DIY Brick BBQ

[Dave]

A few years ago I built a brick BBQ which I often use as an incinerator for burning garden waste, tree trimmings, etc. It also makes a great outdoor fireplace. 

 

I wrote on my blog about how I built it here: https://davessecretgarden.blogspot.com/2010/09/bbqfireplace.html

 

 

We have a few South Africans in our congregation who swear by the wood-fired method of cooking. In NZ we use ti-tree or Manuka which is a hard slow burning wood that gives the food a lovely smoked flavour. Here is a recent shot of it being used. The brother on the right takes delight in offering samples of cooked meat to anyone standing nearby — which goes great with beer and a bit of story telling.

 

[Qapla]

That is a nice looking cooking spot.

 

It looks like you have a "movable" grate that you can build the fire in that allows you to place the fire at different distances from the cook/food

 

 

Is the brother on the left you?

Edited April 29, 2019 by Qapla

[Dave]

That's right John, You can raise it up high for cooking, or turn it 90 degrees and lower it down to the bottom for using as an incinerator or fireplace.

 

There is also provision for attaching a door on the front and sealing it shut to create an outdoor oven, but I haven't done that yet.

[Pabo]

My father built a BBQ which would have been a similar size, and we nicknamed it BBQ the Great.

 

It had a decent size hotplate in area (4 x 2ft) and thickness (5/16ths). We used 1 1/2" reinforcement rods to hold our hotplate up from the fire, and another row of rods to hold the timber to be burning off the concrete shelf which the ashes can fall on, thus allowing the fire to breathe. The rods for either the plates of the fire could be removed by sliding them to one side to free the other end up, and then angling them away from the hole pulling them out altogether. They were sitting in the holes of the bricks we had used on their side. There was also a lip for us to lift the hotplate up and it leaned against the chimney. The two wings on either side was wide and and deep as the hotplate, which we made a concrete top to be used as a bench.

 

When we moved, we too took the hotplate with us and it fitted perfectly at the new house we moved to, as they had a brick BBQ, but it didn't have the features we had. The plate actually sat on top of tits brickwork. The downside was we couldn't lift it up, nor the heat from the flames could heat the edges up , as the edges of the plate was sitting on the brick work. The side was stoked from the side, but there wasn't the shelving to raise the timber off the ashes. It was OK to use, but it lost its ability, and the plate started to sag in the middle, as there was no support from underneath.

 

My brother somehow got hold of it when my parents moved from that place, and when my brother was moving to the other side of the country, he passed the hotplate onto me. I haven't had the time of building a frame for it and I ended up getting a hotplate from my grandparents place when they passed away, which is of a similar size, but it actually made from cast iron and had a lip all around it, whereas my fathers was just a steel plate. So I am torn which one to use now. But I have other things to get done before I decide on what to do.

 

[Sackedbysapp]

It’s true, cooking with wood is the only way.

[Qapla]

OH Man!!! You've got a Shirley!!!

 

That thing must cook really good - they don't make bad cookers

 

 

[Bible_Schulz]

I like this scenery. 
 

Happy BBQ for you

[Pabo]

On 10/8/2022 at 2:42 AM, Sackedbysapp said:

It’s true, cooking with wood is the only way.

New definition of "Meals on Wheels"

 

[Sackedbysapp]

On 10/7/2022 at 2:28 PM, Qapla said:

OH Man!!! You've got a Shirley!!!

 

That thing must cook really good - they don't make bad cookers

 

 

Don’t really know have very little time to use it. May tomorrow do rack ribs and some Mac and cheese.

[Qapla]

Shirley is a very respected name in the BBQ community for making really great cookers - many to custom order.