# double barrel smoker



## deepdivered (Jun 9, 2009)

So I am building my first smoker! I decided to build a double 55 gallon barrel smoker. I started by buying the cast iron kit from volgelzang http://www.vogelzang.com/barrel_stoves.htm i have a few questions about what to do next.﻿

    i had asked about the smoke stakes. from what every one said it seems the best configuration was with two of them. one on each side. it seemed it should come in at the cooking rack with like 3/4 below the rack. now i cant remember if u all said i should make them 4 inch or 3 inch diameter. does it mater how tall they are? the stove pipes going into the smoking chamber are two six inch pipes. i have a question about them. i have the damping collars. i was thinking would it be better for the dampening collar to be on top of fire barrel or bottom of cooking barrel? !

    I will post some pics in a few days and keep up with my progress.  i heard these have hot spots where the pipes come into the cooking area. i  was planing of taking the peace i cut out to make the door and drilling several holes in it and placing that over the bottom as a baffle. how large should the drill bit be. is this a good idea. the other idea for this i had was to place a sheet of expanded metal down there and placing aluminum pans over the holes with fluids in them. which seems better?


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## waysideranch (Jun 9, 2009)

Look forward to your build.


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## thebodyman (Jun 9, 2009)

i built my first one out of 55 gallon barrels and it wasnt to bad i have one standing up for my fire box and one laying down that i smoked in it works really good i am in the mists of building another one taht is 2 55 gallon barrels welded together to make an even bigger smoker


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## coyote-1 (Jun 9, 2009)

Not that I'm gonna build it anytime soon, but right now I'm imagining an 85/30 combo on an axle. The 85's internal dimensions are 39" x 26"; a 30gal firebox directly beneath ought work pretty well. The 85's 26" internal diameter is perhaps big enough even to make a multi-shelf rotisserie.


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## deepdivered (Jun 12, 2009)

Here are the picturs of where i am now. these r brand new barrels. i burrend the paint off and ugh some one was usen a house and hit them and they developed some surface rust. ill buff it off befor i paint it. i keep it under a tarp now. i have been callen around trying to finde some stove pipe. aperently its not needed much here in az lol. ha so i may have to order it off line. pleas hit me up about what i diamiters i should use coming out. have two six inchers going in.


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## petesque (Jun 12, 2009)

I have one and I put dampers at both the flus and in the stacks. I will give you more control. Mine also will let the air come in the door and travel across the fire and then most of the heat goes up th left flu. So I slow that down a bit and all evens out. 

I used 2 6 inch stacks at grill level. This makes everything proportional and I can always use the dampers to slow things down. I also used angle iron for my grill shelving set at 22". The 55 gal drum is 33" long and Home depot has some nice 22 1/4" by 11" grills and then 3 of these fit perfect. I have wall to wall grill area. I also found a Kroger pastery warming racks the allows me to add 2 1/2 leveks of rack space above the grill. 


Pete


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## deepdivered (Jun 14, 2009)

ya that totally makes sens to have same size smoke stakes! thanks for the info. i can only locate six inch stove pipe so fare any way lol!


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## deepdivered (Aug 9, 2009)

bump any further help?


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## chrome (Aug 13, 2009)

I'm building a triple right now.
I'm going to use two 6" exhausts at grill level with no dampers anywhere.


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## chase s (Feb 12, 2010)

i am a senior in high school and for my senior project i am building my first smoker. i think im going with the big babby double barrel smoker. is that a good smoker to try to build for my first time you think? 


thanks 
chase


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## deepdivered (Feb 14, 2010)

yes it is a great one to do!

here is a site with very good step by step of a build for one!
http://www.mtwnet.com/gallery/smoker?page=1

here is where you can buy the barrel kits (i used the double and delux berral kits)
http://www.vogelzang.com/browse.cfm/...-kits/2,6.html


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## deepdivered (Feb 14, 2010)

where did u get this kroger pastery rack?


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## deepdivered (Feb 14, 2010)

ok so finally i will update my progress.
i had to fix my project as u can see abouve my brand new berrals got all kids of surface rust. so i went and boght a angle grinder and a wire wheel and took it all off and then got high temp spray paint for it.

heres how it looks now.



i still need a few part and then i will be done!!!!!!


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## chefrob (Feb 14, 2010)

lookin good, like to see how it works!


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## deepdivered (Apr 10, 2010)

oh ya! so i got married about six months ago and my wife is awsome. my birth day is on the 17th and she got every one to chip in and i am getting the rest of my parts to put this baby together! i just went out and got my grill grates and tomarow i will buy the stove pipe! 

for the botom barrel should i buy 3 grill grates that will cost about $50 or get espanded metall that will be like $20. it just holds the wood and helps it burn good. would it make a big difforence?


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## badfrog (Apr 10, 2010)

Personally I would prefer the expanded...


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## deepdivered (Apr 10, 2010)

well thats what i will get then


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## deepdivered (Jun 17, 2010)

its done! i posted my pics here


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## sqwib (Jun 17, 2010)

deepdivered said:


> its done! i posted my pics here


Congrats, Looks Great


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## flyfishjeep (Jun 27, 2010)

Your smoker looks great!  What was your $ invested in it?


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## deepdivered (Aug 2, 2010)

actualy i have no idea how much was invested. but ballpark figure over 500.


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## kumes12688 (Mar 23, 2011)

Hey man your smoker looks awesome! I'm building one along those lines right now and have a quick question for you.  How far apart are the top and bottom barrels?  Mine right now is probably 4-5 inches, but I am concerned that they might be too close together.  Is the temperature easier to regulate if the barrels are further apart or it doesn't really matter? Any else you would do differently if you were to build one again?


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