Ugly Drum Smoker; Lid handle and Body Handle

If you remember I built my own BBQ smoker this last fall and had it cook ready, but I'm far from having it to the point I would call it completed. I have spent most of this winter waiting for materials to come available to use as handles for both the lid and the body.

The lid handle is actually a grab bar from the side of a Fire Truck and is held in place with 1/4" nuts and bolts. The handle bar is held in place with a small machine screw, this prevents the bar from rotating freely inside the risers. I also added a small Tel Tru thermometer to the center of the lid as I had noticed that the center of the cooker runs hotter on cold days.

There are two other additions to the smoker as well. One is the chrome exhaust tip I added to the smoke stack, which is simply a little added flair. The second addition are two 6 inch drawer pulls to the body, they sure help in carrying it across the yard.

Now I still have a few more additions to make, such as a work table, a bottle opener, and possibly a new thermometer to the side. The thermometer currently residing there is becoming unreliable and has certainly seen it's better days. I may even make a small hole so I can run a digital thermometer probe into the cook chamber, but I'm not sure about that one yet as I will need to think of way of sealing the whole up when it's not in use.