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Offset barrel smoker tips

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    Offset barrel smoker tips

    I have had a 55 gallon drum in my backyard for a few years. I recently acquired a17 gallon drum. I am planning to build an offset, reverse flow barrel smoker. Any tips?

    #2
    Our resident expert on building smokers is Ahumadora. Paging Doctor Ahumadora. I’m sure a few others will also pop in with their experiences. Good luck with your project. My only concern would be how a steel drum would hold up as the firebox over a long period of time.

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      #3
      Hi don w is correct barrel is not going to last and will lose alot of heat.. post some pics of what you want to do.

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        #4
        I too agree that if you have a barrel you might as well use heat rising to your advantage and stick with a drum style cooker. An offset works because of thickness, the thick walls hold heat. Many use propane tanks & such for building offsets. Not saying you can't do it, but it might turn out to be a pain in the butt to operate.

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          #5
          Build an ugly drum smoker and then a baby ugly drum smoker instead.

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            #6
            Thanks for the advice and I'm glad I didn't start yet.

            I have an ugly drum smoker. Would the barrel work for the cook chamber if I built a heavier cook chamber? I have a son that is taking metal shop and can weld it.

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            • Donw
              Donw commented
              Editing a comment
              From what I have read, the original popularity of barrel smokers started in the Texas oil fields where workers would use a 55 gal drum as the smoke chamber. Eventually they discovered steel pipe worked better. Won’t retain heat like one with thick steel but it will work. If you have access to a MIG you could make a steel firebox with an offset to feed the heat and smoke into the barrel. Interesting project to think about.

            #7
            It is too thin and won't hold heat since the flow is horizontal instead of vehicle like a UDS. Find an old gas or propane tank; that or big piece of blackiron pipe.

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              #8
              I understand that the walls are thin, but assuming I build a firebox out of thicker steel, how would the cook chamber be any different than say a Traeger? Wouldn't the walls be approximately the same thickness?

              I'm not trying to argue. I'm just trying to understand.

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              • jfmorris
                jfmorris commented
                Editing a comment
                Traeger is not an offset, its a pellet grill. On an offset, the body gets exposed to flames and high heat shooting out of the firebox. Even if you use thicker metal on the firebox, the thin walls of the main drum will burn out at the firebox end.

              #9
              I say go for it.. if it rots out you can build a heavier one and make improvements then.. for me I only learn by failing!! What do ya have to lose..

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                #10
                packerfannate Just my 2 cents, as an engineer and having been using an offset and looking at them since the 1980's....

                My thought is that a 55 gallon drum is not going to make a decent offset smoker, no matter what you do with it. The metal is not thick enough. And most especially, if that 17 gallon drum is similar in thickness, it will burn up quickly as a fire box. I honestly think you would get better use making a UDS out of it, if you have the lid for the drum. With a UDS, the fire is in a charcoal grate or basket, up off the base of the drum, and not burning right on that steel. Plus any flames at startup are going straight up, not up against the metal of the drum itself.

                The walls of a standard drum are much much thinner than the metal on any offset I have ever seen. Thinner than even the cheap offsets (COS) that we are told to avoid like the plague here on Amazing Ribs.

                Now, when you mention a Traeger, that is a pellet grill. Not an offset. All of the fire is contained within a small steel fire pot about 3" or so in diameter. The rest of the grill might be thin sheet metal, but is not exposed to flame and high temperatures. This is much different than an offset where you are putting logs or charcoal into the firebox and building a much larger fire. You will have a much larger fire than what any pellet grill experiences. I think you will burn through the metal on the drum used as a firebox, as well possibly that end of the main drum as well, pretty quickly. And any high temp paint you put on it will burn off as well, at least on the firebox end.

                I just think you will spend a lot of effort on something that is only going to hold up for a couple of months of use, maybe. I would buy a cheap Oklahoma Joe COS and fix it up, or better yet, make a fine ugly drum smoker from what you have.

                All that said, nothing to lose by trying, I just don't think it will last very long.

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                  #11
                  Thanks for the input. I already have a UDS and will uses these for something else (perhaps some dutch oven fire pits as I had originally intended

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