First, a disclaimer. There are MUCH cheaper ways to do this. I chose an off-the-shelf approach which would get me up and running very quickly, with no skill or labor required. And there is some expensive waste in the name of convenience. The Johnson temperature controller isn’t controlling anything. It is just being used as a submersible digital thermometer. EQUIPMENT Bayou Classic KAB6 Cooker (Amazon.com: $102.99 + $29.18 shipping = $132.17) SKOLNIK Open-Head 55 Gallon Carbon Steel Drum with Bolt Ring (C&H Distributors: $107 + $29.20 shipping = $136.20) Johnson Controls Digital Thermostat Controller A419 (Amazon.com: $68 + $5.99 shipping = $73.99) Thermowell (Amazon.com: $24.99 + $4.85 shipping = $29.84) Equipment Total: $372.20 OTHER 8 14" Wide x 26" Long All-Purpose Burlap Bags (Amazon.com: @$3.25 each, $26.00 + $10.25 shipping = $36.25) Jute twine A few feet of 12 Gauge, Steel Galvanized Wire (Amazon.com: 100 foot spool $10.67 + $6.91 shipping = $17.58) Propane tank 2 plastic coated wire twist ties A wooden broom handle with a paint roller attached to it. Remove the soft roller from the metal holder, and you have a hook on the end of a pole to fish out your burlap bags of straw. You can bend the metal a bit so it’s shaped more like a hook. This is the pole hook. Lighter for cooker: A super-long match or bamboo skewer works fine, but I got a Maverick Bl-02 Piezo Electric Igniter from Amazon for $15.89 + $5.58 shipping. What's great about it is that it uses absolutely no fuel. The piezoelectric element converts the energy of your button press into an electrical spark. CONSTRUCTION AND USE After you’ve assembled the Bayou Classic KAB6 Cooker, hook it up to a propane tank and test as directed in the Bayou Classic instructions. Set the drum on top of the burner and center it. Put the Thermostat Controller A419 temperature sensor all the way down into the Thermowell, and fasten the wire at the top tightly to the metal lip of the Thermowell using a twist tie. Place the length of steel wire across the top of the drum, and clamp down and tight at the ends using the bolt ring, which in normal use would fasten the top to the open drum. We’ll use the top later. Hang the temperature sensor wire over the middle of the steel wire on the drum top. Use the other twist tie to fasten it tightly. You will still be able to pull the sensor wire to adjust it for the right probe hanging height. Now, add water to the drum using a garden hose. I fill to the first rib of the drum, and add more water as necessary later. The eight burlap bags will hold half of a two-wire bale of straw. Fill them with chopped straw (using your favorite chopping method), and tie off the tops with jute twine. Soak the bags overnight in a large storage bin containing cold water to which a teaspoon or two of Dawn dishwashing liquid has been added. Take the bags out of the bin. Put the burlap bags into the drum, and add more water as necessary to cover the bags. Lower the temperature probe into the water so that most of it is below the surface. The bag pole hook is also shown in this picture. Plug in the Johnson controller. Fire up the burner, and keep a strong flame under the drum. When the temperature hits 140 degrees F, start a kitchen timer. Keep a good flame under the drum until the temperature reaches about 150 degrees F. Turn the gas regulator down as low as possible without extinguishing the flame. Cover the drum loosely with the drum cover to hold in some of the heat. Maintain pasteurization temperature between 140 degrees and 160 degrees F for 60 to 90 minutes. Remove each bag from the drum by snaring it near the top using the pole hook. Hold each for a few seconds over the drum to allow most of the water to drain. Set them on a clean surface to drain and cool for about an hour. Get your spawn and make some straw logs! The eight bags of straw will make either: Two big 21" long x 10.2" diameter straw logs (16" wide tubing) Or Four smaller 17" long x 7.6" diameter straw logs (12" wide tubing) Here I’ve made one big straw log and two small ones: ISSUES AND IMPROVEMENTS The carbon steel drum will start to rust inside pretty much immediately. A stainless steel drum won’t, but it costs several times as much. It’s possible that the carbon steel could be spray enameled inside. I don’t know much of anything about 55 gallon drums. Any help here would be appreciated. I plan to have a faucet drain welded on the side of the drum, at the bottom, to facilitate draining the water. I found the following parts to do this: Basco 650M Brass faucet, @$35.35. This particular model has a spout threaded for a garden hose, so you can direct the water wherever you want, or just water the grass. Â¾” NPT Steel Weld Flange, SouthTowns Specialties part number ST-0750-F, @$1.42.