How to Build a Homemade Propane BBQ Smoker

Cut the top off a 55-gallon drum using a jigsaw with a metal-cutting blade. Cut a 3-inch-diameter circle in the top of the drum portion that you cut off using the jigsaw. On the side of the drum near the base cut out a square about 10 by 10 inches.

Apply heat-safe adhesive around the rim of the 3-inch circle you cut out of the drum top and insert a 5-inch piece of 3-inch-diameter metal pipe. Apply adhesive around the outside of the pipe where it joins the top of the drum and let the adhesive dry. This is the chimney of the smoker.

Apply heat-proof adhesive around the edge of the top of the drum and stick on a ceramic fiber sealing strip all the way around the top, so that when the top is placed back on the drum, it creates a tight seal.

Position two wood-grip handles on top of the drum top and mark in the position of the screw holes in the handles. Drill pilot holes at the screw hole positions that are sized for bolts that are long enough to go through the handles and the drum top.

Place the handles back in position on the drum top and bolt them down through the pre-drilled holes, tightening with nuts on the underside of the drum top.

Position two hinges around an inch down from the top and bottom of one side of the square you cut out from the drum side near the base. Bolt the hinges to the square in the same way you did for the door handles. Place the square back on the drum over the hole where you cut it out and bolt on the other half of the hinges so you have a small door at the base of the drum.

Position four angle brackets evenly around the inside of the drum at the height of the first ring of the drum. If your drum doesn’t have rings around it, then position the angle brackets 10 inches up from the bottom. One side of the angle brackets should be flush against the side of the drum, the other sticking into the center of the drum to create a ledge for the barbecue racks to sit on.

Secure the brackets to the side of the drum with bolts in the same manner as you did for the handles on the top of the drum. Position another four brackets on the second ring (or 20 inches up from the bottom of the drum) and secure them as you did the first four.

Sit barbecue racks on the two bracket ledges you just made and place your smoking meats onto the racks.

Open the door at the base of the drum and insert your propane burner element. Place a smoker box filled with soaked wood chips on top of the propane burner and then close the door. The door may not shut all the way because of the propane tubes, but that is fine as it allows some ventilation into the smoker.

Turn the propane burner on to a low heat and place the top of the drum back on top. Stick the end of a remote-read thermometer into the pipe on the drum top and increase the propane setting until the desired temperature is reached inside the drum barbecue smoker, as per your smoking recipe. Continue smoking your meats for the time specified by your recipe, adding new wood chips to the smoker box as necessary.