I've really wondered about this "red liner of death" issue. I'm just like everyone else, I'm scared of it and it's coming out... all of it. Yet I sometimes wonder if it is just a mass paranoia thing in BBQ world for a multitude of reasons. First of all, these are food grade drums. I don't believe the FDA or whoever regulates would allow any liner that had any chance of off-gassing a toxic substance. Second, they get a really hot burnout after which they will never again reach even close to those temps. I went to a cabinet shop and filled it clear to the brim with small hardwood scraps. I then cut my air inlets and lit the fire. Once it was going good I stuck an air nozzle we made for blowing out radiators through a bottom hole and fed it air like a forge. Everything burned off the outside, including all but a little bit of the paint. Now, a lot of guys will turn around and paint these with normal rattle can paint with no issues. If it won't blister or even discolor normal paint when cooking at up to 350 degrees, surely all the off gassing that could possibly occur has already happened and it wouldn't ever affect anything. Another point is that UDS builders religiously say that the inside of the drum must be CLEAN, yet every store bought grill I've ever owned was painted or otherwise coated inside as well as out. The last point of my logic is that, other that "what if" reasoning, I've never heard a real life account of what actually happens if some of the red liner is actually left. You can be sure that there are thousands of UDS builds that never made it onto YouTube or BBQ forums, many of which were probably only given a simple burnout or maybe none at all, and yet I've never, anywhere read or heard of someone who experienced off flavor food or sickness that could be attributed to the red liner, nor have I talked to anyone who had it happen to someone they knew. It all seems to be hearsay and paranoia.
And yet I'm scared to try it myself. Maybe I'll make one as a gift for one of my not so good friends and see what transpires.