Ugly Drum Smoker

I got the urge to build one. I like the idea of more or less setting it and forgetting it. I suspect it will do a better job on my Thanksgiving turkey than my offset. I plan on doing this with no cash outlay. So far the drum is free, the weber top and grate is also free. I bought a hole saw and pilot bit at Ace for about $18.00 - which I needed anyway. I drilled the 4 air holes around the bottom, oh by the way the magnets for the holes were also free.
Barrel happily burning away - this is 5 hours in the burn.


Fire in the air hole! Oh by the way if you buy a bi metal hole saw to cut steel, buy the pilot drill bit while you're at it. I tried using regular bits and wound up breaking two before I went back and bought the pilot drill bit.


Outside of the barrel looking pretty good.

Yep,you qualify for redneckdom alright.

Nah man I ain't a redneck I'm a hill billy! I was born north of the Mason Dixon line.

I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN vERSAILLES kY,BETWEEN fRANKFORT AND lEXINGTON.

I'm a sand dune billy

I is a snowbank Hillbilly lolol.

Looks good, Ridge!~!

Ok here's an update. I tried to save money b\y buying regular nuts and bolts and burning off the galvanized coating. Well that didn't work so I went out and got stainless. If you're going to do one of these save yourself the hassle and but stainless to begin with. I seasoned it Friday night and it's very good with charcoal. I had 1/2 a basket of charcoal and started the fire at 5 pm. I checked it after Papa and I got back fishing and it was holding 250 degrees at 1 am. I sprayed the inside with pam to season it. I tried to get a shot of the seasoning. I was pleased with the seasoning.


This is what I'm using for my charcoal basket. I had this when I got my turkey frier, and I don't fry turkeys anymore. I just threw some bolts on the bottom to use as legs.


I'm using flexible magnets to regulate the air intake. They work good and were cheap -- free!


Here's the turkey I'm smoking today. I wanted to do a trial run to make sure this would work for our thanksgiving turkey. I rubbed olive oil on it and used my rub to sprinkle on. He looks pretty happy on the grill. Oh by the way the grill is from a Weber that I had given Papa and he gave it back when I built this.


Here it is happily chugging away. Oh by the way the top is from that same Weber, and the handle came from an old gas grill I had. I have one of the four air intakes open 1/2 way, and the top vents open all the way and it's sitting right at 350 degrees.

Finished product ready to carve.

Looks like a pretty slick outfit, Ridge. Turkey looks pretty tasty too!

It was good. I wasn't sure how it was going to work out because I didn't brine the turkey, and I didn't use a water pan in the smoker. It was very moist and tender.

Looks good!

Wheres my plate?