I want to build a light coal bbq. At this point I was hoping to make it thin and long preferably with a bit of a U shape to it, pretty much only for cooking kebabs and other things on sticks.
I’m wondering though if I were to just use some sheet metal, and bend it into a box, would it be enough, or would the hot coals eat their way through it pretty quickly?
I know very little about metal, how to work with it, or what it can take, so any info would be helpful.
Also ideas on how to build it without welding would be great. I have tons of tools available to me, unfortunately no welding equipment.
I’ve seen many a BBQ built from a 55 gallon drum, sliced in half axially. Bolt on some hinges & legs, drill some vents (& add covers), you’re done! If you want to pimp it, you can even install some blowers on the sides.
Depending on what the drum held previously, you might want to have it pressure-washed before you burn anything in it. Even then, you should burn a few loads of coal before you use it to cook food.
I wouldn’t use sheet metal, odds are it’ll be galvanized (poison! :() and 16 guage (thin). I would go with a 55 gallon drum sliced in half or with a door sliced into it (like maestro suggested) as those generally work well as smokers/bbqs. You can cut them with an oxyfuel torch or a plasma torch, I’m sure you could get it done for next to nothing, its not much work at all. (3mins tops for someone with experience.)
55 gallon drums work well but might be a bit big for what you have in mind. It would be a bit if you weld you could cut it down and re-shape it into a nice barbecue shape.
Personally I would just go to the dump and find an old gas barbecue that someone threw out. People tend to throw them out because the element rusts out but the shell is still good.
When using coals I put some sand between the coals and the bottom of the barbecue which protects both the bottom of the barbecue from warping and whatever it is sitting on from burning.
Wow sand is a great idea, it’s a bit heavy though, but then I could use a much lighter metal.
I wonder if small rocks would be better since they would have larger spaces between them, but I guess that also means less spaces, I don’t know which would have a smaller overall mass to volume ratio.
sand would protect the metal from the heat, but I would still worry about galvanized sheet metal, make sure to get non-galvanized sheet steel, as the zinc coating on galvanized is highly poisonous and dangerous to weld/cook on.
The metal barrel sounds like the best idea, becuase its pretty simple to make, cut it in half, put hinges on and find a stand of some description… job done. If you want something small an old beer barrel might work, and give the food a bit more flavour
I think I may go with the metal barrel, but with quite a few modifications as I’m making it the bbq quite thin to save on space a weight.
Since I’m not planning on doing full chickens or anything like that I’m prefering it open, long and thin, probably without even a grill at least for the time being.
I will probably have a simple removable cover just for when I’m biking with it.
Are you building a BBQ or a Grille, or a BBQ-Grille?
I frequently eat at BBQ joints. One had an article up on the wall explaining the difference between Smoking (lots of smoke, low heat, very slow cooking), BBQ (ususally wood fired, medium heat, slow cooking of large pieces of meat), and grilling (smoke optional, high heat, quick cooking). It basically said what we call BBQing on a BBQ is usually Grilling on a Grille.
That may be technically correct but I’m not one to argue if the food all tastes good.
Out of those categories it would probably fall under grille. I’m still aiming at medium heat, but smaller things as opposed to larger to cut down on cook time.
You can find 5 gallon buckets that are made out of steel, normally large nuts and bolts come in them, and you may be able to find some for free at an industrial fastener supplier.
I would recommend having a bucket sandblasted first to remove all the paint and residual oil left in it, and then washing it with soap and water. You will just need to cut it in half, attach a side onto it, and find a grill top.
Not sure, but I pretty sure I’ve heard if you burn coal in a galvanized drum/metal that it will be safe to cook with after wards, think I heard it burns off the chemicals. Might check into that if sheet metal is your thing.
