55 gal/freezer smoker

Clubbs.

I am currently in the process of doing the same thing. I bought the stove kit from vogelzang and mounted it to a 55 gallong drum. I lined the inside bottom with firebrick and added a few more air inlets on the back of the drum. for some reason the kit doesnt have a big enough air opening and when you close the cast iron door the fire goes out. When I was doing the first burn I put 3 small oak logs on the inside and it burned at 535*. I decided to insulate it by wrapping 3" fiberglass insulation around the barrel. Then A 7'x7' quilt over the fiberglass, and finally some reflectix barrier around the outwside to water proof it just in case I used it in the rain. I fired her up again and it burned at 700* with 3 1/2 logs. I was even able to sit on the barrel while it was going. I am currently having the pipe made that goes to the fridge. I already had a hole cut for an air vent when I used the fridge as electric but it is a little lowes than the top of the barrel so I have to come up with some unique bends to a pipe. I am using 6" steel pipe with a 6" aluminum vent on the inside of the fridge. I bought some fiberglass pipe insulation and plan on double layering it when I get it installed. The distance from the fridge will be about 2 feet. Hope this helps, I am currently on vacation but will get some pics posted when I get home.

When I got the kit put together I did my first burn with nothing just to get all the crap off the inside of the barrel. Where the fire sits the barrel started getting red/white hot. To me this could cause a problem if it gets too hot and burns up the insulation. I figured lining the bottom with 2000* resistant brick would help in not letting the bottom of the barrel getting to hot. Yes it will help with heat retention. Once the bricks get heated up you will be using less fuel. It will also allow you to let it sit for hours and not babysit every few minutes.