How to Make a Backyard Barbecue Smoker

If you love cooking in the outdoors, a backyard barbecue smoker allows you to get the delicious taste of hickory-smoked meat only steps from your back door and for a minimal expense. Furthermore, a barbecue smoker can be constructed using old appliances and parts that you may already have lying around, or which can be purchased inexpensively at a second-hand store. Continue reading to learn about how to make your own backyard barbecue smoker.

Step 1: Collect Your Materials

The two basic component parts of your smoker will be a wood stove, used to generate the heat to cook the meat, and a 55 gallon steel drum in which the meat can smoke. You will also need a grate on which to lay the meat. This may be taken from a standard sized barbecue. Finally, you will need heavy wire and some standard metal cutting supplies.

Step 2: Cutting Your Drum

Once you have gathered your supplies and materials, prepare to cut a hole in the base of the steel drum. Ideally, the chimney from the wood stove will fit snugly into the bottom of the base drum so that smoke enters the drum and does not have room to escape out the bottom.

In order to set your hole properly, set the drum on top of the stove and mark the outline of the hole in the center of the base of the drum. Using a chisel or metal saw, carefully cut the hole so that the chimney opening fits snugly into the base of the drum.

Step 3: Prepare Your Barrel

Before you smoke any food inside of the barrel, it is crucial that you properly clean the barrel first. Sand off any paint or rust that may have formed inside the barrel. To clean the inside of the barrel, fill the drum with paper and allow the paper to burn until the smoke burns relatively clear. Having done this, wash the barrel thoroughly with water.

Step 4: Attach the Barrel to the Stove

Position the stove where you would like your smoker to sit, and fit the barrel atop the stove chimney. Check to make sure that there is no space between the base of the barrel and the chimney itself. At this point, you may want to treat both the stove and the barrel with a rust-proof paint.

Step 5: Fit the Grill to the Barrel

The final part of the installation process requires that you fit the barbecue grill inside of the barrel. Mold two short pieces of wire into sets of double-ended hooks. Attach the bottom ends of the hooks to the sides of the grill and fit the top ends to the sides of the drum so that the grill sits a few inches below the top of the drum. Ensure that there is enough room for the meat to rest on top of the grill while the lid of the drum is on.

Fill your stove with different types of wood, place some meat on the grill and close off the top of the barrel. Watch the fire closely, and in a short time you’ll have deliciously smoked meat.