Could anyone post links to information regarding homemade barbeques?
I’ve done many searches on Google and found a great deal of information on building brick barbeques and smokers, but very little on simple steel structures.
What I’m looking for is along the lines of what precautions I should take if I were to convert an oil drum to a barbeque (charcoal)…
I’ve found two pages that do have information on building smokers out of 55 gallon oil drums. While these were informative and did seem to be good designs, I’m looking for something more low-key; I don’t need anything quite so large.
Basically, if anyone could provide information/links to suggestions on building a charcoal barbeque I’d be most appreciative.
Oy… forgot to preview.
To clarify: I’ve found a couple pages about building barbeques/smokers out of oil drums.
What I’m looking for is more general information:
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What are recommended materials? Should I use 1/4" steel plate to build a BBQ?
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Treating the material: paint? fire brick? other options? what should I use?
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Safety concerns? Aside from the obvious (hot metal), should I be worried about the type of coating on the materials I use? Should I be looking for a particular type of steel?
Please keep in mind that I’d like to build a medium size barbeque with reasonably cheap materials. I’d like to leave the option open to do many types of cooking (ie: cold smoking, grilling, etc.)
Why not use the Aussie model?
Take a 1/4" steel plate of the required dimensions.
Use four house bricks to hold the plate over the fire.
Minutes to set up and dismantle, a breeze to clean and cooks as well as any other design.
More sophisticated add-ons like a fire box, additional bricks (and cement) to raise fire/hotplate to something closer to waist height, a drain plug & sump for the fat and maybe the decadence of a hood are optional extras.
If you use a used oil drum, there might be a coating on it that will probably have to be burned off. Don’t use used refrigerator or freezer racks for the grid, these are coated with cadmium, or possibly some other heavy metal that will burn off.
I built something like this. It was like the one on the left. I bought a new 35 gallon barrel, they even cut it in half length wise for me. I built a frame to hold the bottom half. I then welded on 1/8 inch by 1 inch bar stock around the top and bottom cut edges. I didn’t want the sharp edges of the barrel to show. Set the top on the bottom, weld on some hinges on the back and a piece of chain on each side to hold the lid when it was opened. I cut a piece of expanded metal to fit about half way up in the bottom half to hold the charcoal. I found some chrome plated steel grills at K-Mart, they were about 2 inches narrower than I wanted so I welded in some angle iron to hold them. They worked great, there was about a 6 inch gap between the two grills for adding more charcoal if necessary. I fashioned a couple of air vents on the bottom just below the charcoal level using coffee can lids. I also added a chimney using regular 6 inch stove pipe, I even added a damper. A nice piece of oak and a couple long bolts were attached to the lid for a handle and I was done. I used high temp stove paint to paint the outside. Before using it, I built a nice hot fire in it to burn off any oils. Total cost (in 1985 dollars), $75.
The one I built was a prototype for going into the barrel BBQ building business. It turned out to be the only one I built. I got a regular paying job a few weeks later. I used the BBQ a couple of times then sold it for $100. The buyer still has it and uses it quite often. The only thing he has replaced is the grills and the coffee can vents. A place near me makes and sells them and there prices start at $300 and go up to about a thousand. They are only open a few months a year and sell out there inventory very quickly.