First time build. Looking for advice.

chad633

Newbie

Original poster

Oct 25, 2011

5

10

Thomasville North Carolina

• Oct 25, 2011

• #1

Hey everyone, my name is Chad and I will soon be starting my first smoker build. I will gladly appreciate any advice about the experience. My barrel is a 275 gallon round, (not oval) oil drum. My idea is to build the smoker standing up vertically instead of it layingdown and my reason is that I think for the amount of cooking I do, I probaly can get by with it this way. My first concern is should I cut any of the barrel out to make it shorter, or would leaving it alone be best. Also, I would like for you to share with me the distance from coals to cooking grate. I was looking at about 20 to 24 inches. Any advice will great, thanks!

 

diesel

Smoking Fanatic

Apr 29, 2008

594

28

Powhatan, Virginia

• Oct 25, 2011

• #2

Post some picts of the tank.  Also, have you looked at some of the builds that are currently on the forum?  There are a lot of good ideas with plenty of pictures to help.  

 

dalton

Smoke Blower

Oct 26, 2010

129

10

• Oct 25, 2011

• #3

I did a build from scratch out of wood and found this book to be full of lots of good info not only on building the smoker but on the basic sience of how smoking works...

Meat Smoking And Smokehouse Design

lots of good ideas here around the forum too.

good luck.

dalton

 

chad633

Newbie

Original poster

Thread starter

Oct 25, 2011

5

10

Thomasville North Carolina

• Oct 26, 2011

• #4

I should have some pics starting next week, I haven't even started to sand or fix any dents yet. I will also check the forums for ideas, thanks.

 

chad633

Newbie

Original poster

Thread starter

Oct 25, 2011

5

10

Thomasville North Carolina

• Oct 26, 2011

• #5

Thanks, I will look into the book.

 

chad633

Newbie

Original poster

Thread starter

Oct 25, 2011

5

10

Thomasville North Carolina

• Oct 31, 2011

• #6

Well, I am confused about what I should do. The barrel I have was an oil tank and the thickness is not what I am looking for. I think I will make a regular bbq grill with this one and start looking for some used propane tanks for a smoker build. will the thickness of the barrel be a problem, or should I try to weld supports into the inside cooking chamber. Leaning pretty heavy on waiting for thicker propane tanks. Here are a few pictures of what I have got so far.