Build a 55 gallon drum grill

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There are lots of people that are interested in knowing how to build a grill out of a 55 gallon drum. These are not necessarily folks that do not want to spend any money, but I believe are folks that are interested in building things themselves for the fun and thrill of it and so they get curious as to how to build a barbecue grill out of a 55 gallon drum. Of course, the method can be quite simple as you simply take a 55 gallon metal drum, cut a quarter out of it to form the top and attach a handle to it by way of a bent rod and weld it to the quarter that you cut out. Now attach two hinges – one to the quarter that you cut out and the other to the remaining bulk 55 gallon drum.

Now weld up two open U-shaped pieces out of angle iron and then weld it or bolt it to the 55 gallon barrel to form the stand. Get two sturdy stainless steel wire meshes and these will form the grill surfaces. One surface will hold the charcoal and the other surface will hold the food to be grilled. Place them inside the 55 gallon drum. The last step required in the fabrication is the drilling out of a couple of holes at the bottom and sides, so air can get in to aid in combustion and there you have a grill made out of a 55 gallon drum.

Some words of caution. Ensure that the 55 gallon drum that you use is rated for food storage. Stainless steel 55 gallon drums are the best. Do not use drums that have been carrying toxic chemicals. After fabricating your grill, ensure that you prep the surfaces by painting them all with lard or other greasy food oils and run the grill on dry mode for a couple times to prepare it for subsequent actual grilling. And that is all there is to it. Of course, all of the safety precautions need to be taken during the fabrication process.

As you can see, in this article about how to build a grill out of a 55 gallon drum, the cost of hardware used is really very low, and the thrill of building one is very high, the time to build is not that much and then you wonder how come the price of full size grills is so high.