Ugly Drum on Hold

Yes, the ugly drum is on hold, but now I`ve got something to work with. I was lucky enough to have a friend that found a free offset smoker for me. I`ll be getting it on wednesday, so I`ll have the time to build the ugly drum as I see fit.....
In the meantime, here are the pics that my buddy sent me of the smoker.

Burn out

Well, I had a bit of time today, so along with some wood and my new barrel, I decided to proceed with the burnout.... you could see the smoke rise off the barrel inside and out as the heat increased. A lot of the exterior paint melted off, so I will be repainting it with a high heat paint in the near future. Here are a couple of pics of the burnout.



Now that that is done..... well, I have to wait until spring.. so to speak. Yep, we`re getting 2-6 inches of snow tomorrow.... The fun of being up in the great white north.

Doing some tests

I started testing methods to remove the coating on the lid of the barrel. I tried a sander(middle), then used a propane torch (upper middle) and then a grinder with a sanding disk on it (right hand side).You can see the results in the picture below. Since the heat seemed to remove the lining, I think that I will try a burnout first before going any further.... less work, more play.... ok, call me lazy.....so more to follow in the near future. 

Books on BBQ - Part 1

I intend to add more to this over time, which is why I named it part 1. I purchased a book (online in ebook form) when I couldn`t find it available at a reasonable price online elsewhere (except maybe ebay, but shipping costs turned me away). When I checked amazon.ca, they had dealers selling it for double what I purchased it for.
The book is Competition BBQ Secrets, and you can purchase it here;

Competition BBQ Secrets

I am really happy with it, and can`t wait to try out the tips and techniques found within. This one I can personally recommend that it is filled with a lot of useful in formation. I`ll provide an update once my smoker is up and running and once I`ve tried the recipes within.

The next one I intend to purchase, which I`ve heard about, but haven`t had a chance to verify yet, is Barbecue Secrets Revealed, that you can purchase here;

Barbecue Secrets Revealed

I`ll post more once I get more feedback.... and can afford it.

Purchased my Temperature Guage

Yesterday evening, I decided to get the temperature guage that I had been looking for. I went onto ebay and purchased the guage below;

Nice 3" guage, with anut behind for calibration. Just under $20 with shipping to way up here in Canada. When in doubt, I head to ebay to find what I`m looking for, but I always shop around. In the stores up here, I only found candy thermometers or ordinary white face gauges, without calibration nuts, or without a way to attach them to the smoker. This one has a nice colorful face so that you can see when you are in true BBQ range.

My new BBQ page

Ok, I`m Canadian..... so definitely not a southern BBQ expert by any means. I want to get started with true BBQ this summer. The snow is beginning to melt here, so I have to get my butt in gear to get my first project on the go... an Ugly Drum Smoker. I`ve found a couple of websites online to help get me started, and once I have permission, I`ll try and post them on here for your enjoyment.

The first thing I did was purchase a steel drum (45-55 gallons). Now when you purchase a steel drum, it is very important that you purchase one that you KNOW what was in it. I am a chemist, so when I purchased one, I made sure it didn`t have any petroleum or other dangerous products in it. In my case, it had a known caustic in it.... (many caustics are used for cleaning, so as long as it was cleaned out... no problem for me), but petroleum products... I wouldn`t touch those barrels with a 10 foot pole. To be safe, find one that is food grade, ie that had pickles or some other food stored in it. You will also notice with a food grade barrel that they will have a tan or other colored coating in it. This coating needs to be burned out of it.









This is the barrel i purchased



The inside of the lid



You can see the inside after i cleaned it