Harro's parrilla (bbq and box oven) build in Brisbane, Aust

[harro]

G'day all,

I've finally started on my Argentinean style parrilla bbq and oven. My take on this simple but effective wood fired grill is to have a firebox area in the lower left, that heats up a little oven box created out of firebrick slabs straight above it (upper left). Hopefully it will heat this little box up enough to do bread, spuds, empanadas etc, and maybe even pizza if i'm lucky. But the main idea is for the fire to create white hot coals that are spread under a moveable grill which takes up the whole right hand side, to slow cook meats of all kinds. There is a short dividing wall between the two to keep ash etc away from the food on the grill.

I've had the pros in to lay the blocks properly (given it is 3.6m tall and will be supporting both a patio and shed roof eventually), and now i'm doing the rest myself. I poured the concrete slab benches, and have installed the galvanised hood inside the blockwork, which will have an 1800mm long, 200mm diameter flue attached which will poke through the tin roof that will go on top (cowl height will be a whopping 4.5m off ground to get good draw and hopefully no complaints from any neighbours about smoke!?).

[harro]

Re: Harro's parrilla (bbq and box oven) build in Brisbane, Aust

Now i'm about to start lining the base and walls of the oven/bbq with 25mm ceramic board insulation on the base, topped by firebricks, and 25mm firebrick splits directly on the corefilled block walls.

I'm wondering how should i fix the firebricks/splits to the inside wall, and whether anything is needed on the base (apart from just gravity)? And also the short internal dividing wall between the firebox and the grill, which will be built up with standard size firebricks. I know fireclay mortar mix would be best, or Ryland? I'm going to pick up all the firebricks from Claypave within days so only want to make one trip. The 25mm splits that will line the walls probably need a nice sticky mix. The internal dividing wall isn't as crucial for heat retention as say a dome oven as heat is ok on both sides of the wall. So I was contemplating standard premixed mortar in a bag.

For interest i'll post a couple of pics of my wife's relatives' parrillas in Argentina, along with one of my plan.

[Mistertoy]

Re: Harro's parrilla (bbq and box oven) build in Brisbane, Aust

"25mm ceramic board insulation on the base, topped by firebricks, and 25mm firebrick splits directly on the corefilled block walls."

I think I get the idea of your build. Usually the insulation on a base is thicker than 25mm. I used 50mm of calsil. I am not sure how it will go putting firebrick split on the core filled blocks because the heat will transmit through the firebrick to the blockwalls - you will loose heat, 25mm splits will not hold much and not sure how the heat may damage your blockwork through expansion. The base insulation holds the heat in the oven and insulates the floor from any heat damage. On a pompeii oven the dome is insulated to hold in the heat. I would be thinking about insulating the walls and using firebrick thicker than 25mm so the walls free stand. No sure how you were going to hold up the box roof.

I would use poor man's mortar which has fireclay and lime (with sand and cement). You can buy the fireclay at claypave.

Brett

[deejayoh]

Re: Harro's parrilla (bbq and box oven) build in Brisbane, Aust

I have to admit I am a bit confused. I have seen more than a few parillas in my day.
Are these things usually insulated? It seems a bit of a waste when the front is wide open and the flue is right out the top. Is heat retention an issue, or will you have a live fire going for cooking all the time? Or are you just talking about insulating your oven box?

[harro]

Re: Harro's parrilla (bbq and box oven) build in Brisbane, Aust

Brett - what type of insulation would you suggest for the walls and how do you install that and the firebrick onto the vertical block wall? The top, bottom and back of the oven box are just 450wide x 300 x 50thk firebrick slabs that will span from the blockwork to the internal dividing wall.

deejayoh - fair enough questions, it is a bit of a strange one, particularly here in Australia. My parrilla design is a bit of a mix of others i've seen around Argentina, but using the knowledge of pizza oven builders from here, and based around easily available materials here in Brisbane.

A standard parrilla doesn't have any insulation, just fire bricks (sometimes not even that) and yes has a fire going the whole cook time to keep feeding fresh hot coals under the grill. The front grill is wide open, but often has a steel sheet door that you can remove to attend to the grill, and replace to help retain heat. The two parrillas I posted pics of above have hinged doors, one upwards and one to the side.

So insulating the grilling area may be a little bit of a waste, but maybe the firebox area and oven area should be...? I was planning to put 25mm ceramic board above the top of the oven box to help heat retention.

[Mistertoy]

Re: Harro's parrilla (bbq and box oven) build in Brisbane, Aust

Brett - what type of insulation would you suggest for the walls and how do you install that and the firebrick onto the vertical block wall? The top, bottom and back of the oven box are just 450wide x 300 x 50thk firebrick slabs that will span from the blockwork to the internal dividing wall.

So insulating the grilling area may be a little bit of a waste, but maybe the firebox area and oven area should be...? I was planning to put 25mm ceramic board above the top of the oven box to help heat retention.

Yes I was imaging insulating the oven section above firebox area only, but if you have a fire going underneath the oven most of the time then maybe insulation isn't much value - just use fire bricks to hold heat and the fire maintains desired temperature. All insulation is going to do is keep the heat in and reduce heat loss so the oven stays hot longer without a fire.

You could use ceramic insulation or calsil board (it is cheaper). If you decide to use insulation, you will have to make everything self supporting/standing so the insulation just sits in a gap/space created between the your blocks and firebricks. Hope that makes sense.

Brett

[harro]

Re: Harro's parrilla (bbq and box oven) build in Brisbane, Aust

Starting to feel like I?m getting somewhere which is nice!

Installed the hood, flue and cowl, and tin roof over the structure on the weekend. Bought a red silicon pipe flashing ($47) to go around the flue. Also had some mates in to help with the new insulated patio roof.

Made the trip out to Dinmore and bought over $500 worth of firebricks (phew), and did a mockup of how the internal wall and oven box will look (see pic). Next weekend I?ll be installing it all.. The owner of Claypave recommended Rylbond to use for lining the walls with splits, and for mortaring the internal wall. But it only needs 2mm thickness between bricks so I?ll have to be careful with that. Anyone on here used this stuff? I figured I don?t need a huge amount (unlike a pizza dome) so a pre-mixed option should be quicker and easier than fireclay mortar mix.

Biggest challenge now is how to support the roof of the oven box. It was going to be like the base (450x300x50 slab) but I decided to use that as the RHS wall instead, and as I bought only 3 slabs I?m now going to put a couple of brackets spanning from side to side and put standard firebricks over the top, which will rest on the brackets and the edges of the back wall/side walls. Then a layer of insulation over the top.

Brett, I think I?ll only be able to put insulation above the top of the oven box (apart from on the base of course). maybe I?ll have a bit left over to sandwich inside the steel door to the oven that I?ll need to get made up (anyone have any suggestions on who/where makes custom steel oven doors?).

Thanks again for any tips or advice to avoid blunders!

[Camori]

Re: Harro's parrilla (bbq and box oven) build in Brisbane, Aust

Harro, that is one monster of a build. Will be very interested to see how it works - Legendary

[harro]

Re: Harro's parrilla (bbq and box oven) build in Brisbane, Aust

Thanks Camo. Here is the progress so far. All the base insulation, firebrick lining and internal wall and oven are in. I still need to tidy up the grout. The doors to the fire area and oven are next and have me a bit stumped as the surfaces to close on aren't exactly even all around. Hopefully some glass rope will act like a gasket to seal the oven shut. Unfortunately don't quite have enough CF board leftover to insulate both doors so might do one in Hebel as described in Dave's thread. Need to locate some materials this weekend and at least work out the plan for the doors, as i want to get stuck into the stone cladding on the outside of the block pretty soon, and get the grill in place.

cheers
harro

[ozeddie]

Re: Harro's parrilla (bbq and box oven) build in Brisbane, Aust

Hi Harro,

I was wondering where you got you grill asembly from?

Thanks

Guillermo

[harro]

Re: Harro's parrilla (bbq and box oven) build in Brisbane, Aust

Hola Guillermo,

Thanks for bumping this thread, I haven't visited it in a while! The parrilla still isn't 100% finished (just the outside stone cladding to go), but I have been able to cook a few asados on it. Here's a couple of pics.

I brought the grill back with me from Argentina as we visit the wife's family there every year or so. Bit difficult on the plane but I don't think anyone could make one like this here in Australia without costing an arm and a leg.

Cheers.

[digzd]

Re: Harro's parrilla (bbq and box oven) build in Brisbane, Aust

Hola Harro

Where do you get your asado chinchulin chorizo etc.... from in brisbane ive just moved up here from sydney and cant find anywhere to buy it

thanks

Diego

[harro]

Re: Harro's parrilla (bbq and box oven) build in Brisbane, Aust

Hola,

Long time since I have visited this site / thread, lucky for the email notification!

I have found a few different butchers around town for various different cuts.

For vacio, matambre, asado, morcilla and sometimes mojella - rock-n-roll butcher at greenslopes - since we started going there they now know all the argentinean cuts by name and will cut to your liking.

chinchulines - you have to go to the asian butcher at Sunnybank, the big one next to the fruit shop, can't remember the name right now but its the only place in Brisbane we've found to sell them, they call them fatty runners.

Super butcher at eagle farm sells mojella but from lamb, frozen. and morcilla, infact quite a few butchers sell the morcilla, its all the same brand. At times they also sell picana (rump cap) on special, or if you're lucky will cut off the rump cap from a whole rump.

Chorizo can be bought from Coles, or Pennisi imported foods in Woolloongabba (they also sell provolone cheese, which you can sometimes get from Coles too).

For anyone interested, I'll attach a few more pics of the finished parrilla. Very happy with the result, gets lot of attention and comments.

[harro]

Re: Harro's parrilla (bbq and box oven) build in Brisbane, Aust

[harro]

Re: Harro's parrilla (bbq and box oven) build in Brisbane, Aust