I was thinking of a nice spitroast, but whatever floats your boat, dear boy…..

If I was building my own, it would have to have the following:

Smoker
Griddle
Coal & Gas Capable
At least 2 shelves (cooking & warming)
Ability to cook in the rain and not get too wet
Cold storage (Fridge or cool box inbuilt)
Ability to use as a chiminea, or one built in somewhere
I’m sure there are loads of things I haven’t mentioned that are also essential!

I would go sideways, rather than up with a BBQ, as its easier to control the temp, very similar to KonaStoner’s setup, would also be better for smoking food.

meatspin?

If you do want a meat spin, use the motor off an A4 laminator. Heat resistant and 240vac.

Just a tip, i’ll leave you to think the rest through.

Konastoner – are you an Aussie, that barbie is very nice?
Ours is just 2 small brick walls with a gertbig lump of york stone across the top, onto which we balance our very cheap bargain bucket barbeque. Funnily enough this sits beside the pergola, which on reflection is not a good idea, as it’s going to go up in flames one day.

Konastoner – are you an Aussie, that barbie is very nice?

Ha ha thanks but i’m no Ausie, just a welshman who was bored one day. All you see in the photo is left over building material from a 6 year garden build, it was doing my head in lying about the place and the barbeque you see in the photo had lost its wooden stand. The light bulb was well and truely switched on!

I must admit though it is commented on rather a lot by guests.

I Had a couple of fillet steaks on it tonight as a matter of fact 😀

You NEED a dog powered turnspit.

The Dog-Powered Turnspit by Daniel and Merriwyn, on Flickr

This turnspit would originally have been powered by a small dog running within it. The energy the dog generated was then used to power a mechanism that turned the meat cooking on a spit.

that is SOOOOOOOOO cooool!!!

Anyway, having accepted it shall never be as amazing as konastoner’s inferno maker, finalised layout with the missus this morning. A few compromises needed in terms of symmetry and balance due to sizing, but I think it’ll work. going for a 500mm square cooking area. Im also toying with making it convertable into a smoker….with a shutter door and baffles for the chimney 😉

We’ll see how far we get today…

I like the look of this: combined pizza oven, dutch oven, BBQ.

Final point is that you get a lot of fat dripping off the food, so you will need some kind of removable drip tray under the coals or you will be be in the bacteria growing business

No you don’t, the fat all falls on the coals, and burns up. Even if you did start growing bacteria (pretty much impossible not to, really, and I’m not entirely clear what risk it really involves) the next time you light up the thing you’ll kill most of it.

Not sure why you need a back vent, either – mine certainly doesn’t have one and burns fine. I don’t load it up massively with coals, though – there’s loads of space around the sides for air to get in.

Another pic from the same DIY chain, with beer shelf:

Pertinent link: http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/barbecues-shit-201107154080/

Slow but sure.
And if any builders want to criticise my bricklaying, theyre welcome to email me their Excel models first. email address in profile 😛

Where’s the beer shelf?

And that dry stone wall is cheating!

that’s dry stone walling for numpties. 😉

Beer shelf comes at next level….

Get your umbrellas out, the BBQ is done. took a few days given the weather.
Need to take some brick acid to it to tidy up where some rain has made the water run.


nicked one of the wife’s pots for a chimney piece…havent told her yet. Just need to put a terracotta dish on the top as a rain baffle.

Will get some custom sized stainless steel grill shelves off ebay and give it a test drive.

Good effort.

ha, forgot the pics of the chimney opening. Made a hell of a noise. If in doubt throw machinery at it:

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBBFzerJ1Ss&feature=player_detailpage[/video]

Looking good.

Are you wanting plants to grow in the stone baskets? If so there may be some scorching when the barbecue is lit.

going to put some climbers, trailers and maybe some alpines stuffed in the cages. But there’s plenty of space further away from the BBQ. Not that I think it will get particularly hot except right up against the chimney pot.