bbq

[james]

Re: bbq

I have a love/hate thing going with Carbone a Legna. When it works, the flavor is really great, and it's very close to real wood coals, but some of it is so cheap that it barely heats up before it starts to give up. And you have to use a lot of it.

Jim, did you ever get a lot of rocks in your charcoal in Spain? Now there's a fond memory. I have to guess that they don't do that any more.

I will look around for a drop-in steel BBQ insert for masonry grills.
James

[jazzfan]

Re: bbq

Any thoughts from our Aussie grill owners?

James

A steel 44 gallon drum cut in half length ways (so you have a trough), sitting on top of a stand to bring it up to height. Works well, but doesn't last too long :-)

[james]

Re: bbq

Hey Jazz,

Exactly. What's the best way to get a good wood coal fired grill that lasts. We've been talking about how to rid ourselves of the propane BBQ, and we need a serious replacement.

Our new outdoor kitchen has a brick oven, and a spot for a "real" grill.

What goes there?
James

[redbricknick]

Re: bbq

My Uncle Loucas, who's built two ovens, cooks the best Souvla i have ever tasted on a grill he made by cutting an old stainless propane tank in half the long way.. It's about a foot wide by four feet long, and about nine inches deep.. He rigged up a geared down motor on one side of it to slow spit roast skewers of marinated lamb..
I have a big pile of bricks left over.. I might build a good old aussie bloody brick grill... After the second tier of the deck.. The Redwood hot tub.. The cedar Sauna.. The isolation tank.. The rainy rock garden.. The unpicked and slowly ripening italian, non viniflora grapes from which we are making a white this year.. Insulating the oven.. (Refrax sent us all kinds of awesome stuff..) What started as a movie about a pizza oven has turned into a movie about making a kick ass pizza day spa from recycled, found or donated materials..

[jazzfan]

Re: bbq

Hey Jazz,

Exactly. What's the best way to get a good wood coal fired grill that lasts. We've been talking about how to rid ourselves of the propane BBQ, and we need a serious replacement.

Our new outdoor kitchen has a brick oven, and a spot for a "real" grill.

What goes there?
James

I've used other people's wood BBQ's with fancy chimneys and all, and it seems to me none of it actually works. There is an open grill that just makes all this a waste of effort in my view. The 44 Gallon (22 Gallon?) drum works pretty well, so I suggest just make a pit out of normal house bricks (say) about a foot deep so you can have 2~3 inches of ash bed.

I guess the best thing you can do if at all possible is make the BBQ an island, so that when the breeze changes, you can walk around and escape the smoke. And the other thing is only use well seasoned hardwood - makes the best hot coals, and burns pretty cleanly once it gets going. Leave a good bed of ash - Only take out a little bit when cleaning (I use it to mix with compost and river sand to grow carrots in - but I get that from the slow combustion heater)

Regards