Scraped a bunch of charcoal out of the boiler and cooking chicken with it over the washing machine fire pit.
Finished product didn't last long, but it sure was good. Washing machine drums are the perfect warm weather fire pit...you can still sit around the fire, but the pit blocks a lot of the radiant heat. I need to get a circle cooking grate for mine.
I have been using these for a while now- you just have to find a washer along the road with a stainless drum... Best one I have found so far is from a maytag neptune. Not too big, has the bottom for strength, good vent holes, and the round 24 inch Weber grate that target sells sits perfectly on it. I found out about the washer drums when I stayed at a campground just south of a Whirlpool factory. Walked around at night seeing all these crazy perforated burners.... When I looked in the morning I realized what they were.... Now I take one camping all the time.
.22 shot from the inside out makes good drain holes. I like the shorter tubs for cooking and the taller ones for general campfire use. The enamel drums hold up fine too.
The enamel doesn't burn or crack off? I figured they would be a mess in a month or two... I haven't needed to make drain holes yet. I have a cover for mine- the stainless pan from an old store bought outdoor fire place. I also have the tripod from an old over the fire cooking grate, and I just put that over the fire, with the flipped over saucer, and I can keep a campfire going all day in the rain. I dug up some old pics from camping. I have a shorter drum now, that the grate sits directly on.