if you can find a stainless steel then you would be smoking with gas.

[Garufa]

I wonder if the people who build grills/smokers out of old drums as a business give a crap about what was in it before.  From the ones I've see the answer is no.

 

They don't sell Oak Ridge 55 gallon drums, those are buried somewhere.  I have a feeling fire will take care of what was in any other non-food grade drum.

Edited May 15, 2015 by Garufa

[TrickyNicky]

I wonder if the people who build grills/smokers out of old drums as a business give a crap about what was in it before.  From the ones I've see the answer is no.

 

They don't sell Oak Ridge 55 gallon drums, those are buried somewhere.  I have a feeling fire will take care of what was in any other non-food grade drum.

 

 

Probably this, but I can think of several non foods items I wouldn't want in mine. Like mayonnaise  :yuck: .

[E4 No More]

Most of the food grade barrels have a coating that will be affected by high temps. Now if you can find a stainless steel then you would be smoking with gas.

Buying new from one of the sites you can get uncoated. Most do have an epoxy resin coating. I filled mine full of sticks and lighter fluid and burned it off first thing.

 

The problem with the drums is that they rust out quick around the seams. I painted mine with header paint and it still rusted. I replaced it with a heavy gauge side-box smoker that I sealed with high temperature silicon seal to help keep the smoke in. It works better.

[Photoguy67]

There is a place in Fairview call Nashville barrel and drum that sells clean drums that have been used but cleaned out and reconditioned. Have no idea price.

[musicman]

When I clicked this thread I thought it was just going to be a pic of Ringo Starr.

[vontar]

There is a place in Fairview call Nashville barrel and drum that sells clean drums that have been used but cleaned out and reconditioned. Have no idea price.

I tried to find the link but failed. 

 

http://www.nashvillebarrelanddrum.com/

 

not much info there.  Thought the site was being camped by a domain seller until I found the following.

 

 

Welcome

Nashville Barrel & Drum Service provides New & Used: Barrels, Drum & Kegs to the entire Middle Tennessee & Northern Alabama Area. Please contact us for more information.

[Ugly]

Inmo if you are going to go through the effort of cutting and welding buy some sheet stock that will be a lot thicker than a drum. I don't think you'll get many years out of a drum.

[Caster]

Don't count out a water heater core tank.  They work well.

[KaNaPaPi]

I used an old 1940's fridge and an old wood burning stove to make a smoker.


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[peejman]

The problem with the drums is that they rust out quick around the seams. I painted mine with header paint and it still rusted. I replaced it with a heavy gauge side-box smoker that I sealed with high temperature silicon seal to help keep the smoke in. It works better.

Yep. Drums are pretty thin. If you do a burn out, it'll rust quickly afterwards. Paint the outside with high temp paint and leave the inside greasy after cooking.

I'd look for a water heater tank or old propane tank. They're much more robust.

[TrickyNicky]

friend of mine made several pits out of dryer drums as well. Not sure how well they would hold up over the long haul but it's an option.

[Tempest455]

Try Cowley Container in Mt. Pleasant. Get the thickest gauge you can. 

 

The deposit on a stainless would make you want to use a steel drum. Additionally, stainless is hard to cut.

 

Ditto on the propane tank above. I made one from a drum once and it won't last near as long as a tank.

[durell81]

I was wanting to use a drum because from what I have seen there is not a lot of cutting and welding involved. I thought when I saw someone using one on a bbq forum it would be easy to find a drum/barrel but guess not. I will try to see if I can find one online for a decent price if not I will just scrap the idea.

[E4 No More]

Honestly, I think an old propane tank is better. Just make sure that you fill it up with water before cutting. There are more than a couple of instances where someone was told that a tank was completely empty to find out otherwise. Better safe than sorry.