Smoking newbie

[rktc]

Hello everyone, my name is Walt. I am new to the world of smokers and smoking in general, always wanted to try it so here goes. I have a few questions about it though.
I have a drum with the red lining in it and after reading on here it seems the best way to get rid of this is to have it sand blasted, called all the local places and it would be rather expensive so that option is out. I seen that you can burn and grind out the lining. Once this is done do you need to season the drum also?? Do you coat the inside with cooking oil before hand or just run through a batch of charcoal first?
What kind of thermometers are good, I want to use two of them, one for drum heat and one for food, and how far down the drum is the best place to put the one for drum heat?? How far apart should the grates be?? Is a heat deflector necessary?
Thanks for any help
Walt

 

[wneill20]

Hi Walt, you should be able to get the drum media blasted for around fifty bucks. I would also suggest buying the drum kit from Big Poppa it has everything you need and more cheaper then if you went out and bought all separate. As for the inside I sprayed the inside of mine with Pam that will give you a good seasoning. Good luck

 

[scooter]

Welcome to DS.com Walt!

Once this is done do you need to season the drum also?? Do you coat the inside with cooking oil before hand or just run through a batch of charcoal first?
Yes. I've found if you take a chicken, cut it in half and cook it, the fat will drip in the fire, vaporize and the fat laden smoke will coat the entire insides with fat seasoning it quite well.

What kind of thermometers are good, I want to use two of them, one for drum heat and one for food.
Get yourself a BPS EDS kit. It will have a drum temp thermometer included with instructions on where to mount (which is at grate level). For the meat thermometer, get a Maverick remote (ET732) and a Thermapen instant read thermometer from Thermoworks.com.


how far down the drum is the best place to put the one for drum heat??
Answered above. Grate level.

How far apart should the grates be??
BPS EDS kit will have the instructions.

Is a heat deflector necessary?
I think so for chicken at least. Lots of fat dripping down onto the fire will not only season your drum, it will season your meat as well. If you're not a fan of that vaporized fat flavor (aka grill flavor) then a deflector will help reduce that unwanted seasoning to a more palatable level.

 

[cowgirl]

Welcome to the forum Walt!

 

[rktc]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Having a hard time finding a place to remove the liner with a sandblaster, they all seem to think $100 is the going rate. I'm going to take my weed burner to it and then the grinder and do a couple really hot burns. Got to wait a few more weeks to get this all started but can't wait to try it.

 

[MrAdam]

You can find a brand new, unlined drum for less than $100. Keep looking around for blasting. Burning and grinding might not get absolutely everything off. Sandblasting will get in all the crevices.

Sent from my SGH-I727R using Tapatalk 2

 

[samreddevilz]

Yepp. You can call me a smoking newbie... i started smoking only 6 months ago. More to come in future.lol