BBQing in Hemel Hempstead, Herts

[Col (Shizzling)]

Hi there,

My name's Colin (Col for short) and I'm a big fan of proper US BBQ.

I've had a ProQ Frontier smoker for a few years and, after a road trip round Texas BBQ joints, I just built a blockwork smoker in the back garden.



I've done a couple of cooks on it - ribs and a chicken - using charcoal + oak chunks. I'm thinking of running it on wood only next time, to see how it manages.

As well as the external blockwork there's a sloping area inside (upwards from fire end to chimney end) made from aerated concrete blocks and pea shingle. I added this after the first couple of trials as I found that I was burning way too much fuel just to heat up a huge void. Making the change was worthwhile as it now gets up to temp in less than 30 minutes and it's burning under 1kg per hour of charcoal.

Next steps are to get a proper door with adjustable vents fabricated for the fire box and to caulk some of the areas around the cooking area lid where the seal could be better.

I'm doing a big cook on Saturday night for my wife's birthday bash on Sunday - brisket, pulled pork, chicken and sausage are on the menu.

Here's a video I shot on my Texas road trip - I'll be adding loads more once I find time to edit them down.

[keith157]

Welcome, that's Hemel, Watford & Stevenage covered any more takers for Happy Herts???
Smoker from blocks is certainly different, good luck for the big cook.

Keith

[Col (Shizzling)]

Hi Keith,

The idea for the blockwork smoker came from seeing brickwork smokers at various places in Texas.

It hasn't worked out too expensive and I've got about 8 square feet of cooking space before I start putting in wires to hang sausages on, and so on.

I've been experimenting with burning wood only this evening, and regulating the air flow into the fire box. I've managed to get an even temperature of between 225 and 255 across the whole cooking space. This pleases me enormously.

[JEC]

That's a really impressive cooker you've built there out of basic building materials, any chance of seeing some pictures of the inside? Welcome to the forum by the way

[Col (Shizzling)]

I'll take some internal photos of the fire box and main cooking area in the next day or so and post them here.

The idea was to use as basic a set of materials as possible until the prototype is proven to work and then make it more permanent. The only special elements I have bought are 2 heavy grills that I asked a local engineering firm to knock up for me.

Now I know it works I've got my next door neighbour fabricating a fire box door with adjustable vents. I'm toying with the idea of taking it all down and putting in a level concrete footing but, as this seems like a lot of work, I may well just drive in some rebar and pour postcrete into the voids of the blocks.

Oh, and some sort of hinge and pulley with counterweight to open and close the cooking area lid would be useful - you need 3 hands to open it and add meat right now.

[keith157]

I'm that you'll crack that problem with the same ingenuity you've used for the smoker. How about a basic A frame at the back with a pulley and a magnet at the top to hold the lid up???? (never did get a Blue Peter badge )

[JEC]

I like the organic look not sure my family would though do can understand your plans for a more permanent set-up, cool idea though.

[Col (Shizzling)]

I like the organic look not sure my family would though do can understand your plans for a more permanent set-up, cool idea though.

I may well paint it or finish it in some way to make it less harsh on the eye.

[Col (Shizzling)]

I'm that you'll crack that problem with the same ingenuity you've used for the smoker. How about a basic A frame at the back with a pulley and a magnet at the top to hold the lid up???? (never did get a Blue Peter badge )

It's part ingenuity and part cross referencing various information sources with what I saw in Texas.

If you search Google for cinder block BBQ smoker you'll see designs similar to mine. Many have a simple block box with coals in the bottom used to roast/smoke a whole hog. The separate firebox comes from a book about cold smoking that has a small section on BBQ - I lined the hearth with fire brick and installed a fire grate in mine to help achieve stable temps.

My only real innovation is to fill the void with blocks and shingle to reduce the volume of dead air and to even temps across the grill - it seems to work so I'm pleased with that.

As to the lid, the brick BBQs in Texas have a pulley and counterweight affair that works well - I'll grab a video still and post it later so you can see what I mean.

[Smoky Joe]

Hi Col

Good to have you here. By the way nice block smoker. As you say a good large cooking area.

Gav