Does my drum have the dreaded liner?

[new to q]

I know this may sound like a goofy question, but how do you know if a drum has a liner? I've included a pic of the inside as well as the inner lid.

 

[rickw]

It sure looks like it. I would take a nail and scratch it and see if it's bare metal underneath.

 

[mulepackin]

+1--Scratch it and see what comes off. It appears there is at least paint on it.

 

[fire it up]

I don't think it's a very goofy question at all. Being a noob at smoking I would never have even thought to check for a liner/paint lining inside of a drum. Good knowledge for future reference.

 

[new to q]

Hey fellas,

I took your advice and scratched the inside of the drum with a nail and it looks like it’s just bare metal. All I could scrape off were some metal shavings. No paint or flakes. Is it normal for the inside of a barrel to have a brownish color?

 

[mossymo]

New To Q
If it were me, I would burn it out before adding on the accessories, and then seasoning it. Just good preventive maintenance.

Looking forward to the build pics and seeing it in action !!!

 

[fire it up]

Well I would imagine that it has some form of paint coating or something on it. Basic that on the fact that the inside color of the drum isn't a naturally occurring color for metal in nature, though you may simply be able to burn it off if it is a thin layer of paint.

 

[new to q]

MossyMO & Fire it up,

A burn out is definitely a given. I'm just waiting for my brother-in-law to drill the intake holes, but he's been working out of state the past few weeks. I'd love to build the UDS myself, but I don't want to risk it. I'm not exactly a handy kind of guy.

Thanks for the advice so far.

 

[ddave]

It certainly does.

No . . . it is lined.

Make sure you have plenty of good, dry, HOT burning wood. Those liners DO NOT burn out easily. And the smoke is nasty. Do not breathe. it. You've got to build one big @#$%& fire to get it out. The only person I have heard of that did it successfully was Josh (aka Geek With Fire) and he said the outside of the drum was turning orange from the heat. When your done, you will most likely need to wirewheel it out to get it to bare metal. If you're lucky, the fire will have gotten most of the liner. Wear a good quality mask, and ear plugs when your wire wheeling inside the drum.

I don't mean to discourage you, just telling you what to expect.

Good luck.

Dave

 

[new to q]

Thanks for the confirmation Dave. I was really hoping it wasn't lined, but that's fine. A little extra elbow grease never hurt anyone.

 

[ddave]

That's the spirit.

Not to mention an excuse to build a gigantic fire can be a fun thing as well. I still have the one that I tried to burn out sitting in my backyard. Not sure what I will do with it.

Maybe next winter, I'll take it back out to my brother-in-law's, fill it with a 40 lb bag of Lazzari Mesquite Lump and a couple old Christmas trees and light it off.

Even if it doesn't get rid of the liner, it should be fun to watch!!

If you can get it down to bare metal, you're good to go. I think that a certain amount of satisfaction comes from cooking on something you've built yourself. It will be well worth the effort, my friend. They make some awesome Q!!

Dave

 

[azrocker]

MMMMM! fire.

 

[hog warden]

To the original poster, being in VA, you might try to find some dry, seasoned black locust for your burn. Not as hot as the Osage Orange the "Geek" used, but pretty hot.

I tried burning out a liner, and got the top 2/3 of it. The part above the fire. What I found was the lower part was insulated a bit by the fire and ash. Wondering if a person couldn't build a fire on the ground and place an empty barrel above it on some large (1' diameter plus) blocks of green firewood set on end around the fire. An elevated platform so to speak and and really cook it?

 

[erain]

just to add to daves note above, and with all power tools dont forget your saftey glasses!!!

 

[new to q]

Well, I have been known to start huge fires unintentionally while grilling so I'll see what I can pull off in my drum.

Thanks again for the tips everyone.

 

[ddave]

Oops . .

. . thanks, erain.

 

[djacob]

would a roofers torch help burn it out? talking about 3-5k degree's there , and they sell them at harbor frieght?

Dave

 

[rickw]

A lot of folks use them for burning out their drums.

 

[bigsteve]

FIRE! FIRE!!! Heh-heh.


Make sure you take some videos of your burn out fire! Hang on, I need to get some Fritos and Beer......

 

[lineape]

New to the uds system. Could anyone tell me if this is a liner or just paint? Barrel originally had corn syrup in it. Need to do a burn out?

20170825_150217.jpg

• lineape
• Aug 25, 2017