Homemade Charcoal BBQ Grills

by Bruce Hanna
(Havelock North, New Zealand)

Hi I have started building one of your Homemade charcoal BBQ grills and am wanting to know if I should put vents in the fire box plate and what is the purpose of the fire bricks around the outside edge?

I am a kiwi with a South African wife and really enjoy having braiis when in Africa so am building one in NZ.
Your help with my questions would be appreciated.

Cheers
Bruce

Answer:-

Hey Bruce, I'm really pleased to know that you're gonna give my design a try!

Don't put any holes in the base of the firebox plate, the charcoal has enough air coming at it from above and through the small gaps in the brick. If you put any holes in the bottom you'll be running the fire too hot and charcoal consumption will be horrendous.

The bricks are there for a number of reasons:-

1. To keep the charcoal in one place
   
2. To act as a heat store
   
3. To give me flexibility ie. I can move then around to create a small ring if I only want a little fire and take them all off the "table top" to make for easy disposal of the ashes.

In addition I've got another couple of point that you might want to think about before finalising your design.

The firebox plate in my construction is fixed to an old sewing machine stand. Because of the dimensions I chose, the fixing bolts are directly underneath the bricks and this makes some of the bricks wobble. It's nothing serious, just annoying.

The final design is quite heavy so I put it on casters but sadly they were not good quality. It's worth spending that little bit more to get some decent casters so that you can move your grill with ease.

I hope that helps and good luck with your construction!

See Also:-

My Homemade Barbecue Grill
The Student Homemade Charcoal Grills
Build A Brick BBQ

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