YOU ARE HERE >> AmazingRibs » Ratings & Reviews » Big Poppa’s Drum Smoker Kit Review
Sterling Ball, owner of Big Poppa Smokers, saw the need for a really good smoker for very little money. He knew that many pitmasters love using 55 gallon drums that they have turned into smoker/grill combos with a little ingenuity. The internet has many pages devoted for designs and photos of homemade Ugly Drum Smokers (UDS). But the UDS requires welding and metalworking skills. And time. Here is a link to a discussion, complete with photos, of how to build your own UDS on the BBQ-Brethren.com. You’ll see, it’s a project.
So Ball and his team have created a kit that you can buy from him for $140. You supply the drum. We are told that food grade drums can easily be found for as little as $20, so for well under $200 you can have a fine smoker. This kit significantly reduces the cost, time required, and probability of error. And the results can cook BBQ competition worthy meat. Really. Much better than a cheap offset smoker, and just as cool looking.
To assemble it you will need an electric drill, an adjustable wrench or a 7/8″ and a 7/16″ wrench, a tape measure, and a straight edge.
There are several features that you just can’t get on a homemade UDS. Most important, the sliding bottom vents make it easy to manage air intake which is crucial for temperature control, far better than the homemade kluges that people use all time. The top vent is easy to use, too. The charcoal basket is stainless steel, and, when empty, it can be raised to grilling height or lowered with a hook tool. Sure wish there was an easy way to raise it when it is full of glowing coals.
The cooking grate is also stainless. There are two handles on the side with wood grips, and the lid handle also has a wood grip (but it can still get hot). There is a hook to hang the lid, three tool hooks, and a decent quality temperature indicator. Options include a second cooking grate which can also hold a water pan or a pizza stone as a heat shield.
Meathead took the Weber Gourmet BBQ System Sear Grate Set (above), which he did not find necessary or desirable on his kettle, and dropped it on the bottom shelf. Then he dropped a bowl into the hole and voila, a water pan, something he really likes in a smoker.
You will also want to buy a cover because water will get in through the top vent in the rain. The diameter is close to a Weber kettle, so he just bought a Weber Kettle Cover and it fits great.
Cooking with it is almost as easy with the venerable Weber Smokey Mountain Charcoal Smoker, although adding coals is a bit trickier. You have to remove the food and the grates to access the charcoal basket. On the WSM, there is a door in the side. If you are handy, you might want to cut a door yourself.
The charcoal basket will probably last a while, but, and now we’re quibbling, it would be nice if the wire from which it was made was a bit heavier. Regardless, Ball has sized it properly. Meathead found that a chimney of cold coals topped by a chimney of hot coals, can be easily dialed down to his favorite smoking temp of 225°F, and it will hold that number steadily for hours. If you just use hot coals and raise the basket, you can easily sear a steak.
For more ideas on cooking with a drum, check out DrumSmoking.com. If you are handy, this is absolutely the best bargain on the market. Oh yeah, there’s a bottle opener included. Ball didn’t miss anything.
I asked BigPoppaSmokers.com for tips on buying an open top 55 gallon food grade drum for their kit. There are numerous suppliers across the country and there’s a good chance one is near you. if not, Lexington Container Company is one that a reader told me about. Brian Spoeneman gave me these tips for selecting a drum:
New drums. New open top 55 gallon drums can be found for as little as $80.
Reconditioned drum. Open top 55 gallon reconditioned drums can be found for as little as $50, not including delivery. The supplier needs to be a state licensed re-conditioner and you must require that the drum has not held chemicals. Believe it or not, metal is porous and chemical residue is hard to remove. State employees will visit licensed reconditioners on a regular basis to ensure that the company is following proper cleaning procedures and that the equipment being used is operating within state regulations, which vary from state to state.
The usual procedure requires that barrels are burned out, blasted with steel shot, and washed out with a water based rust inhibitor. The rust inhibitor is important, without it the barrels will rust quickly, although they will rust eventually.
A new plain lid with no bung holes. Get a new lid if you can to make sure it is flat.
No gasket for the lid. You don’t need a gasket, it could melt, and it is also an added expense.
No ring and bolt. The ring and bolt normally keep the lid tightened to the drum itself. This is not required for cooking and is also an added expense. If you are obsessed with precision air control, go for it. But the kit does a great job of controlling oxygen to the fire.
Unpainted. Since you don’t know how their paint will react to high heat, get the barrel unpainted. Then paint the exterior only with Rust-Oleum High Heat Enamel Bar-B-Que Black.
It’s good up to 1,000 degrees. Many people paint the interior, but I’m wary of fumes, so I recommend leaving it unpainted. Yes, it will rust, but it won’t rust through for many years. Get over it.
Dollies. Ball says that dollies with wheels are available from the barrel supplier. If you can’t find a dollie set, he can tell you where to get them when you place your order.
For those who don’t want the hassel of tracking down a food grade drum and drilling it out, Big Poppa teamed up with Bubba Barrels to offer the complete smoker, ready for assembly.
Initial burn-in. Regardless of whether you buy new or used, it is important that the customer does a high temperature pre-burn prior to the first cook.
Manufacturer:
BigPoppaSmokers.com is a great internet barbecue store with a superb collection of charcoal, pellet, and wood burning grills and smokers including some of the fanciest and best devices money can buy. Owner, Sterling Ball, is a fine cook and competes on the circuit. Not satisfied to sell $2,000 pellet smokers and $2,300 Jambo pits, he found a need at the low end of the market and met it by designing a 55 Gallon Drum Smoker Kit for under $200.
Published On: 3/11/2013 Last Modified: 8/1/2023
All of the products below have been tested and are highly recommended. Click here to read more about our review process.
Many merchants pay us a small referral fee when you click our “buy now” links. This has zero impact on the price you pay but helps support the site.
When you make rubs at home we recommend you add salt first then the herbs and spices because salt penetrates deep and the other stuff remains on the surface. So thick cuts need more salt. We put salt in these bottled rubs because all commercial rubs have salt and consumers expect it. You can still use these as a dry brine, just sprinkle the rub on well in advance to give the salt time to penetrate. For very thick cuts of meat, we recommend adding a bit more salt. Salt appears first in the ingredients list because the law says the order is by weight, not volume, and salt is a heavy rock.
Sprinkle on one tablespoon per pound of meat two hours or more before cooking if you can. Called “dry brining,” the salt gets wet, ionizes, becomes a brine, and slowly penetrates deep, enhancing flavor and juiciness while building a nice crusty “bark” on the surface. Sprinkle some on at the table too!
Are they hot? No! You can always add hot pepper flakes or Chipotle powder (my fave) in advance or at the table. But we left them mild so you can serve them to kids and Aunt Matilda
From TBoneJack, the unofficial Poet Laureate of The Pitmaster Club:
AmazingRibs is where you go,
To get the best advice,
You’ll find out how, to smoke a cow,
And it will turn out nice.
Smokers, gadgets, recipes,
Charcoal, gas, or wood?
The how, the why, and what to try,
When things arn’t going good.
Selection, prep, and cook techniques,
Marinades and such,
Rubs and brines and temps and times,
And how to use the Crutch.
Brisket secrets are revealed,
For moist and tender meat,
The point, the flat, the rendered fat,
The proper mix of heat.
I found out how to smoke spare ribs,
Great bark and taste and worth,
I want some more, I’ll have them for,
My last meal on this Earth.
Memphis Dust did suit them well,
I served them without sauce,
Not 3-2-1, not overdone,
No precious flavor loss.
Jambo, Lang, or Meadow Creek,
It’s hard to make the call,
Almost a crime, so little time,
I’d like to try them all.
I’m not ashamed, I’m not alone,
‘Cause many have this lot,
But I’ll admit, here in the Pit,
My wife said Not! Not! Not!
Weber, Brinkman, PBC,
No need for budget breach,
They cook great food, just ask me dude,
‘Cause I have one of each.
Obsessed I am, I know it’s true,
They call it MCS,
I saw the doc, he was in shock,
He too is in this mess.
Myron Mixon, Johnny Trigg,
Cool Smoke’s Tuffy Stone,
Harry Soo, Chris Lilly too,
And Moe who cooks alone.
They’re all good, I like them fine,
I’m sure they cook good Q,
They’ve earned the right, I see the light,
I’ll give them their fair due,
But I have learned, thru many cooks,
This web site is da bomb,
For what to do, browse over to,
AmazingRibs dot com.
Tired of seeing popup ads?
No need to throw a fit,
Don’t you know, just spend some dough,
And join us in the Pit.
And if you travel, don’t despair,
No further should you look,
The answer’s clear, put down your beer,
And order Meathead’s book.
High quality websites are expensive to run. If you help us, we’ll pay you back bigtime with an ad-free experience and a lot of freebies!
Millions come to AmazingRibs.com every month for high quality tested recipes, tips on technique, science, mythbusting, product reviews, and inspiration. But it is expensive to run a website with more than 2,000 pages and we don’t have a big corporate partner to subsidize us.
Our most important source of sustenance is people who join our Pitmaster Club. But please don’t think of it as a donation. Members get MANY great benefits. We block all third-party ads, we give members free ebooks, magazines, interviews, webinars, more recipes, a monthly sweepstakes with prizes worth up to $2,000, discounts on products, and best of all a community of like-minded cooks free of flame wars. Click below to see all the benefits, take a free 30 day trial, and help keep this site alive.
Post comments and questions below
1) Please try the search box at the top of every page before you ask for help.
2) Try to post your question to the appropriate page.
3) Tell us everything we need to know to help such as the type of cooker and thermometer. Dial thermometers are often off by as much as 50°F so if you are not using a good digital thermometer we probably can’t help you with time and temp questions. Please read this article about thermometers.
4) If you are a member of the Pitmaster Club, your comments login is probably different.
5) Posts with links in them may not appear immediately.
Moderators