“I have been given a old 40 gallon oil tank by my Dad, and he suggested I turn it into a BBQ Smoker. Do you have any information about making oil tank BBQ pits?”

I receive this question a lot, and there really isn’t a wide variety of actual plans out there for transforming oil tanks into BBQ pits.

I’ve written several posts here about building your own BBQ smokers.  Two specifically centered around the oil tank smoker design are listed as follows:

Garrell York’s Propane Tank BBQ Design: Available via pdf download.  Garrell’s plan is well defined and easy to follow.  A trip to your local propane company will get you started.

Garrell suggests asking them for a main tank around six and a half feet to seven and a half feet long, and for the smoke box to use one of the stand up bottles that are almost chest high {25 gallon tank or AKA; 100 lb bottle}.

Note: You’ll notice that Garrell is very clear about you taking every precaution as you build this model. For instance, if you don’t know how, you may need to find a professional welder to cut the tanks open for you.

The Big Baby Oil Tank BBQ Pit: This one is probably the best example of a highly functional and easy to assemble oil tank smoker as you’ll ever find.  It’s been around for a long time, and any search on the web for “Big Baby Smoker” will turn up numerous results with pictures, plans, etc.

To date, however, the Definitive plan for this smoker comes from Vince Staten and Greg Johnson’s book, Real Barbecue: The Classic Barbecue Guide to the Best Joints Across the USA — with Recipes, Porklore, and More!

Real Barbecue: The Classic Barbecue Guide to the Best Joints Across the USA --- with Recipes, Porklore, and More! Overall Rating:   Retail Price: $16.95 Amazon Price: $15.26

The Big Baby smoker is one you can build and be proud of.  There’s a great “How To” guide on this smoker  – found on page 260 of the Real Barbecue book.

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