Well, you can definitely feel that summer’s in the air. Grass is greener, flowers blooming, birds chirping…and that delightful sound of meat sizzling on the grill. But, for us do-it-ourselfers, the standard gas or charcoal grill is not enough, oh no. What could we use that would be over the top and have people talking about it all summer long? How about…building a grill out of a 55 gallon drum? Got your attention? Well, in this post, I’m gonna tell you exactly how to build a grill out of a 55 gallon drum. I should note that this is for an upright grill. Maybe I’ll post on how to do one from the side later.  First off, here’s what you’ll need:

1. Try to locate a nice, clean steel drum. One that’s not too beat up or rusty, and one that the lid fits nice and snug on. DO NOT get one that used to have any kind of solvent or oil in it. I would check online, or maybe possibly a local beer store. Should be able to find a decent one easy enough.
2. 2- 36″ pieces of angle iron or steel rod, about 1/2″ wide, which will be welded inside to support weight of grill.
3. Small barbecue grill grate (less the 2 foot in diameter)-should be able to fit snug inside of barrel. You can also use some heavy duty mesh metal, if you’d like.
4. Couple of metal door/gate handles from the hardware store.

• Start off by cutting a quarter of the barrel off. This will be used as your lid. I recommend actually measuring it out, and running masking tape around it so when you cut, you will be nice and even. Best bet is to use a sawzall. It will be very loud, however so make sure to use ear and eye protection.
• Grab the handles you got and attach to each side of your new lid.
• Form a rectangle out of the angle iron that will fit in the drum, and weld it to the middle of the inside of the barrel.
• Place your grill or mesh on top of the angle iron.
• You should also cut about a 1-1/2″ or 2″ hole in the lid for ventilation. You could just use a holesaw to do it.  Also do one less than 6 inches from the bottom, on the side.
• If you want to get really fancy, you can attach some feet to the bottom.

This is basically it in a nutshell. Only thing you need now is some charcoal and meat!