Quote:
Originally Posted by Gonesledn
i have a bunch of old brass tubs and angles and fitting left from when i remodeled my old bar. my plan it to have intake holes drilled into the brass "handle" and control airflow by opening and closing some of them. the bottom base of the "handle" is open to the bottom of the drum. the top of it will be sealed, so air dont flow in at the top.
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Going to drill a series of holes in the pipe and use a fitted sleeve over the outside that you can slide up and down to control airflow, I'm guessing?
A suggestion on your steel milk-crate coal basket- cut some sheets of expanded metal that are the same size as the four sides and bailing-wire or tack weld them in place as the grid is so large on the sides that if you ever "give the drum a shake" to knock the ash off the coals and bring the temps back up, you're going to have coals falling out of the basket. The grid size on the bottom looks ok (looks to be about the same spacing as a charcoal grate from a weber) and probably doesn't need a sheet of expanded metal.
Also, when you do your cooks, go to the dollar store and buy disposable aluminum baking tray - like a two pack of the big lasagna pans or a turkey roasting pan (sides might be a bit too high so so bend them down a bit). Set that pan in the bottom of the drum, then set your coal basket it in. This way, you can just reach in and lift the tray of ashes out rather than flipping the drum over to dump the ashes, which will inevitably get them stuck on the sides and groves in the sides of the drum which in turn can get them on your food during the next cook.
Now, go get that cooking grate installed and get yourself a can of PAM and season the inside of that drum before all that nice shinny metal starts rusting on you.
BTW, Wes, you carpeted your garage/shop? Damn flooring guys...