Brick backyard barbecue/smoker

[IndyEFI500]

Just wondering if anyone has ever built one of these. A friend of mine from Texas has been bugging me for years that I should have one. Unfortunately he moved back to Texas and I am still thinking of it. Can you use regular brick(seems there is always some free on hsolist)or do you need firebrick? How do you do the grates? How far from the house? Etc, etc, etc? Thanks for any ideas.

[Surface Tension]

Lets bump this up.

I can't help much and any knowledge on the subject would be more toward talking you out of it.

I thought about doing something like this at one time. The advantages of a grill changed my mind.

I'm not a mason but do know that you'll need the pit lined with firebrick. Being in a freezing climate I would think you'll need to cover this pit up. If allowed to get wet, the freeze thaw cycles will tear the thing apart. Placement, therein lies another disadvantage. I can grill on my deck all year long. More times then not the meal is brought into the house. If you have a nice big patio where the center of activity will take place, eating, socializing and so forth the pit should be there.

Being Grill Master can be a lonely job. Add inclement weather and you'll be out there by yourself while your guests are inside wondering whats taking you so long.

I think after you add up the total cost of a back yard pit you could have bought a state of the art full blown stainless steel grill with side burner, rotisserie, and cabinets.

[sparcebag]

Surface is pretty much right.I also had a buddy from Tex.He had one.

We built one in my backyard in So Cal.Worked Great!Got used every weekend.

Built one at a cabin in Colo. Weather was trouble! We seemed to use a Weber by the door more often.The brick BBQ didnt have anymore mortor problems than a chimney,but it took time & money to build and its use gradually dropped to nil.then it was a unused eyesore,Truck,Chain,Sledge Hammer,eyesore nomore 4 yrs.later

[stick]

I bought a cabin that has one and I'm still trying to figure out how to use it. At least I think this is what you guys are referring to. It is a brick structure, it has a chimney and firebox and out front of the chimney portion is a stainless steel grate. I'm assuming that I would need to build a fire (most likely with oak) back in the fireplace section, and then drag out some burning coals to cook over. Am I right here, or am I way off base.

I'm eager to use it this year and truly cook over it. To this point, I've just used it for my dutch oven.

[Eric Wettschreck]

As a boilermaker I had access to some defects of firebrick and acid brick. So, I built something kind of cool that you may be interested in.

Using the acid brick I built what "Looked" like a brick barbecue. The dark color of the acid brick goes real nice with the cedar siding on my house. I lined it with firebrick just to protect from the heat. Here's the kicker, It's not a barbecue. It's a barbecue looking thing that I put a regular Weber grill inside. It's big enough so I can put a bigger gas grill inside of also. I love it. I didn't have to figure out anything. I'm still cookin on the Weber with the look of a brick grill.

Just tossin out a different idea for ya.

[papabear]

great idea. i bet it looks good and performs better.