A 55-gallon barbecue grill is large enough for a neighborhood cookout.
Building your own barbecue gas grill from a 55-gallon drum requires a minimum of expertise, tools and effort. Steel drums, sealed on both ends without a lid, are available at farm and ranch stores and junk yards. Purchase food-safe steel 55-gallon drums that have never had toxic chemicals stored in them. When completed, the barbecue gas grill you build will accommodate at least 12 square feet of cooking area for grilling foods of all types. Very few people have the technical expertise or equipment to weld metal. The steps involving welding may need to be done at a welding shop. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Divide the drum lengthwise into four equal quarters, including the top and bottom by measuring it into four equal quarters. Mark the measurements with masking tape.
2. Saw out one of the quarter-sections, from the top to the bottom of the drum, and remove it. This is the opening that faces the cook and into which the food is placed and tended to by the cook. Cut out the quarter-section with an electric saw, using the masking tape as a guideline.
3. Weld a strip of 20-inch-long, 2-inch angle iron along the inside of the drum on both ends and a strip of 35-inch long angle iron on both sides. Measure halfway between the bottom edge of the cutout section and the bottom of the drum making certain that all four pieces of the angle iron are level with each other. This angle iron will support the wire mesh that the charcoal or wood will set upon.
4. Weld a strip of 35-inch long angle iron along the two sides of the drum, and a 20-inch long angle iron 1 inch below the level of the cutout portion of the drum. Make certain that each piece of the top level of angle iron is level with each other and each piece is the same distance apart from the angle iron in place underneath it. This angle iron will support the grill upon which the food will be placed to cook.
5. Cut two pieces of stainless steel barbecue grilling, available at home improvement stores, into 20-by-35 inch sheets. Place one sheet of grilling on the bottom level of angle iron to hold the wood and one sheet on the top angle iron supports to hold the foods you are cooking. A standard hacksaw with a rod-style grit blade, available from hardware stores, will cut the the stainless steel grilling.
6. Drill 1/2-inch holes in the bottom of the barrel spaced about 6 inches apart so air can circulate under the fuel to maintain a good fire.
7. Bend two 24-inch lengths of angle iron into half-moon shapes to fit the curvature of the drum, using a pipe bender. Weld the two lengths of angle iron onto the drum at each end of the drum just to the side of the rim and directly across and in line with each other.
8. Weld 1-by-2 inch tubular steel, at the height you wish the grill to stand, to the half-moon shaped drum supports to act as legs. Measure a spot in the middle of each leg and weld a piece of angle iron from leg to leg so each piece meets evenly with the other to provide a framework of support.
Tags: angle iron, each other, each piece, long angle, long angle iron, with each, with each other
