Brick BBQ ideas wanted

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Brick BBQ ideas wanted

Postby DuncanM » 22 Jun 2012, 08:07

Hi All,

I'm new to this forum, so firstly I'd like to say hello!

Secondly I'm after a few tips for a pending home made brick BBQ.

I'm 95% towards finishing my wood fired brick oven (I Marcus from the WFO forum is a member here also - hey Marcus) and I want to build a BBQ next to it as part of the 2nd stage of an outdoor entertaining.

Has anyone got a brick built BBQ? (probably a little too crap for the awesome BBQs and smokers I've seen on this forum) but I thought I'd ask for ideas anyway.

The basics:
- It wil be charcoal fired
- I'd like a decent sized cooking area, maybe a metre wide (my OH has lots of family who live close by) so it needs to be able to cook for a lot, but I can also just cook on a small area when needed.
- I want a thick chunky grill rather than the thin wire grills on the cheap end BBQ's - does anyone have any recommendations for people who can fabricate them to order OR a decent site that sells grills (large ones, albeit I know I'll need a few of them if pre-made).
- Ideally I'd like to be able to use it for smoking food too, I think this needs quite a lot of thought and planning though, something I'll do over the next week.

Are flavourizer bars a worthwhile investment? I understand they do the same job as the fat hitting the charcoal by vapourizing the fat and creating smoke but without the flareups.

For what it's worth, here is my intended plan (as listed on my brick oven progress), as I said previously the brick oven just needs finishing off (adding the roof), and I need to add the countertop to form my bar on the left. Everything right of the oven hasn't been built yet.

http://ukwoodfiredovenforum.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=bvovens&action=display&thread=136&page=4

I really appreciate any tips you can give!

Cheers,
Duncan
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Re: Brick BBQ ideas wanted

Postby keith157 » 22 Jun 2012, 09:04

Have a read of this for an idea.

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=2188&p=18790&hilit=blocks#p18790

I don't have the room for a brick built anything and rely on being able to move my Weber around depending on the "wind sheer angle" in the garden.
Hope you get answers to the rest of your queries. Lots of knowledgeable peeps here, and us "hammachewers" as well

Enjoy
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Re: Brick BBQ ideas wanted

Postby gazz_46 » 22 Jun 2012, 11:04

Hi Dunc from a fellow wfo member

A good range of pre built grills for a static build can be had from gouchys.......or they will customise :D

http://www.gouchys.com/index.htm
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Re: Brick BBQ ideas wanted

Postby DuncanM » 22 Jun 2012, 11:45

Ah-ha Gazz too, hello! 8-)

I've had a look at Gouchy's and the cost for the size I'm after is way more than I was expecting for the "standard" wire grill rather than the chunkier cast iron ones.

The type of grill I'm after would be something like this:
http://www.gardeners-world.net/prod_show.asp?prodid=4223
or (but rectangular rather than circular):
http://www.gardeners-world.net/prod_show.asp?prodid=10148

I forgot to mention I'm also wanting to incorporate a Rotisserie. Can anyone recommend a decent one without breaking the bank?

Cheers,
Dunc
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Re: Brick BBQ ideas wanted

Postby keith157 » 22 Jun 2012, 12:22

Similar topic
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=2190&p=18309&hilit=rotisserie#p18309

I can recommend the service at http://www.planetbarbecue.co.uk/sfrotigrill.htm
Should you buy a spit, don't forget get an extra set of forks/tines a single chicken looks so alone on such a big spit :lol:

Once you've sorted which one you need, check ebay they have lots on there usually
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Re: Brick BBQ ideas wanted

Postby KamadoSimon » 22 Jun 2012, 16:38

Hi and welcome! WFO looks great - just starting to investigate this ourselves....

With respect to BBQ, i am normally cook on a Kamado, but being on hols in France currently, we are having to cook on a brick built BBQ at the place we are at. It's a right pain in the derriere in comparison. The problem is that you can not control the amount of air hitting the charcoal and thus you can not control temperature. The only way to control the heat on your food is to move the grill up or down, which is no where near effective. This means cooking anything other than sausages or burgers (or anything thin-ish) requires partial cooking in the oven first or after. You are certainly not goingto be smoking on it as this requires a) keeping lower temperatures which means being able to restrict air flow and b) an enclosure of some sort to partially trap the smoke around your food. The other very annoying feature of these BBQs is that they tend to have a back on them, but not a front at charcoal level. So heat gets pushed up and to the front. Which means they do a great line in toasty testicles....! This was to the point where it burnt the front of my T-shirt around the belt area.... Sorry to put a downer on them. Next year we are coming by car rather than flying and i am going to buy a weber out here i think!

Have you had a look at building in a weber, kamado or a grill with a hood? This would give you matching athesitics with your WFO but the benefits of cooking on a grill which will be much more versatile and effective.

Hope this help.

Simon
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Re: Brick BBQ ideas wanted

Postby DuncanM » 23 Jun 2012, 10:11

Hi Simon,

Thanks for that in-depth advice it was exactly what I was after.

I had thought about an enclosure to be able to smoke in it, if you look at the link I provided above you'll see a google sketchup of my original design. I'd block up the front with some removable timber sheeting effectively giving me a tower that could be used to smoke but the air flow control to the charcoal is definitely something I hadn't thought about.

I had previously envisioned building in one of the charcoal trays that also has an oven component beneath to allow me to take advantage of that heat and then possibly flavourizer bars and the grills followed by a rotisserie. But I need to take your thoughts into account and either adapt the design or as you suggested build one in.

Many thanks,
Duncan
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Re: Brick BBQ ideas wanted

Postby KamadoSimon » 23 Jun 2012, 11:17

No worries - i think it is do-able in brick but not as you have it in the diagram which would only really work for grilling.

You have to be able to control both air in (bottom) and exhaust out (top) - you could have some adjustable vents made or buy some replacement parts for e.g. A weber which would be a cheaper alternative i think. These could cover some gaps in the brick

Also don't forget a thermometer for the smoking grill level in whatever door you place on the front.

I'd also plan in some way of hanging fish / meats for hot smoking to give more room than smoking on just the grill level or maybe more than one grill level.

I saw a grill on the Eggheadforum.com which was brick built and looked like a well. The base was a pit for the charcoal and a grate suspended between brick uprights which could be lifted up or down via a wheel and chain assembly. Looked really good but again no good for smoking but could be easilly adapted i think if the base was deep enough though.
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Re: Brick BBQ ideas wanted

Postby KamadoSimon » 23 Jun 2012, 12:16

Sorry, it was on the bbq brethren forum not the bge one. Here's what i was thinking of: http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showp ... ostcount=1

And here's the original one i saw and loved the look of http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showt ... p?t=133046
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Re: Brick BBQ ideas wanted

Postby gouchys » 27 Jun 2012, 21:20

hi duncan,
thanks for looking at my website, i realise that my stuff is at the top end, but please also understand that its all made from 304g stainless steel, we make grills to order in 3mm, 6mm, 8mm etc upto 20mm diametre, used for grates.....if budget is an issue we edge a 3mm grill in 10mm solid, you could sit on it... i thoughts are that if you put all that effort into constructing something to last, then what is the point of fitting chrome grills and steel ashpans when their lifespan can we one or two good bbq's before starting to diminish and rust... i look out of the window now and see my first original sat there, still shining, still being used, with a clean of the grills (ovenpride) it looks nearly new, just a slight 'blueing' effect around the base, but i like that... and mine is 5 years old, never garaged, often used........... you pay for what you get... my old man used to say
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