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ITT we build and talk about BBQ smoking

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  1. Lameass_ Lameass_ is offline

    WI
    United States

    Posts: 15,110
    Joined: Jul 07

    Aug 30th, 2011 (8/30/2011 3:24am)

    So heres a project ive been wanting to do for awhile. seriously like 4 years. I got an old beer keg left over from a party (i was originally going to make a table out of it) but i decided that meat smoking would be a hell of a lot cooler and more rewarding. so im going to build a smoker out of this old milwaukees best light keg.

    Ill try to be as thorough as possible explaining how im building this, but im not going to list everything. like if you dont know what an angle grinder is, you probably shouldnt be attempting to build this. Ill update as i go along. im not going to pound this out so my target for completion is before october. Ill also try to do this without a welder since those may be hard for some people to get/use.

    first off, DEPRESSURIZE THE KEG!! you dont want a stale beer wash, believe me that shit is rancid. all you have to do is take a rag and a screwdriver, put the rag over the valve and push the screwdriver in. when beer stops spraying, that shit is depressurized.

    also i got sprayed a bit, i had to spray my clothes with ammonia to get rid of the smell...oops.

    I marked how big i wanted the door to be


    Ill put up the actual dimensions later. i used a square to make it as straight as possible, i think it turned out fine.

    now i drilled a pilot hole to make it easier to start with the angle grinder.



    a couple things here. i made one cut on an ace hardware cutting wheel and it was gone already. fucking junk. i make the other 3 cuts on half of a dewalt wheel i had and it still has some left. just lol at the quality difference.



    you can see the top is warping, which is what you dont want so i found some hinges to hold it into place (at least for now)

    yea actual door hinges. it works fine but im sure ill use something down the road that looks and works better. was easier to take 10 min doing this than running to the store


    all cut! thats beer in the keg and holy shit did it smell. im going to bleach it to get rid of that. use the angle grinder to touch up the sides so theyre smooth and you dont cut yourself.

    next step is getting the keg stem/valve out. which took me a min to figure out but its realllly easy.



    its just a C-clip. take a clip tool (screwdriver works fine) and pry it out a little bit and remove the ring. the valve comes right out!
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    thats it for this update. any suggestions are def welcome. I am having alot of trouble figuring out how i want to build the firebox for it if someone has a good idea for that.

    recipes/stories lets here em. i cant wait to have this thing done because meat cooked on a smoker is ridiculously good.

    EDITS::

    ill just use soap and hot water then. pretty sure the smell will be gone after its fired up once or twice. as far as chemicals on the metal, there should be none. i searched a bunch and havent found one thing about it, and other people that have built these with kegs havent said anything. they are all stainless steel, which is good since it wont melt
    Edited By: Lameass_ Aug 30th, 2011 at 03:56 AM
    Reason: MOAR STUFF
  2. tekiller tekiller is offline

    Posts: 11,901
    Joined: Jun 06

    Aug 30th, 2011 (8/30/2011 3:32am) in reply to Lameass_

    i prefer using a 50 gal oil drum. meh

    but not bad an issue i see is how to get ashes out other than just turning it over, may want to cut a small hole in the center of the bottom for that then get a couple latches for it

    also while bleach is not a bad idea for cleaning make sure to run a clean burn through it before cooking anything it, may also want to check and see if theres any kind of coating on the inside cuz thatll need to be scraped off or a wire brushed
    Edited By: tekiller Aug 30th, 2011 at 03:33 AM
  3. sacaniga sacaniga is offline fake machinist

    Posts: 8,118
    Joined: Jul 07

    Aug 30th, 2011 (8/30/2011 3:42am) in reply to tekiller

    this is an awesome project... I can't believe i've never heard of anyone doing this before. You could market this to college kids without much trouble

    I'd be really concerned about the chemicals they likely treat that thing with... i'm sure you'll look into it though

    looking forward to some updates
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