BBQ pit

[cedarranch]

I would like to build a BBQ pit this spring. Does anyone know of any website resources? Anybody built one? Any suggestion? Boy am I leaving myself wide open here! /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif
I have plenty of local stone to build it with, but not sure of a style.

 

[Chuck52]

Never got around to actually building one, but I did look into doing it a few years ago. One point I remember is that it is a good idea to use fire brick to line the pit even if you use stone for the rest. Many types of rock won't take the heat well.

Chuck

 

[EdDekker]

I can pass on a few Barbeque links.

For a brick pit look at http://www.ibiblio.org/lineback/bbq/wdh.htm

The BBQ mailing list FAQ - everything from building a pit to selecting meat http://www.eaglequest.com/~bbq/faq2/

The BBQ porch - another good general barbeque site http://www.bbq-porch.org/

The rest of Dave LinbachGeneral barbeque site has a range of information ranging from the history of barbecue to restraunt reviews for the Lexington NC area http://www.ibiblio.org/lineback/lex.htm

Gary's BBQ Pit has a little on pit construction http://bbq.netrelief.com/

How to cook a whole hawg - a must see site http://www.erc.msstate.edu/misc/hawgs/hawgs.html


BBQ Pits by Klose - some fantastic metal pits - http://www.bbqpits.com/

The New England Barbecue society http://www.nebs.org/bbq/welcome.htm

Ed

 

[njrqs]

I assume you mean a pit in the ground as opposed to a freestanding structure.

Yep I have made a couple of pretty basic ones.

I just dig a rectangular hole about say 5' x 3' and about 6" deep. This is enough for my camp oven dinners and as a general fire pit. You could put a BBQ plate on top if you want.

For camp oven dinners you need the pit big enough to keep the fire going while moving the coals down the other end to the camp oven. Or build 2 seperate pits but this gets messy transferring coals from 1 to the other pit.

I line the edges with normal house bricks or pavers. Had no trouble with this. Just gives a neat edge to mow up to.

Hope you have a great time with yours.

Cheers

 

[cedarranch]

Not really sure which. I have been tossing both ideas around.
Do I want a grill? Smoker? Pit?
I believe I have decided to go with a grill/smoker combination

Like this but using dry stack stone from around my home.

btw - Neil, are you near the brush fires I heard about on the news?

 

[kiphorn]

Now thats a BBQ pit. Sure beats my little Brinkman Smoker. Thanks for the links, I might have to build one of them at the new house.

Kip

 

[njrqs]

Nope not near the BUSH fires. They are throughout the state of New South Wales. Terrible thing they are. We have borrowed/bought some BIG choppers from the US to help with the fire fighting. They carry 9000 litres of water. - Very impressive.

In out state we don't seem to have the fires if the same magnitude they do.

But at this hot time of year I still don't have fires in my fire pit !!!

 

[MarkV]

Neil,
I have been following the news about the fires over your way. I believe the last figure I heard was a million acres involved and 175 homes lost. Have they proven that the fires were started by some misguided teens? I sure do feel sorry for everyone in the area. We have some pretty bad fires on our West Coast, but a million acres, Wow.

MarkV

 

[njrqs]

Not sure on the stats but yes a LOT of homes lost and lots of bush burnt. Our native trees are designed for fire so they are OK. It's only when people try to live in the bush that problems develop.

Yes they say in the media that the fires were deliberately lit. Then again %&^*^*ers that throw cigarette butts out their windows are just as bad too !

Cheers

 

[jdkid]

Hi ya
yep fire in Oz is a big thing when i worked over there we had tankers in the field while we were heading/harvesting .bout the smokes one guy i worked for made us drop the butts at our feet while driving not out the window sounds dirty i know but when ya see the size of wild fires it made sence
catch ya
JD Kid

 

[jdkid]

Hi ya
good links i'll have a look later ,i have been thinking of building one like a old tripot (used for melting down whales)as our place did have a old whaleing site on it ,,on another note i saw a thing on TV here there is a guy in the US who makes big BBQ,s one so on a 18 wheeler and one was the shape of a bottle any one know if there is a site ??? i think he was in TX but i'm not sure on that
catch ya
JD Kid

 

[EdDekker]

Dave Klose has a (poor) picture of a 48 foot long 5 foot diameter smoker (for when you want to cook up 6000 pounds of meat for a few close friends) http://www.bbqpits.com/beerbottle.htm and a train smoker <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bbqpits.com/train.htm>http://www.bbqpits.com/train.htm</A>

 

[gmason]

This is a little off topic, but it brought back memories of my home town and our 4th of July festivities. I remember that the local Fire Station would dig a big hole, big enough for a car, and throw a bunch of wood and let it burn for a day to get the coals and then put a bunch of meat(not sure if it was beef or pork) in the pit and cover it back up with the dirt. A few days later(on the 4th) they would dig it up and sell the BBQ.
I never got to see exactly how they did it, and I was wanting to cook a pig this summer in similiar fashion. Has anyone done this before. Ive read some stuff that you put a layer of tin/steel over the coals and wrap the pig with wet burlap.

I've got a bunch of cured Hickory and Oak, and wondered what a good ratio would be for this method.

thanks
gary

 

[Chuck52]

Gary,

I've never really seen a "pig-in-the-ground" done, but we did a whole pig roast when I was in grad school. I think it was done similar to this:

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/egg/egg0596/abtbarcu.html>http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/egg/egg0596/abtbarcu.html</A>

I think the cooks actually just dug a hole instead of building a pit above ground, but the idea is the same. If you do a search on "pig in the ground" you get a bunch of questions about how to do it with at least a few hints thrown in. I think I'd prefer the above ground method. Great excuse to sit by the fire all night drinking beer./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Chuck