To burn or not to burn... that is the question?

Agreed... maybe it would be a good idea to get some sleep for now.

On a completely different note everyone who said the Harbor Freight step bits were total garbage was completely right. First hole beautiful, second hole a bit more of struggle, last hole holy ****... going back to return them tomorrow. Guy said they'd take them back and they should!
 
I bought a new barrel. It had a light oil coating on it. I scrubbed it down with Tide laundry detergent (not a lot of effort). Then I let it sit. Seemed like all the oil came off. Saw a little rust start forming, so I figured I was good. I lit a decent fire in it with charcoal and probably got it up to 450 - 500. Good enough for me. I've cooked on it ever since.

I've heard Tide a lot around here. Dawn also cuts the grease. TSP would probably work well. I think you just need to clean it.
 
Use an engine degreaser, followed by a weedburner and then hot run like -----k------ said with a lot of charcoal.

If it smells like a chinese assault rifle, what it really means is it will be coated in a light oil like substance that Chinese Woks are also coated with when they are made to stop them rusting before sale.

With a WOK, a good wash in soapy water and then a solid temper on the wok ring does the job. I think you're in an identical position, so no massive burn out would be required.

Cheers!

Bill
 
Well, I would probably burn them out to be safe. Even though you said your neighborhood doesn't "like" the idea off burning, you're going to have to burn when you're cooking. :-D
 
I think I'm going to go down the route of a weed burner and a scrubbing. I tried scrubbing it today with an attachment on my drill and it was actually not too bad at all. Biggest thing is I probably need some eye protection and a mask.
 
I'm not a UDS guy, but I'd be inclined to take a pad sander to a patch inside the drum and see how nasty any coating looks - go from there.
 
Since they new barrels , go ahead and make your build, then do a couple of trial run without food in them . If your neighbor wouldn't like a burn they not going like it when you cook either.
 
I also buy my drums new, and you don't need to worry about it.

I would just wipe it out with a cloth, lather it up with some good cooking grease, and let her burn like a normal run.
 
I've already tried scratching them up. It's not too bad. I'm probably just going to go ahead and brush the entire thing down.

As far a my neighbors, I think they are fine with a little bit of charcoal but flames leaping out of the cannister and the amount of smoke others have described might not fly so well :shock:.

In any case, I've decided I'm just going to buy a weed burner (suggestions on type welcome) and then scrub the thing down. I put a piece of sand paper on the end of a drill and it's really not that hard or time consuming to get it off. So I'm going to take the safer path.
 
BBQ Bandit said:
Great score on the barrels... a weed burner will do you well.
Click to expand...

I actually got the barrels rather cheap considering these are new. The guy wanted $40 for new barrels and $30 for new barrels with minor factory defects. At that price it makes no sense to me to take any risks with used barrels. I asked him if he'd be open to me letting people know about him and he was happy for me to spread the word. If this guy had some limited supply I might be thinking of keeping this close to the chest but he's literally got a enormous shed of the factory seconds alone. There entire staff is rather pleasant and so I was chatting with him and he was telling me lots of folks come down during the summer and pick up closed barrels from him to make grills as well.

Out of curiosity, as I don't want to break any rules, where do posts with information like this go? I have no affiliation with the guy. It's just an FYI for brethren in the NY metro area who are hunting for barrels. The process of finding the supplier is probably the hardest part of building the UDS so I just want to share my info.
 
After a weed burner and a scrub with heavy solution of tide and water. How's it looking?

5235920554_6308e5b30d.jpg


5235327329_11a2be3534.jpg


5235327015_b007f9d45d.jpg
 
IbrahimSS said:
After a weed burner and a scrub with heavy solution of tide and water. How's it looking?

5235920554_6308e5b30d.jpg


5235327329_11a2be3534.jpg


5235327015_b007f9d45d.jpg
Click to expand...

:clap2::clap2:Looks perfect!! Get em built and get em dirty. That is pretty much the look of bare metal. Looks sexy don't it?

Can't wait to see the final product. As for the neighbors...make sure to share your Q the first time you fire it up. They can't really complain too much afterward, especially if you keep sharing!:thumb:
 
It's not quite that shiny in person. It looks more black to me on the inside. Might be the lighting :-D. Either way I think a good scrub, other quick rinse, and I'm set! Thanks everyone!
 
It will have that "industrial" look after you hit it with the fire. That's what makes it look sexy. What color you gonna paint these bad boys? I contemplated just hitting my last drum with lots of clear coat and keeping that bare metal look.
Keep us updated.

Bob
 
I'm going to be a bit anal retentive and do some more scrubbing. Midweek bbq is out of the question with work in the way. Midweek scrubbing is fine :)
 
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