The old round TV CRT tubes set on top of a 30 gallon trash can and topped with a wok made from the top of a 50 gallon steel drum also worked pretty well as a fryer. For most outdoor homemade cooking devices, draft control seems to be the major challenge; that's why I'm a fan of the big green egg, even though I make a lot of use out of my Weber-Stephen.
I try to minimize the amount of $0.50 per pound charcoal that I consume in making a meal. Ashes from a wood fire can often produce tastier food but, even though I'm retired, I do not use the wood ash method that often because of the time involved and paucity of appropriate trees on my property.