red lined drum

hello everyone and thanks for letting me join your group
I've been getting conflicting answers on red lined food grade drums I tried burning it out no luck. tried sanding it out holy crap this stuff is tough.
my wife found a letter online about the lining from the manufacture that says since the temps in a smoker don't get really hot and it is food grade that it is safe to leave it alone just do two or three good long seasoning burns to seal the inside of the drum. does anyone have any expieriance with this stuff and any opinions would be great thanks

Hi realmccoy,
I don't know what the chemical composition of the lining is, but that's the first time I've heard it stated that it can be left in the barrel. Not sure I'd buy that either. I doubt that the liner was designed to be heat resistant at cooking temps. If you're doing a reverse sear over coals with a wide open drum, the temps can easily exceed 500F. I don't know at which temp. breakdown of the liner occurs. I would suggest that you have the drum sand blasted to remove the liner. I have two drums and had them both sand blasted inside and out. Neither had a liner, but that way I didn't have any worries about foreign materials finding their way into the food I would be cooking. The cost was around $45-$50/ barrel if memory is correct-well worth it to me. Sand blasting the outside gave me a fresh surface for the high temp. paint.