Here are some of the Pieces and Parts that I chose to use to build my UDS. I found this "Food Grade" drum in very nice and clean shape for $20.00 US. Sometimes you have to do a bit of searching to find a barrel, so don't give up.
According to the stickers on the barrel, it's not 55 Gallons, but 44.5 Gallons. I don't have any other drum to compare it to dimensionally, so it might be a little bit shorter than a 55 gallon, or maybe they simply did not fill it completely. It held Concentrated Orange Juice. You can probably see the deep orange color inside the drum. That's a liner applied to metal somehow to protect the Orange Juice from the steel drum. I don't know what the liner is made of, or if it would be toxic next to the heat that will be in the smoker, so to be safe, it must be removed. I chose to use a propane weed burner, an aggressive power wire brush, and a sander to get down to a bare steel inside. I did not take any pictures of that process, and I really don't think I'd recommend that process if you can avoid it. Wire brushing, and sanding inside the barrel is a lot of hard work and is very noisey. I had to wear ear plugs to protect my hearing. I also had a fan set up to avoid breathing the "dust' from the liner removal. For the dollars that I spent on tools, propane, time and effort, including a slight amount of danger, and possible injury, and just plain sweat, I now recommend buying a new clean drum to start with! Make sure you get one with a removable lid.I will say it again. I highly recommend spending the extra money to buy a new, clean, un-lined barrel. Buy one on the internet and have it delivered. Or check BBQ Forums for people posting sources for Barrels. If you factor in the tools that you will need to clean one up, the new barrel will be cheaper in the long run. I already had the power tools to do the job. Most people probably do not own the tools that I do. I don't think my $20 barrel saved me any money!
I found a Kettle BBQ Grill similar to a Weber One Touch on Craigslist for $20. So, I bought it to be a parts donor to the UDS. This was my best move of the whole build. The seller said they only used it 2 times, and they even still had the box. These are sold at Wal-Mart for $39.95 as you can see priced on the box. It donated a lot of parts to work with as you will see.
Wal Mart also sells these 22.5 inch replacement grills at a good price. I wanted to have 2 grills in my UDS, so with the one out of the donor grill and this one, I'm set.
I also planned to have an ash pan located under my charcoal basket, so I picked up this little picnic kit at Wal Mart. The pan came with a little grill and a mini bag of charcoal. Not bad for $5.87.
