New Barrel bbq pit

[Tahyo]

Found some plans for a barrel pit for smoking. Had my son pick me up a brand new barrel yesterday at his work and it took me about an hour to put this thing together.

It has (2) 3/4" intakes (valves) at the bottom that are adjustable. The stack you see in the picture.

I got some expanded metal and made a basket to hold the lump charcoal, size 17" in diameter with 7" sides, with 1" feet to keep off bottom.

I fired this thing up this morning to start seasoning it and to learn how to control the temp. I used 1/3 bag of lump charcoal, fired it up at 9:00 A.M. this morning and have not refilled the basket yet holding my temperature at 225 - 250 for the first try.

You can also set it up with a hot plate and a little firebox to do some jerky or cold smoked fish. I have this one set up to hold 2 grills.

In short... I'm going to like this smoker.

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[Rick]

So where do you get a new barrel? What kind of business is your son in?

[Tahyo]

He works for Uline, Inc. He gets a pretty good discount on things from there. I can get used barrels for free, but I never now what's in them, so I get new ones when I need to do things like this.

[crashdive123]

Nice looking. So Tahyo - how many does that make lying around?

[Tahyo]

Nice looking. So Tahyo - how many does that make lying around?

Actually it replaces the one I had before.
In answer to your question.... "Too many" as my wife would say.

[crashdive123]

Women are funny like that. I still say that there are some things that you can not have to many/much of.

[Rick]

There is officially no limit on man stuff. Man stuff is useful and has a purpose. Often well beyond the intended use. For example, nails can be used to pick up trash by embedding them in the end of a pole. They could also be used in conjunction with a hammer to test older ammunition. So man stuff has a purpose and, in case any ladies are reading this, a PLACE@! Everything a man owns has a specific place that it MUST be kept. Not returning it to its rightful place destroys man Karma.

Women stuff, on the other had, generally involve items purchased as sales. They bear no relationship to need or requirement. The word SALE is compelling to a woman. There is no rightful place for women stuff. It usually goes wherever they want to put it. Sadly, there is no woman Karma either so men have no way to retaliate.

[Tahyo]

Women are funny like that. I still say that there are some things that you can not have to many/much of.

I remind her of that usually when I put some bbq on the table. Yesterday I marinated a bunch of chicken thighs and breasts in zest Italian for a few hours and then cooked on the older barrel pit with some mesquite tossed in for good measure. She's still talking about that.
Yes, I have a before picture and one with my faithful dog guarding the pit as usual, but figured I'd spare ya'll from my bbq pics for a while.

[crashdive123]

Tahyo - you can never post too many pictures of bbq. Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

[Tahyo]

Tahyo - you can never post too many pictures of bbq. Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

I'll post some tomorrow. My oldest son is coming over and he wants me to do some chicken like I did yesterday. Good opportunity to cook on the new barrel pit for the first time. I seasoned it with a sacrificial 1/3 bag of lump charcoal and all kinds of hickory bark, oak bark and what ever other good smoking type barks I could get my hands on. It's got a nice smoky build up in it now and ready for the real thing.

[Aurelius95]

If you don't mind saying, how much did that barrel setup cost you, and what would one (read: someone who cannot get a discount on a barrel) pay for the supplies?

Gracias

[Tahyo]

If you don't mind saying, how much did that barrel setup cost you, and what would one (read: someone who cannot get a discount on a barrel) pay for the supplies?

Gracias

I think brand new "Open top" barrels sell for 50 or 60 dollars. That's not shipped. Check around your area for them. Fortunately I have access to them. You could use a used barrel, but be damn sure you know what was in it before you start trying to cook in it.

Barrel (discounted price) 36.00
(2) 3/4" valves 14.00 (I think, give or take)
(2) 3/4" x 3" nipples 2.00 and some change
(4) conduit ring locks 3.00 to hold the pipe in the barrel
(8) 1/4" x 1.5" bolts with washers and nuts to hold grill in place I think 3.00
expanded steel to make charcoal basket 30.00
pipe for the stack 5 or 6 dollars I think.

All said and done I built this thing for about 100 bucks. If I keep it covered when I don't use it, it will last me a pretty long time. The last barrel pit I made lasted me 5 years and I simply replaced it with this on.

I'll take pictures later today of some of the details and post them. The expanded metal basket is a must have for ease of loading lump charcoal. I happened to know a guy at a welding company and he cut the expanded metal for me to size as I don't have a cutting torch or the right wheel for my grinder.
I did do the welding though as I have a welding machine. The basket is 17" in diameter with 7" high sides.

Now mind you, this particular pit I made is for smoking things. With both intakes open the maximum temp may get to 350 if you have the lid on. I won't be doing any grilling on it. That's what my gas grill is for.

If anyone is interested in building one of these, let me know and I'll try to put together a better plan. This is something that just took everyday tools for the most part.

[Tahyo]

Check out this site. I linked to the photos page, but there's a menu on the left. There are a ton of other pictures if you go to the "Forums" and the "Customer pics" are pretty good. This company is selling these things and they are fashioned slightly different but from what I've read, it does a good job.

Barrel pits have been around for a long time. I've been cooking on one since I was a kid in La. and the furtherest I can recall a barrel pit is my 3 x Great Uncle Nook back in the early 60s using one. Hard to believe that I had a 3xGreat Uncle alive while I was, but he lived a long time.

[crashdive123]

Tahyo - now that you've got me drooling all over again...link?

[Tahyo]

Sorry.... wife side tracked me. You'll really drool when you see these.

http://bigdrumsmokers.com/album/photos.htm

[crashdive123]

OMG!!!!! You really should have posted a warning ***Do not view this site on an empty stomach*** Of course that should also apply to most of the pics that you and Bragg post.

[Tahyo]

OMG!!!!! You really should have posted a warning ***Do not view this site on an empty stomach*** Of course that should also apply to most of the pics that you and Bragg post.

Aye, it had that effect on me too. I've been cooking and looking at bbq my entire life...the good stuff and I still drool when I see things like that.

Funny thing... Last night I was looking at those pictures and it was sort of late. My wife comes in and asked what I was looking at. When she saw, she goes, "OH MY GOD! Most men would be looking at porn, but not you! You're always looking at bbq".

[Tahyo]

Here's some closeup shots of this barrel. Just click on the thumbnails for larger views.


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[Aurelius95]

So, essentially, what you paid $100 or so for (and a non discounted barrel might cost an additional $20), I could build for $120? And the guy on the website was selling them for $400? If I pull the trigger, I'll be building it myself!

THanks for the pics Tahyo.

[Tahyo]

The two biggest expenditures are the barrel and the expanded metal and if you don't weld yourself or know someone, that would probably be an expenditure as well. I have seen the charcoal baskets made from the expanded metal by simply bending it to make a square type container. May take more expanded metal so you'll have to do the math. Just make sure if you do it that way you make it so that from corner to corner it fits in your barrel clearing the shelf bolts for the grill.