Building the Smoker

That's the first bit done, the masonry. There have been some changes to the design since the 3D model. The fire box at the bottom now has a smaller door to make it easier to make a door for and reduce excessive air intake. The fire chamber will now be lined with fire bricks from an old storage heater to stop the brickwork from falling apart in the heat. Stainless steel lugs have also been added to hold the rack rails inside the smoking chamber and hold the grill at two different levels for cooking instead of the sideways bricks you see in the model. Fire bricks will also be on top of the big slab to stop it smashing under the hot coals.

Caribbean Style Pork Skewers

It's nearly time for the build to start on the smoker. The brickwork and that is getting done tomorrow an the metal work as soon as possible after that. Meanwhile though, I did these the other night - Caribbean Style Pork Skewers.

I used:

Pork loin steaks

Reggae Reggae sauce

Red sweet chilli peppers

Sweet potato

Red onion

Ground chilli flakes

Ground roasted garlic and herbs

I chopped up the pork and mixed up some Reggae Reaggae sauce with some water, put it all in a dish and left it in the fridge covered up with cling film for a few hours. If I'd thought of this before I went to work it could have sat a lot longer and ended up stronger tasting but it was ok. I half boiled the sweet potato and chopped up all the other stuff into big chunks. All of this was then stuck on skewers and seasoned with the above mentioned chilli flakes, garlic and herbs.

3D Smoker Model

Here is a 3D model I made of the smoker to give you an idea of what it will look like finished with all of the iron mongery etc. Weather permitting, it's being built on Tuesday next week. After that I need to get all the metal work done, which could be difficult and actually cost some money. Looking good though. Don't know what the neighbours will say...

Hot Smoker Plans

Exciting news! As previously mentioned my main barbecue cracked under intense heat caused by an over ambitious cook out. Like the government, I did't want to let a good crisis go to waste and used it as an excuse to build a smoker. I had to get my dad, who will build it, on side. The exciting news is that after I showed him the amateurish plan that I drew, he seemed very enthusiastic and already has most of the materials for the masonry!

Most of the plans I had seen on the net were made from metal, required welding and were huge. Neither I or any of my friends or family can weld. I also have a very small space for it to sit in (the same space as the current barbecue) so most of the plans I saw were out of the question although still very impressive. Here's one here.

I did a search for brick smokers and there are lots although again, they're massive. Have a look.

I had to get clever and design my own that would fit the space the old one came out of, work as a smoker and barbecue and be made of readily available, cheap, workable materials. After studying different designs and learning the basic principals involved I came up with this. Click it to enlarge.

This is just a plan for the masonry. Notice the staggered slabs that separate the fire chamber from the smoking chamber, this is to stop direct heat from grilling the meat instead of smoking it. The heat will instead rise with the smoke and leave through the stove pipes that will stick out of both sides and wrap around the back before going up. The heat can be controlled by dampers in the stove pipes and at the bottom of the fire chamber. Metal doors will be fitted to the front of the two chambers to contain the heat and smoke. Rails, possibly from an old oven, will be fitted to the sides of the smoking chamber to hold different racks depending on what is being cooked. It has a traditional barbecue on the top as well.

I hope we can get started when the weather is better because the ideas I'm having for cooking in this are fantastic.

Get in!!!

We are grilling

Look at this!

What you see there is the barbecue boat. Our American friends never cease to find novel new ways to get their cook on outside. While I completely agree with the sentiment, boats are great, so are barbecues thus combining the two should be a guaranteed success.

The problem is this thing costs thirty grand and looks nothing more than one of them crap donut boats you get at fairs that are incredibly difficult to control and get stuck in endless spins. You can imagine how that would end - hot coals all over. Saying that its probably gas to help justify its price. Here's the full article that tells you all about. It still looks crap like. No room to move about, prepare food or KEEP THE BEER COLD! This could have been so much better for thirty grand.

Bad Crack

A few weeks ago, I had a barbie. It was overly ambitious and there was loads of people came which was class crack, but the barbie itself had some canny bad crack. I had loads of bait to do so I stoked it right up and set light to it. The ensuing conflagration was terrifying. You couldn't get anywhere near it and it took quite a while until you could get close enough to cook on it. As the smoke cleared, it became clear that the brick work couldn't cope with that amount of heat and had cracked right down the back through bricks and mortar. Have a look:

If you click the picture to enlarge it you can see one of the cracks through the black brick and continuing down the joint. Also notice the warped grate.