It was my first time building one. Took me about 12 to 15 hours to get it right.

Looks good- BBQBlitz,

Lets us know how your first smoke meat turn out!!!!!

Wow! Very nice job. I have a question though. Do you put the base on rollers or something to keep it off the deck? Is the fire box the lower drum? If it is, it looks like the fire box might transfer heat directly to the deck. Am I missing something? Is there some type of air inlet control to the fire box? Please keep us posted on how it works out. I might suggest looking through some of the great smoking suggestion on this site if you are new to this cooking technique.

Eric D

I can't use it on the deck, i have a little spot on the driveway i smoke on. Yes, the fire box is in the lower drum. I use the door at the back for my air vent. I built the smoker last summer and it's kick butt! One small log keeps the temp at 200f on the button. I can smoke 6 chickes and 8 back ribs at shot.

I just looking into converting it in to gas with a small hotplate gas burner. I'll also still be able to burn wood in it too.

If yo use the hotplate burner will you have some means to place wood chuncks or chips for smoke? The hotplate would allow for long cook times, like turkeys , Pig butts and other large cuts of meat.

I like your basic design for the drum cooker. It's a lot cleaner then others I have seen. It would be nice to add some type of base will wheels that would keep the heat off the bottom so you could use on your deck if you wish too. What type of welding did you use?

Eric D

How did you handle the transition from the firebox to the smoker? I mean--how did you transition from one to the other, aside from the exterior welds?

I intend to build an identical smoker, but I'm not sure the best way to vent from firebox to smoker. I'm mostly sure that I don't want the smoker to open directly over the firebox. I'm also sure that I need to deflect the drippings, but I'm not sure how to accomplish that, either. (It looks like you've placed a flat sheet of metal below the smoke racks--right?)

After having used your smoker, is there anything you would have done differently?

jackdaddyt,

Welcome to the Source, glad to have you join up!

I'm not sure blitz might be around to answer - he hasn't been active in over 2-1/2 years. Unfortunately, many members join up, post a few times and then slip quietly off into the smoke of their grills....

However, their are a few very talented people still around here that might be able to answer you questions - give it a day and I'm sure you'll find a few responses pointing you in the right direction. I know I'd love to see pics of your project, and hopefully see some of the food cooked on it.

Mike

Big baby double barrel. Try google. I have one and it's a buit!!!

It looks like it would get good convection. Looks like there is a piece of sheet metal across the bottom of the upper barrel with an opening on the left side and the air-flow goes up from the bottom with a vent in the door in the left side of the smoker and out the stack on the right side.