BBQ/Smoker help needed

[irocfan]

quite straightforward I guess - as it says in the title <grin>

In all seriousness we're having a lot of work done on the house at the moment part of which has been to rip out the whole garden and start again. The starting again bit got me thinking (never a good idea!) and while I was thinking a decent built brick BBQ would be a great idea - wouldn't it be even better to add on a smoker? I've been snuffling round t'interweb but the main issue seems to be that:

A the majority of smokers are from the US and so somewhat larger than would be sensible

B there are no decent plans

has anyone on here built their own/has a friend who's built their own etc and can show what they look like and what potential (no pun intended here) 'pit'falls lie ahead?

[anonymous-user]

Brick barbecues are generally quite ste because they don't have a lid. If you are going to the trouble of building one in, then I would just get the biggest big green egg and kill two birds with one stone and have it fitted into an outdoor kitchen or bar style thing. Big green egg will do smoking, slow cooking, grilling, pizza etc.

I am currently in the process of building a temporary pit bbq to do a pig roast in in October. I will let you know how I get on but it isn't pretty and its temporary as I am just using it whilst the drive is in bits.

[peter tdci]

I've seen some restaurant pits made of brick in Texas, but they were big and had massive metal lids (search for Smitty's market, for instance).

Home made metal pits made from oil drums or gas cylinders seem to be popular and can be a lot smaller - so better for domestic use. There's a British BBQ Society forum where you might get some ideas/advice.

[tomsugden]

bulldong said:

I would just get the biggest big green egg and kill two birds with one stone and have it fitted into an outdoor kitchen or bar style thing. Big green egg will do smoking, slow cooking, grilling, pizza etc.

This.

I bought a large BGE 18 months ago, and was so impressed with it, I went on to buy a mini for the missus and I to use quickly in the evening. One or other of them gets used at least twice a week throughout the year.

[irocfan]

mind you I just spotted this... looks great, unfortunately I suspect mrs Iroc would actually use that to grill various parts of me (and that's leaving out how much it'd likely cost!)

[oddman]

bulldong said:

I would just get the biggest big green egg and kill two birds with one stone and have it fitted into an outdoor kitchen or bar style thing. Big green egg will do smoking, slow cooking, grilling, pizza etc.

I was in market for BGE and ended up getting a Kamado Joe - same thing nearly half the price. Ceramic 'egg' BBQ is a pretty generic design - easy to use, does everything you could imagine from low and slow pulled pork to superb grilled steaks. Lightly smoked fish is particularly good. Even the professional Pitmasters from US recommend Kamado type BBQs.

[anonymous-user]

oddman said:

bulldong said:

I would just get the biggest big green egg and kill two birds with one stone and have it fitted into an outdoor kitchen or bar style thing. Big green egg will do smoking, slow cooking, grilling, pizza etc.

I was in market for BGE and ended up getting a Kamado Joe - same thing nearly half the price. Ceramic 'egg' BBQ is a pretty generic design - easy to use, does everything you could imagine from low and slow pulled pork to superb grilled steaks. Lightly smoked fish is particularly good. Even the professional Pitmasters from US recommend Kamado type BBQs.

Ah yeh, I had seen them before. Thanks for endorsing it as I am more willing to look at it now.

[oddman]

bulldong said:

Ah yeh, I had seen them before. Thanks for endorsing it as I am more willing to look at it now.

Go for it

My missus was very sceptical but I've used it every weekend (usually more than once) since I've had it. You can use it in bad weather with little faffing especially if you use a dual temperature probe with a wireless receiver indoors.

Once you're used to it you can set it up so on low temperature cooks it stays with +/- 2 degrees of target temperature. They are a doddle to keep clean and are astonishingly efficient on charcoal - I've run mine for 14 hours overnight on 2/3 of a bucket of charcoal.

Until you've tried an oak smoked reverse grilled 2 inch thick ribeye you haven't lived.

[ReaperCushions]

I found the Weber Kettle products to be a bit more functional that the Green Egg if I'm honest, having used both and finally decided on the Weber.

Also helps that the Weber is a quarter of the price!

My recent activity (copied from BBQ thread):

Coors Banquet Beer can, half filled with beer, then topped up with red onion and rosemary
Soaked applewood smoke chips and rosemary for smoke.
Lumpwood charcoal
Garlic / herb dry rub after a bit of olive oil.



























Long story short, it was immense! Although I think the heat was too high right at the start, once we spotted it we brought it right back down closing the vents up.

Two hours later the coals were still glowing, which also tells me we put it on too early!

Anyway, cheap dinner and totally amazing flavor.

[scottri]

ReaperCushions - treat yourself to the weber rotisserie and brine the bird before hand for a good few hours. I think its the next level up from beer can chicken :-)

Edited by scottri on Friday 18th September 20:19

[anonymous-user]

@ReaperCushions... I wasn't in anyway ignoring the weber. I have one and it is fantastic but the OP was asking about building a permanent bbq so I think the BGE or the kamadojoe fits the bill a bit better.

PS that chicken looks fking decent.

PPS... I have bought a thing called a Beer Bird which is a stand for the beer can. Works a treat and was £12 on amazon.