If you love having amazing backyard barbecues, then you probably have a smoker (or really want one).
Unfortunately, these bad boys can run you anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars, so if you don’t have a lot of money to spend, it’s a pleasure that you’d normally have to do without. But did you know that you could make your own from a beer keg?
Instructables user BennyOne sure did, because after finding an old, expired keg and bringing it home, he cut it up and turned it into an awesome electric smoker without having to weld anything!
He first pounded a hole into one end to drain the remaining beer inside.
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCBM_BTF’); });
Then he got straight to cutting the bottom portion off.
He used a flapper wheel to smooth out the cuts and avoid creating extremely sharp edges.
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCI1_BTF’); });
Next, he drilled holes into the bottom for the legs.
Then he used nuts and bolts to attach them.
The builder wanted the top part of the keg to fit onto the bottom with a small overlap, so he pounded the edge to create an outward curve.
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCI2_BTF’); });
It turned out to be a perfect fit!
But he wanted to make sure that the top wouldn’t fall too low or rest crookedly, so he divided and cut a piece of steel into sections.
After bending those pieces into tabs, he sanded and painted each one.
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCI3_BTF’); });
Once they were screwed in, the crafter realized that they worked really well for holding the top portion of the keg in place.
For the heat source, he took apart an electric burner and attached the control knob through a hole in the drum.
He also needed to drill holes in the center of the pan and the base so that he could string a power cord through.
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCI4_BTF’); });