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.
Left like this, it'll fall down in a few years with frost and that knacking it. I could just get the top bit fixed and it'd be ok but...
A while ago, I read about hot smokers. I'd previously never heard of these in the UK but they seem quite popular in America judging by some of the websites I looked at after a quick google. I looked at some of the recipes and read about the cooking methods and thought it sounded class and that I wanted one. I thought I couldn't have one because there isn't enough room in the garden and the barbecue isn't that old to warrant rebuilding it as a barbecue / smoker hybrid. But then this happened!
My dad's a top-notch bricky and built the barbecue for me when I moved in. Thanks dad. I've also mentioned hot smokers to him before and tried to talk him into building one at his house where there's more room but he wasn't having any of it. When I told him about the cracks and the smoker idea he seemed keen, which is encouraging. I'll see what he says later when I show him the plans.
Plans to follow.
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