Homemade BBQ smoker project

itboffin

Tiny axe though

mudcow007

god dammit

i cant even find one barrel, now you have two

nice hatchet by the way....

TheEnglishman

itboffin wrote:

Tiny axe though

I think the phrase you were looking for was 'tiny chopper'?

davis

itboffin wrote:

Tiny axe though

Pfft. It's for keeping his fingernails in check.

EKE_38BPM

SimonAH's toothbrush:

pangolin

That is incredible. Well done.

itboffin

TheEnglishman wrote:

itboffin wrote:

Tiny axe though

I think the phrase you were looking for was 'tiny chopper'?

between the lines .....

rjsterry

SimonAH wrote:

Legaly obtained, here is my second barrel - welcome to a toasty warm workshop!

What, no damper or other controls? Must try harder Mr AH

Seriously, though, that might go a bit thermonuclear on a windy day if the flue has a good draw on it. A door might be good, so that you can 'shut it down'.

SimonAH

You're correct regarding the need for a door.

One is in the process of being built using the cut out section of barrel and a pyrex dish for a window - trickier than it sounds as I also have to create an air seal using some fire rope so I have to build a 'gutter' section around the door to hold it.

The problem is that my workshop was so frickin' cold that I needed it running in order for it to be a survivable place in which to work to build the door!

It has got a really stable draw on it - absolutely no smoke gets out even with the open front.

rjsterry

SimonAH wrote:

You're correct regarding the need for a door.

One is in the process of being built using the cut out section of barrel and a pyrex dish for a window - trickier than it sounds as I also have to create an air seal using some fire rope so I have to build a 'gutter' section around the door to hold it.

The problem is that my workshop was so frickin' cold that I needed it running in order for it to be a survivable place in which to work to build the door!

It has got a really stable draw on it - absolutely no smoke gets out even with the open front.

I'm probably teaching you to suck eggs, but I'm sure you could get hold of some small gauge off the shelf ss channel, which you could then fabricate into a holder for the gasket. As well as keeping the thing under control*, the door and a damper will also mean that you don't get through whole forests of wood when it's breezy.

*A childhood friend went out for the day, and forgot to close the vents and damper on their stove. When they got back, it was so hot that they had to use a broom handle to shut the vents to try and get it under control.

UndercoverElephant

This thread has me so inspired it's unreal. I've managed to find a food-safe (ex-fruit) drum with a lid and that's what I'm wanting for Christmas off the family. Simon, I notice a glaring lack of thermometer on your smoker, a seller in the US is doing a two-pack:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BUY-2-2-550-R ... 2ebf7b5ce8

Fancy going halvsies?

EKE_38BPM

UndercoverElephant wrote:

This thread has me so inspired it's unreal. I've managed to find a food-safe (ex-fruit) drum with a lid and that's what I'm wanting for Christmas off the family. Simon, I notice a glaring lack of thermometer on your smoker, a seller in the US is doing a two-pack:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BUY-2-2-550-R ... 2ebf7b5ce8

Fancy going halvsies?

I too am inspired. I've been looking at this and this.

UndercoverElephant

EKE_38BPM wrote:

I too am inspired. I've been looking at this and this.

I'd seen those ones too, but the ones on Amazon that look just like the one I linked to have the best reviews. Also found a nice looking round stainless-steel grill that's just the right size.

SimonAH

UndercoverElephant wrote:

This thread has me so inspired it's unreal. I've managed to find a food-safe (ex-fruit) drum with a lid and that's what I'm wanting for Christmas off the family. Simon, I notice a glaring lack of thermometer on your smoker, a seller in the US is doing a two-pack:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BUY-2-2-550-R ... 2ebf7b5ce8

Fancy going halvsies?

Sure, I'd be up for that!

I've had a cunning plan re the woodburner too - I'm going to run some SS box section horizontally through the firebox and attach an elbow section pointing up on one side and down on the other side external to the burner. Although it will look like an Egyptian dancer :-) I reckon it should pour hot air out of the top like a demon as a strong convection stream gets generated.

rjsterry

SimonAH wrote:

UndercoverElephant wrote:

This thread has me so inspired it's unreal. I've managed to find a food-safe (ex-fruit) drum with a lid and that's what I'm wanting for Christmas off the family. Simon, I notice a glaring lack of thermometer on your smoker, a seller in the US is doing a two-pack:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BUY-2-2-550-R ... 2ebf7b5ce8

Fancy going halvsies?

Sure, I'd be up for that!

I've had a cunning plan re the woodburner too - I'm going to run some SS box section horizontally through the firebox and attach an elbow section pointing up on one side and down on the other side external to the burner. Although it will look like an Egyptian dancer :-) I reckon it should pour hot air out of the top like a demon as a strong convection stream gets generated.

Have a look, at Stûv stoves - they have a double skin, with a fan to blow air through the void to turn it in to a pretty awesome fan heater. Might be tricky to rig up unless you have an extra large keg, but any kind of metal box would work. Then you can get into concentric flues for sealed combustion... am I being too ambitious?

SimonAH

:-)

EKE_38BPM

rjsterry wrote:

SimonAH wrote:

UndercoverElephant

rjsterry wrote:

SimonAH wrote:

UndercoverElephant wrote:

This thread has me so inspired it's unreal. I've managed to find a food-safe (ex-fruit) drum with a lid and that's what I'm wanting for Christmas off the family. Simon, I notice a glaring lack of thermometer on your smoker, a seller in the US is doing a two-pack:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BUY-2-2-550-R ... 2ebf7b5ce8

Fancy going halvsies?

Sure, I'd be up for that!

I've had a cunning plan re the woodburner too - I'm going to run some SS box section horizontally through the firebox and attach an elbow section pointing up on one side and down on the other side external to the burner. Although it will look like an Egyptian dancer :-) I reckon it should pour hot air out of the top like a demon as a strong convection stream gets generated.

Have a look, at Stûv stoves - they have a double skin, with a fan to blow air through the void to turn it in to a pretty awesome fan heater. Might be tricky to rig up unless you have an extra large keg, but any kind of metal box would work. Then you can get into concentric flues for sealed combustion... am I being too ambitious?

Ordered. My plan for the firebox is to create a 9" by 16" round basket out of expanded steel mesh, and then popping 2" feet on it to aid airflow. My welding skills are rudimentary at best (I had a course on it at Uni, but it was first thing on a Thursday morning so I rarely went - Wednesday nights at the Ritz in Manchester were legendary), so I'll be just tying it with wire to start. I'll also be having several inlet holes, due to the larger firebox.

Saw a recipe for smoked almonds yesterday. I love smoked almonds.

rjsterry

Here's a link to those stoves that I mentioned.

http://www.stuv.com/en/products/wood-burning-stoves/stuv-16-cube/operating-mode.html

If you want the wood burner to make an effective air heater, you need lots of surface area for heat transfer, so the double skin idea might work better than running a duct through the fire box.

UndercoverElephant

First firing of the drum smoker today. There are a couple of improvements I can make, but it holds a good, steady temperature (215 Fahrenheit). I smoked almonds and a huge trout that we had in the freezer over beech. Sweet lord, the almonds were lovely, maybe slightly over-smoked after an hour, I thnk I'll do them slightly less next time. They were brined for a few hours first, and then marinated in a mixture of Tabasco and Worcester sauce. Very nice, I'm taking a pot of them into work with me tomorrow.

And then came the trout - it was so succulent and juicy it was unreal. It was brined for an hour or so and then semi-spatchcocked on the grill. 90 minutes later, and the skin was wrinkly and yellowish, an the flesh was firm to the touch. Rested it in its skin for half an hour before serving. Just superb, nice smokey taste, but nothing to overpower the fish. Light squirt of lemon juice lifted it to another level.

UndercoverElephant

Pulled pork tonight, took all day to smoke. Started by covering a shoulder joint in Cajun spices and brown sugar, wrapped in cling film in the fridge overnight. Then slow smoked at 225 degrees Farenheit for about six hours until it had reached about 190 degrees, then wrapped in foil and rested for another 45 mins.

After resting it just about fell apart when I took a pair of forks to it. Whack it in white bread rolls along with the condiment of your choice. Juicy and delicious. Very good indeed.

davis

UE: any chance of some photos of your build please?

Edit: and some pulled pork please . I reckon I'm about 7.5 hours away from Edinburgh.

itboffin

Nice work, whilst I don't have a smoker of my own I have been working hard recently.

After a starter of pulled pork, brisket, pork ribs and roast chicken I finished with just one 1lb short rib from the pit

UndercoverElephant

davis wrote:

UE: any chance of some photos of your build please?

Edit: and some pulled pork please . I reckon I'm about 7.5 hours away from Edinburgh.

No problem on the pics... you need to be faster with the pork.

I used a design based upon this website:

http://howtobbqright.com/udssmoker.html

First step, burn out the barrel - get rid of the non-heat-resistant paint:



Fire-basket made of expanded steel, tied together with twisted wires:



Firebasket in the drum:



Completed smoker, painted with heat-resistant stove paint:



Smmoooookkkinnnn'



First lot of almonds:



Trout (outside):



Trout (inside):



No photos of the pork, I'm afraid. Didn't last long enough as the smell had been killing me for hours.

I have two chimney holes now as one wasn't enough to keep the fire at the right temp. I also have a ball-valve attached to one of the inlet holes at the bottom so that I can fully control the air-flow.

gtvlusso

itboffin wrote:

Nice work, whilst I don't have a smoker of my own I have been working hard recently.

After a starter of pulled pork, brisket, pork ribs and roast chicken I finished with just one 1lb short rib from the pit

I can almost see the heart attack!

Chapeau UCE - your project looks great!

Spoke to the pub across the road from my pad, looks like a couple of steel barrels are coming my way! Roll on the angle grinder and the welder! Any tips on ball valve chimney builds - parts?

Suggest a new thread is started ' Silly Commuter BBQ racing'....

davis

My word UE. That looks to be made of winning.

Awesome.

prb007

Nice project!
Hoping to make a BBQ and pizza oven out of an outside toilet (I kid you not!)
when I move house at/around Easter
On a sidebar...this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IghxyxeeVAk
was on the same page as one of the previous links....
some people have WAY too much time on their hands!

itboffin

I'm too lazy to build my own so I've been researching commercial units mmmmm commercial units

But seriously is it possible to smoke meat when it won't stop raining with gale force wind?

rjsterry

itboffin wrote:

I'm too lazy to build my own so I've been researching commercial units mmmmm commercial units

But seriously is it possible to smoke meat when it won't stop raining with gale force wind?

Course it is. Scotland is pretty wet and windy, and they smoke a lot of stuff there - the only place to get warm and dry.

graham.

As a slight aside. I was given some smoked rock salt for Christmas, very nice it was too.
You could try getting some cheep rock salt and smoking that, I'm sure you could find some space when you're smoking something else. Just a thought.