I have a BIG fire basket
so only one grate in mine...might be able to fit another below but a third would be pushing it. I have the regular flat drum lid.
The following is 1/2 stolen and all RAMBLING so YMMV & IMHO!
Drums I believe are more of the "PIT" style cookers. The meat is placed directly (albeit at a distance) over coals for slow cooking...That style of cooking is lots older than the off set...
it's a progression...
Traditional Open Pit The old style was to dig a pit in the earth, fill it with coals, place the meat over the heat, and then either cover it or cook on it direct in the open air. In the southeast it is the traditional way to cook a whole pig. In Texas it was the cowboy method for cooking large pieces of beef. It was a simple and effective way to cook a lot of meat at one time with minimal accruements.
Modern Open Pit The modern approach is to build a pit above ground out of brick or stone with the grill directly above the coal. The grill is high enough so that the meat does not burn. The coals could be at one end and the meat at the other to adjust cooking temperatures. When the fire is stoked up they become excellent grills where high temperatures are desired. The classic backyard brick BBQ pits of the 1950's and 60's used this technology.
Metal Pit One of the more enjoyable by-products of the oil industry was the adaptation of steel drums and oil field pipe into various configurations of metal BBQ pits. On the economy side a simple 50 gallon drum or even a hot water heater core with air intake at one end and a smoke stack at the other end gives the most frugal man the means to BBQ just about anything. At the higher end is the elaborate multi-chamber offset fire-box/oven/smoker which allows the operator to adjust the process to an almost infinite degree. Metal has allowed cooks to direct heat and smoke to meat in a multitude of expressions limited only by money or welding skills.
Pellet Cookers...
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