Found a great BBQ forum

absoluteutopia

Dont know what triple D is but im using a Landmann Tennesse smoker

Pretani

nice piece of kit.

Triple D is a program on sky, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives

Willyk

Not quite BBQing but my kids love lighting fires on my veggie patch and cooking burgers etc on tops of old slates, but they tend to crack. I was wondering if there is anywhere I could get an old flat grill plate or something similar like a large lump of flat metal suitable for cooking on. I think the official name is a La Plancha grill plate, but I don't fancy spending any money at all. Anyone got any suggestions ? Is there a takeaway grill plate graveyard anywhere ?

Triple D is great !

Just found this:

http://www.cooking-ez.com/page.php?id=10

but would like something a bit more substantial to handle an outdoor fire type environment.

Pretani

Willy, go to an engineering firm, they always have skips full of scrap. and ask them if you can pick out a bit of mild steel about 3-4 mm thick, give it a good wash and season it with oil like the chinese do the woks. rub some oil on and put it in the oven at full whack. That'll stop it from rusting and it'll be safe for the kids to cook off. you could bend it at both ends and light the fire under it;)

Willyk

Pretani, I'm in East belfast. Any suggestions for local engineering firms to contact ? Not really sure what I am looking for. Thanks again.

Pretani

look up sheet metal workers in the yellow pages, ask for a small piece of 3-4mm thick mild steel sheet (A3 or A4 size should be big enough for the kids)....doesn't matter if it's rusting, sand that off, give it a good clean and season it like i explained above.

Willyk

Hi Pretani, Firepit now up and running. Got a nice bit of steel, sanded it and seasoned it as suggested and it works an absolute treat. Can't believe how non stick it is. May even let the kids use it !!!

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I am now thinking I need a smoker as well to try out some brisket or pork butt. I am thinking again that some sort of homemade contraction might be fun to make. There is a design of youtube if you search for BBQ smoker for less than $250 which looks quite easy to knock up from old bricks etc...but I do have quite a few old metal containers about e.g empty gas cylinders, old milking cans (big and small) and a few big metal containers. I would like something big as I have always fancied doing a shole hog. What do you think ?

The other thing I am not sure about is the wood used for smoking. I do have lots of seasoned logs aswell but have no idea what wood they are. I see on Gumtree someone is selling whiskey oak barrels for £30 today. Would it be worth buying one and cutting it up ? On Triple D they seem to run the whole smoker on wood alone e.g apple wood logs, but on youtube I see people just putting in a few dried and soaked apple branches for the smoke on normal charcoal. I am very much the novice on the smoking front but would like to give it a go. Any advice welcome.

Pretani

That's some size of a frying pan Willy;)....great job....might just give that a bash myself;)

regarding the smoker, if your thinking big best option would be to build it with bricks using fire cement and put a metal door on it with a temperature gauge on it. There's alot of work making one out of metal containers, they need to be really well cleaned and alot hassle in welding, bolting etc, plus you don't want to use a container that is galvanised as it gives off toxic fumes when heated. Easiest way to heat it would be to use gas, instead of wood, its cleaner and you can control the temperature easier....keeping it around 200-250 F. You can buy good gas rings from this place in N.Ireland. The foker cast iron ones are good, buy one with a FDD (gas cut out)

http://www.gasproducts.co.uk/acatalog/Boiling_Rings_Bitumen_Burners.html

For a smaller smoker, and probably the best to start with before you go big with whole hogs, buy a second hand gas oven with fan. No need to build anything;)....put your wood in the bottom wrapped up in tinfoil with a few holes in the tinfoil, and the smoke will seep out the oven door. Best to use hickery wood chunks, not chips (as they burn away easy) and make sure you don't smoke the bark of the wood (remove it).....only smoke for an hour or so at the beginning or else the taste would be too strong....spray some concentrated apple juice over your food near the end of the cooking to stop the smokey taste becoming bitter.

you can buy hickery chunks from this website....only 2 chunks of hickery is really needed for an hour of smoke, you can add more or less once you find out how its working for you. Think you can get 2 bags delivered to N.Ireland for £20.

http://www.gardenandleisure.com/ranges_pictures/weber-smoking-chips-wood-planks-cedar-papers-1.html

if you need more info, just ask m8;)...good luck