Whiskey Barrel
Posted by chris kennington on
In 2015, pitmasterIQ BBQ was very fortunate to have our bung pulled for the Jack Daniel's Invitational Barbecue!
A bung is what they plug a whiskey barrel with. When you win a qualifying State Championship with 25 or more teams, you get one bung with your name on it for the state in which you won it. Then they randomly draw one bung to represent each state. We represented Missouri.
To celebrate the occasion, we ordered the best looking whiskey barrel possible straight from the Jack Daniel's Hardware Store in Lynchburg, TN and modified it to be a smoker. We took it to the Jack as a show piece. We didn't use it in the contest, but perhaps we should have? We ended up getting 35th overall out of 90 some odd teams. Not bad for The Jack! We've burned it at 225 for a few hours and will do a trial cook on it soon, with more to follow. Here are some pics from the build:
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| The first few (of about 150) screws in place. These are necessary to hold the slats in place after the top is cut off. | All screws in place - trying to figure out how to cut the top off. | Masking tape placed around barrel and being marked for cut line. |
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| This was the scary part! | Going mobile! | Beginning of the hinge.... |
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| I think this fine metal sculpture should be in an art museum! | Firebox frame to glue firebricks into. | Firebricks cemented in. |
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| Felt gasket with PSA backing. | Art museum didn't want it - stick it on barrel instead! | Intake tube for 1" ball valve and eventually IQ130. Feeds the firebox directly. |
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| Firebox in place with air tube visible. | Seems like too many parts for 3 handles, right? | Proud BBQ nerd! |
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| Ready to cook! |