diy bbq

christmasdiane

planning to make a diy barrel bbq ( hopefully we will get some bbq weather ) . Anyone know where I can get stainless steel mesh or cooking grid for my grilling surface ?

slowburner

You can get steel meshes of various kinds from builders' merchants. The diy stores often stock barbecue grates too, but they're all lightweight and contribute nothing to the barbecue experience.
I use my beer barrel barbecue nearly every day - beats the heck out of a conventional oven!
Cast iron makes the very best grate for a barbecue. It accentuates the barbecue flavour - I was told this by a first class chef and it is absolutely true. Thicker iron has the advantages of retaining and distributing heat more effectively as well.
If you know someone who can weld, ask them to weld up a custom grate for your barrel. Get them to make it up in 10mm square bar or 10mm round rod, with no bigger than an 8mm gap between each bar. Before you use it for the first time, liberally coat it with vegetable oil and put it over the hot coals to 'season' it - pretty much like you are supposed to do with a wok. After a while, the grate will become non-stick.

slowburner

Here's my Guinness barrel barbie in action this evening between the showers


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dnme

slowburner wrote: »

Here's my Guinness barrel barbie in action this evening between the showers


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oh jesus that looks absolutely f'n gorgeous. dam it im starvin now:D

m.j.w

what sorta steak is that! looks lovely

Nonmonotonic

This guy has the right idea!



Hope you dident throw away your Meccano set!

slowburner

That is a seriously cool design. Is it fold down portable?
I like the simplicity of the height adjustment. I feel very sorry for the poor chap in the chair - it looks as if he will have to turn the handle soon.:D

Wouldn't that barbie be even better if it was in some kind of enclosure? I'd like to be able to keep a bit more heat and smoke in, for flavour and for roasting.
But I see that there's a canopy and some of the heat from the fire would keep revellers toasty.

Having a barbie party tonight - it's going to be a cold night.
I wonder if I could get that made in time :cool:

slowburner

m.j.w wrote: »

what sorta steak is that! looks lovely

It's a burger!
Round steak mince, loads of finely chopped onions, salt & lots of pepper and herbes de provence. Could hardly be simpler or more tasty.

christmasdiane

great thanks. Heard last night weather is set to improve from 27th. Better get my skates on !

12 element

I know it's not a BBQ really but you might consider something like this, it's quite permanent though!

slowburner

Is that concrete or clay?

12 element

Fire brick on the inside then insulation and concrete on the outside if I remember correctly.

slowburner

You'd cook a mighty fine pizza in there I'd imagine.
There used to be a baker near here who baked in a similar oven - he's gone now but the bread was something special.

christmasdiane

Is it possible to buy large bags of charcoal . I imagine an oil drum would take a lot of charcoal

runawaybishop

river cottage did something similar - i cant find that exact one but heres another one - http://clayoven.wordpress.com/2008/08/29/1-building-a-clay-oven-the-basics/

back to the initial post - i'm pretty sure even argos sell the mesh so any DIY store should have some.