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Home » Do It Yourself » Homemade Smoker and Grill

Published: Jul 8, 2015 · Modified: Oct 11, 2020 by Kathy · This post may contain affiliate links

Homemade Smoker and Grill

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For my 50th birthday (yikes!), we decided to do a pig roast!  I mean, why not?  We've been wanting to have a huge party for years with a pig roast as the main attraction.

My birthday was the perfect opportunity for a huge party.  Once I got past the fact that I was turning 50, I was okay with celebrating this milestone!

Rod is a great BBQ griller, sausage maker, and slow smoker of meats.  However, a whole pig was a new challenge for him.  He wanted to use a smoker rather than dig a hole in the ground and bury the pig in coals.  The problem is our current smoker is tall with a few racks.  This is perfect for hanging a chain of sausage links, making homemade bacon or smoking a couple of large hind quarters.  But a whole pig?  This just wouldn't work so Rod designed and built a new smoker!

Homemade Smoker and Grill outside in a grassy area.
Homemade Smoker and Grill

A large grill with the lid opened.
Homemade Smoker Grill

He started with a pressure tank that he nabbed from a discard pile sometime last year.  I know...a discard pile???  Luckily, most of his "finds" turn into wonderful treasures.  Otherwise we'd look like we had a junk yard!  He sliced the pressure tank in half, added a grill, hinge, legs, supports, handles and a few other elements.

Then he added a fire box below.  To build the fire box, he had another, smaller pressure tank...I know...how many old pressure tanks can a person have in stock? He's been building this smoker in his mind for a few years now so he's been gathering parts as he goes.

Two days before the party, he finished building the smoker, brought it home and lit a fire to test out the smoker.  He wanted to see how hot the temp was, what the smoke was like, and if there were any other potential problems.  The above pictures were taken as he was lighting the first fire.

Rod did decide to burn off all the blue paint before pig roasting day.  The paint had an odor that was emitted when the smoker became hot.  We didn't want that smell to affect the meat at all.  He used a blow torch to burn away the paint.  We had no problem with any other smells.  We just had the deliciousness of slow smoked pork!

A whole pig laying on top of a bbq grill.

The pig was given a dry rub of Rod's secret mixture of seasonings and brown sugar.  Then the pig was on the grill at 5:00 in the morning.  He also added two pork shoulder roasts.  He was afraid we just might not have enough meat!  12 hours later.... the pork was smoked to perfection!

A cooked whole pig on a barbecue grill.

The pork was absolutely perfect! It was moist and tender.  You can see in the picture below the nice smoke ring around the outside of the meat.  That's what Rod is always looking for...a beautiful smoke ring.  I'm just looking for a beautiful taste!

Smoked Pork being sliced on a wooden cutting board.

My dear sisters, decided to play on the whole pig theme...they carved a watermelon pig...and a another watermelon with a big 'ol 50 on the front.  Just in case anyone might forget how old I was!

A watermelon decorated like a pig filled with fresh melons.

The pig roast/birthday party was a great success!  Now we need to find another event worthy of doing it all again!

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Allana Kim says

    February 08, 2019 at 6:30 pm

    Looks delish Kathy, especially love the watermelon pig! Have give that a try summer this year 🙂

    Reply
    • Kathy says

      February 09, 2019 at 4:22 am

      Thanks! The watermelon pig always adds a fun touch!

      Reply
  2. kevin says

    September 14, 2015 at 7:02 am

    Happy 50th Kathy ! That was so much fun.

    Reply
    • Kathy says

      September 14, 2015 at 8:03 pm

      Thanks!

      Reply
  3. Kathy @ Living A Creative Life says

    July 11, 2015 at 9:16 am

    Happy 50th Kathy!! LOVE the pig watermelon, too... So creative! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
    • Kathy says

      July 11, 2015 at 9:59 am

      The pig watermelon was certainly a hit! Thanks!

      Reply
  4. Emanuele @ guyslovecooking says

    July 09, 2015 at 3:05 am

    Wow, that is amazing. Did he actually build it himself?? I was watching a cookery show the other day, they had one and I thought I had never seen one for real.
    I can only imagine how soft and moist it must have turned out...Great job

    Reply
    • Kathy says

      July 09, 2015 at 5:35 am

      He did build it himself. He had the tank, bought the grate and parts, but had to do all the cutting and welding himself. It turned out great and the pork was amazing!

      Reply
  5. Annie @ The Garlic Diaries says

    July 08, 2015 at 12:47 pm

    Happy Birthday!!! I've never had a pig roast before (or even been to one), but it looks so fun! Such a fun thing to do in summer :).

    Reply
    • Kathy says

      July 08, 2015 at 7:31 pm

      I had never been to one either! Lots of fun!

      Reply
  6. Lori from LL Farm says

    July 08, 2015 at 11:33 am

    Happy Birthday Kathy! What a great way to celebrate. We had a hog roast a couple years ago...the guy asked if he could start roasting at his house early then bring it to our house later. I was very disappointed when he brought the meat in containers not the pig in the smoker!!!

    Reply
    • Kathy says

      July 08, 2015 at 7:32 pm

      Oh no! Next time insist it is smoked at your place. So much fun to see and so wonderful to smell!

      Reply
  7. Laura @ Raise Your Garden says

    July 08, 2015 at 11:06 am

    Happy Birthday! I don't like, I LOVE this idea. Pork is my favorite, pulled pork. BBQ Pork. Bacon. Love it. Pork is the way to celebrate 50 years old for sure! I am going to nag, scratch that, ask my husband to get on this. How fun for our next party!!! Thanks for sharing. Love this post.

    Reply
    • Kathy says

      July 08, 2015 at 7:32 pm

      Definitely get your husband on this!

      Reply
  8. Senika @ Foodie Blog Stalker says

    July 08, 2015 at 9:20 am

    Happy Birthday! That smoker is AMAZING!!! My hubby would be so jealous!

    Reply
    • Kathy says

      July 08, 2015 at 7:33 pm

      Thanks. I think this whole smoker thing is a total guy thing!

      Reply

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I'm Kathy, a busy working mom who loves to cook from scratch, grow a garden, and raise farm animals. Take a look around and find all my recipes, gardening tips, and country living antics.

More about me →

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