Get it while its Hot and Smoky!

For the up-cycling project, I have decided to make a BBQ smoker out of an old beer keg. The reasons are makeing a BBQ smoker is simple really, I like good food and I like hanging out with friends. Smoking meats adds flavor while still allowing the meat to be very tender. This is done by cooking it at a very low temperature for a very long time (a full rack of ribs could take around 16 hours to cook). What sets smoking apart from other long cooking appliances like crock-pots, is the need for attention. To keep the temperature of the smoker constant, it has to be checked periodically. While some people think that this is a hassle, I would like to make an outing of it. While the smoker is smoking, you can invite people over, hang out, and then enjoy a great dinner or lunch.

Smokers, like everything nowadays, come in many shapes, sizes and complexities. As shown below there are vertical smokers, cabinet smokers (yes they can be made from a filing cabinet), and offset smokers.

As I was fresh out of cabinets, I started thinking of other things that I could make it out of, and my friend gave me the idea of using a beer keg. As it so happened, another of my friends had a keg that had been sitting in his backyard for a while (at least two years). In addition to this, upon receiving the keg, I deduced that there was still liquid in the bottom (highly technical swishing technique was used to discover this).

I have not had the… “opportunity” of opening the beast up yet, but it will have to happen sometime. But fear not, I will post again regaling all of the “treasures” that this smoker will hold. Tomorrow, I plan to carefully cut the top off of it, and then spray it with a hose as far away as possible to rinse the “liquid” out. Then, using copious amounts of bleach, I plan to start the process of cleaning, disinfecting, and scrubbing the inside of the keg. Wish me luck!