Fire proof paper mache?

[Poindexter]

I wanna make a hat shaped thing out of Roxul insulation, and then weatherproof it.

I have a 55 gallon drum. I want to smoke meat in it, a UDS or Ugly Drum Smoker. No problem, except I want to be able to use it in the winter time.

I got another 55 gallon drum. It's got some hardware in it, I use it to make charcoal out of seasoned birch. It'll run more efficient if I insulate it.

So how can I make a hat shaped thing out of Roxul to fit over a 55 gallon drum, light enough to move back and forth to whichever one I am running today, but weatherproof?

 

[DougA]

If make the cone shaped top out of thin sheet metal and rivet it into the shape you want. Then, you can glue some Roxul to the inside of the cone. It should be fairly light. You could foam it but probably too close to the fire for foam unless you coat it with fireproof paint but that is very expensive.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

I wanna make a hat shaped thing out of Roxul insulation, and then weatherproof it.

I have a 55 gallon drum. I want to smoke meat in it, a UDS or Ugly Drum Smoker. No problem, except I want to be able to use it in the winter time.

I got another 55 gallon drum. It's got some hardware in it, I use it to make charcoal out of seasoned birch. It'll run more efficient if I insulate it.

So how can I make a hat shaped thing out of Roxul to fit over a 55 gallon drum, light enough to move back and forth to whichever one I am running today, but weatherproof?

How do you make charcoal, Poindexter? I've recently had the idea to make some but am short on the details.

 

[Poindexter]

I am going with indirect this time.

I started with a couple one quart (brand new) paint cans with the hammer down type lids, punch a few holes in the lid, go play in front of the fireplace.

You want all your feed stock as close to the same size as possible and as dry as you can make it.

I got some decent biochar for the tomatoes out of it, but very low volume.

Played with TLUDs some last summer, had pretty good results using cedar shavings like for a guinea pig or a gerbil. Again, very low volume, i like tall skinny cans like asparagus spears come in for that. Not sure I made enough volume to make a difference in the compost heap. Trouble with mine was I had to snuff them as soon as the conversion was done or the charcoal would burn away to ash. Might have had too many holes in the bottom of the can, but those can run real slow if there aren't enough holes.

I am looking at filling a 30 gallon drum with 2x2x2 inch cubes and then setting that down inside a 55 gallon drum, lighting the fire in the 55 while the 30 is sealed up. Been watching a bunch of youtubes. I want to put a down pipe off the lid of the 30 into the firepit area so I can use the energy of the wood gas coming out of the 30 to make more heat in the 55. But I don't want to build a bomb.

I had googled up "home made charcoal retort" and then "efficient home made charcoal retort" and clicked on images. With efficiency added to the search string i got a bunch of pictures of guys in the same clothes I wear, only with bigger beards and more liquid grain storage facility filling out their pants - and standing beside 55 gallon drums with insulation wrapped around them in way that will get zero wife approval factor around here.

Makes complete sense the 30 will get hotter easier if the 55 is insulated.

After shipping I am paying $1/ pound for hardwood lump charcoal and burning a couple hundred pounds of it annually. I did a turkey on Thanksgiving day with some cherry chunks in with the charcoal, brined mostly in mango juice that was epic. Smallest amount of left over turkey I have ever had Thanksgiving night, and only two of the four kids home this year. Christmas I did a prime rib on hardwood lump with about a 50:50 mix of hickory and apple. NYE I did a ham with apple and cherry... Valentine's is looming, probably beef tenderloin on white oak chunks.

I am paying a nickel per pound for green birch, and should get roughly a 15-20# bag's ($15-20) worth of charcoal out of each run of the 30/55. Seems like a good way to use up uglies in the wood pile feeding the 55, probably break even in two years or less once the retort is running.