It's official!!

[Chili Head]

I'm a drum smoker now!
Doing a seasoning on it now with a half basket of kingsford. I lit about 10 coals in the chimney and dumped em on top and within 30 minutes we were up to 375 on the drum gauge! I'm amazed at how hot this gets with few coals burning. I closed the bottom vents half way on each side and it seems temps have stabilized at 375. Going to let it go till it burns out. I'm excited to get to cooking on this..this is going to be fun!

 

[Chili Head]

Had to close the vents to just one hole open on each side and now we're holding at 380. This drum is going to be a real fuel miser!

 

[Kevinish]

They seam to burn a little hotter with new drums. Once it forms a nice crust on the inside it won't be quite as hot. But yes, you can get away with very little coal. Most people start by light only 5-10 coals on putting them onto a pile of fresh coals in the basket. If you shooting for low temps, try 5 coals and put them in the corner. It's much easier to get it hotter than bring down the temp.

It's a journey! Good luck!