How to Build Your Own BBQ Barrel

Thank you for making this Instructable one of the Best of 2009!  #7 in the Food Category...

Lucky for me on my last day of work at The Bakery, the 55-gallon honey barrel I'd been waiting for was finally empty. Getting laid off wasn't going to stand in the way of my dream to make my own barbecue.

Step 1: The Prep

First, I had to empty out all the excess honey and clean the inside (not exciting enough for a photo). Then I borrowed a grinder from a friend and cut the opening.

It's way less of a hassle to have a food grade barrel. Imagine bbq'n in a barrel that use to have oil or fuel. Yuck!

Comments

[darrenhall]

A beautiful looking build.

DZ

[rpd325]

Even a chemical drum is fine. Do a nice hot burn, 350°+ wash out drum then scrub, grind, sand anything left to shiny silver. coat with pam, Crisco or grease then do a season cook with charcoal no meat and your golden. Any questions check out bbq-brethren forum they have a nice thread on this.

[BigCountry]

I made a barbeque something like this from a 55gal drum. I used wheels from a lawn mower I found at the scrapyard. Since they were mostly plastic he let me have them for free. If you sand it at the end of the season, and then paint it with barbeque paint, it'll last at least 9 years. My Sis wants me to build one for her this year, so I may make an Instructable as I do it.

[bobthebuilder728]

So should you avoid doing this project if its galvanized metal? Cant you get you heat resistant paint and put it inside?

[crickle321]

For grilling, you should avoid galvanized metal all together since the fumes from burning off zinc is pretty darned toxic. If exposed, you should drink milk to absorb the carcinogenic zinc.

[cabbagehats]

isn't that great? i learned that from my welding teacher. the drinking milk part.

[GrapeApe226]

On heavy metals in your body. I've skimmed on this subject but have not researched it and have no intention of getting into it here. Charcoal pills can be bought at health stores and holistic medicine sites can tell you how to help reduce metals & toxins in the body. All I know is that used properly charcoal will absorb toxins like a sponge and hold them solvent until your body passes it. Same theory as your activated charcoal filter in your fridge, it absorbs until it's full, then you need to change it. Search home/holistic medicine sites for more info. That's all I have to offer on this subject.

[Binny the first]

Galvanized zinc coatings also contain high levels of lead that is why they don't use it in pluming for potable water any more..

[froggi]

Drinking milk is an urban myth..... While there may be a small benefit, there is no proven data to support this. There are more than enough people who have worked in zinc coating premises who will swear this is true but as the band Thin Lizzy said..... "Don't Believe a Word"

[crickle321]

You don't have to "...believe a word". If you have doubts then just do some research or google "Metal fume fever treatment". But on a personal note: it does take the metallic taste out of your mouth. I myself haven't searched for any medical studies on the matter. To call it an urban myth is a bit harsh since you imply nothing about the tip is factual. Though milk isn't a cure-all doctor substituting treatment for Metal Fume Fever, it is far from folklore that has been told by "a friend of a friend". But as the band Mighty Mighty Bosstones said... "It Can't Hurt" ;)

[cwuub5]

Drinking milk is not an urban myth, as a retired welder of 50 years I speak from experience.

[Binny the first]

Same here but with 30-35 years under my belt under the worst conditions imaginable.(Think Dante's Hell ) Nearly died of zinc poisoning several times and for ever what it is worth milk takes the metal taste out and seems to be comforting,that's first hand experience...Funny you admit to being a metal head too,he hee... I'd be willing to bet you and I both would go about this project differently with the tools at our disposal. I do have to give the author a lot of credit for going for it with only a grinder and drill. Amazing what one can make due with.Say ever have one of those grinding wheels blow up on you. Damm that stings.Nothing like having one giant intense raspberry that goes from your neck to Your bellybutton. We once got in a whole batch of wheels that had a manufacturing defect with the glue or backer that holds 'em together and most of the crew had at least one blow up on them.Boy there was a lot of cussing going on in the old shop for a week or so.Even the leather heads scrambled to get their grinder guards back on.Will never forget I took two in 2 consecutive weeks and was about to quit.A friend and co worker took 2 blow outs in a day and walked out the door in his bloody "T" shirt only to come back in the AM to be one of the first ones to strike an arc...Damm he took a royal beating ,working class hero. Anyway I sortta miss the arcs of hellfire,the smell of burning flesh,choking fumes,The cussing and clamor ,the defining noise of hammer forming steel into things that will more than outlive the creator or buyer of product.A harsh way to make a living but rewarding for those creative ones possessing a strong disposition and stony heart.... Cheers ...Binny......

[cwuub5]

I dismantled a bolted galvanized water tank a few years ago and some of the bolts had to be cut out with a torch which I did and got very sick doing it , drank a pint of milk at the local dairy queen and it cleared right up and I have had a few wheels come apart, just another good reason to use grinder guards and wear safety glasses.

[Binny the first]

I couldn't agree with you any more on that one. and as a side note antacids like rolaides or tums are nearly pure calcium. I know this because I suffer from parathyroid diease and if I were to consume either it could send me into kidney failure.My specialist makes that perfectly clear on every visit. cheers....Binny

[froggi]

Sorry cwuub5 but as a fellow welder I can tell you that you are mistaken.... . There is no factual basis in drinking milk to ally the effects of "Metal Fume Fever".... This IS an urban myth..... This has been built up over the years from the "old days" of this being the "norm" in zinc processing plants and from welding processes. The reasoning behind adequate fume extraction is due to people either keeling over from toxic fume poisoning or dying after working for extented periods in said environments. While a possible treatment for MFF is the use of calcium, the amount of calcium needed to be taken in would ensure you'd be sloshing around and looking like a barrel of milk. This is not a "not being nice" comment, just a statement of fact.

[ryandean98]

Forget Facts, If It Works It Works! If You Don't Beleive It THen Don't.

[crickle321]

How much calcium would be needed as a possible treatment for MFF?

[froggi]

Dunno.... but I'm betting you wouldn't want to find out or even take it in it's original metallic form. It's a soft metal (ie can be cut with a knife at room temps) and from what I can remember from school chemistry classes, has to be stored in something like oil (I think) as it's combustable on contact with water. Cool explosion though, lol

[Binny the first]

One takes it in fairly pure form every time they pop an antacid tab like tums.

[Binny the first]

I have reason to believe you guys have calcium confused with sodium .Calcium is not a metal it is chalk like and does not behave like
a metal such as sodium or potassiun that needs to be stored under oil to keep it from decomposing in the atmosphere,Just look at the periodic table it simply is not that reactive.

[crickle321]

So your comment about drinking "...a barrel of milk" was based on nothing?? With the oil stored metal, your probably thinking of sodium in its metallic state. Metallic calcium is relatively stable in air and but will give off some hydrogen gas when exposed to moisture but not enough for ignition and definitely not enough to explode by itself.

[Binny the first]

If I remenber right calcium and it's related elements do form a weak co valiant bond with heavy metals and that is why they use barium a first cousin to calcium as a carrier for radioactive dyes ingested into the digestive tract to take pictures of your innards in detail and pass it before it does much cell damage.

[froggi]

Maybe I was, however, as I said, recalling from my schooldays (30 plus years ago I might add) calcium is still extremely volatile when exposed to moisture. I seem to remember that when calcium was dropped into a water tank it was very, very "fizzy" to the point of ignition. As I remember the demo was using 3 metals.... sodium, calcuim and potassium, all of which were somewhat volatile when dropped into the water tank. The comment re the "barrel of milk" was based on the fact that a pint of milk contains a small amount of calcium and that a standard barrel (used for making the item in the feaure) is 45 galls (UK) equates to 8 times 45 (UK gall = 8 pints UK) therefore equalling 360 pints. According to Wikipedia, cows milk contains 120 IU per 100 grams. I'm not sure what IU means other than International Unit. Converting that to Imperial measurements, it appears that a 45 gallon barrel contains 360(pints) x 681.6 (IU of calcuim) = 245376 IU of calcium (all UK measurements). Please feel free to check this and amend as per updated info

[silver362]

thin lizzy was a guy who had a band not an actual band... jus sayin

[froggi]

Thin Lizzy was the name of the band I think you'll find not the individual who had a band!!!! An avid fan can tell you for a fact

[brian_915]

What does the expression "jus sayin" mean? seems like a snarky way of telling someone they are wrong without saying "you're wrong, I'm right". In this case, silver362, you're wrong, froggi is right. (at least about the musical reference) "Thin Lizzy" was the name of an Irish band formed & fronted by bassist Phil Lynott. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll As far as Metal Fume Fever and the use of galvanized metal, I'm no further the wiser from these comments.

[crickle321]

In all sincerity, what are you not understanding in terms of galvanized metal?

[brian_915]

some people say it's not safe for use as a smoker or grill, other's disagree (not just here, on similar pages on other sites.) I've decided to buy a food-grade barrel and burn it out. (itself not a practice I'm familiar with but that's how we learn)

[crickle321]

Yeah that does sound a little confusing. In step one of this instructable, johnnyblegs gives a nicely detailed cleaning instructions for non-food-grade barrels. The conversation about galvanized metal (which is a zinc coating to prevent rust) pertains to some wire grates that have it. When the coating is heated to a curtain temp, it can vaporize and be harmful if inhaled. Stainless steel does not need such a coating since most grades of stainless steel are resistant to rusting.

[silver362]

yeah i looked it up and you 2 were right i dunno it just somethin iv kinda started sayin its not "snarky" though

[craigchat]

Just about done with my version of your barrel BBQ grill. Everything has worked out well except for the stand. It came out a bit wobbly side to side. Does yours have that problem? I was wondering if you just didn't worry about that because of the portability issue.

[djbarista]

Where does the Propane tank go?

[snowluck2345]

NOOOB, if you read the instructable you would see it was a charcoal grill.der da der.

[MiKOTRON]

LOL!

[johnnyblegs]

No propane tank on this one but I'm sure you could rig one up on yours. I'm a purist when it comes to bbq and prefer the charcoal/natural mesquite. Better flavor to your meat. Doesn't take in the gas flavor.

[_Logos_]

It's because you taste the meat, not the heat, Weber!

[rwebster1]

it gotta try this. do you use it year round?

[spylock]

As soon as I have to replace someones well pump tank Im going to make one out of that,using this design,I will use the metal from an old bed frame to make my base.
You did a nice job on yours for sure.

[plonka]

what is a burn ban,dont tell me the carbon footprint crowd are in town !!

[johnnyblegs]

Sometimes Seattle or the surrounding towns have burn bans when the air quality is no good or when there's an especially dry set of days and a threat of wildfires (which isn't really the case in Seattle)