tips for making a barbecue

[WelderMick]

OK, I searched... I swear, but I couldn't find any references to anyone making their own barbecue. I was thinking a simple 4 burner job, stainless steel frame, 3/4 stainless cook plate and maybe 1/4 stainless bar grill. Anyone built one? pictures? Tips?

thanks

- Mick

[Grahame Collins]

I have built one in black steel -used a cast iron drop in plate - and CI burners.


Back in the old days everyone had a flatty BBQ, just a cover over the plate with no hood. The mate and I built a pair from sheet steel so that we could cook out side, meaning cook cakes and roast and everything that could be cooked in a kitchen oven.

Mind you it was a good idea at the time as cooking inside in the build up to the monsoon season was never pleasant.We just about lived outside

If have since seen a ripper stainless BBQ made from a split keg 18 gallon..
Unless you already have the all the stainless stuff it might well be cost effective to buy a completed stainless steel jobbie from K mart or Bunnings.

PS By very carefull of the plate as I have seen a nickel plate mistaken as stainless, "nicked" from industry make some people ill.

3mm in the correct grade s/steel is all I would use as it will suck the heat away big time. The spacing of burners height to plate will be different as well.


Cheers
Grahame

[Bryan]

I have no experience building BBQs, but I know stainless saucepans tend to catch and burn. I think I would go for mild.

[WelderMick]

thanks Grahame, I walked into bbq's galore ready to grab something and saw some great units but couldn't believe the price tags on some of them. I was just after something simple, so that got me thinking...

thanks for the tip on stainless versus nickel plated.... gotta be careful with that sort of thing!

I definitely would make the body our of the stainless, but undecided with the plate - might go the cast iron drop ins as you have Grahame. I'd be worried about the 3mm plate sagging, etc., so was originally thinking thicker.

Bryan - thanks. I've never a actually cooked on a stainless plate BBQ before, but am already reconsidering based on what you guys have said.

Cheers

- Mick

[19brendan81]

3mm stainless plate as a cooking surface will buckle, and is tough to clean (food sticks to it quite badly). You can get cast stainless plates that are thicker and ribbed underneath that you could base your build on, or just go with the regular cast plates that people have been using for years. they last forever if you look after them.

If you have the space there are blokes making awesome barbies out of old 200L drums...just make sure your donor drum is one of the ones used to transport orange juice concentrate from brazil....should be easier on the palatte than an oil drum if theres any residue left behind.

[nrb]

Correct on 3mm it will buckle.Years ago I was lucky to get hold of a piece of 15mm stainless from a factory that made commercail cooking ovens, that fitted into the old style besser brick and pebble top barby,,fantastic I was the envy of all my mates,still using it today,cleans up great with a bit of water,can cook anything.
Today I have at our beach place a hot plate from BBQ galore that about 5mm thick with a lip all around,works great and cleans up just as well.
Just clean it after use and spray a bit of oil on it till next time.:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

Don't get the plate too hot as this will discolour it,add water after use and scrape off junk with a broad knife,it does not stick and is easy to clean.
Should the plate get dirty after many uses,put a fine wet and dry on you sander with a touch of water,this will clean it up and polish it back to new.

[Anorak Bob]

Mick,

Heatlie make some neat, simple to the point of being Spartan, stainless steel barbeques. Here's a link. Might give you some ideas.

Heatlie Barbecues - Stainless Steel BBQs (http://www.heatlie.com.au/home)

And here's a link to a pdf about stainless hotplates.

http://www.heatlie.com.au/images/factsheetstainlesssteel.pdf

Wish I could make my own.

BT

[Oldneweng]

This BBQ is about 20 years old. Made from heavy galv 44. Top is 45mm smaller than bottom. Had to do that to fit burners etc in. Frame is made from bed frame angle.I have caster wheels to make it easier to move. Needs a lot of cleaning and other work. I had a rotisserie made from a car wiper motor but the gear arrangement I had is not strong enough. Keeps slipping. Was good for a while. The top cover is too small for anything but a small roast on the rotisserie. I salvaged a piece of stainless sheet from work to build a new one. The side shelves fold down.

191376

Half grill and half plate. Both made from mild steel. The plate is 1/4inch, the grill is half inch diam rod attached to angle on sides. Both sit on top of frame edges.

191377

4 burners in total. I bought these, the valves and knobs and made the rest including the manifold.

A salvage yard in Mount Gambier has lots of old BBQs in various states of repair and a pallet with about 50 of these burners sitting out in the weather.

I had trouble with starting the BBQ recently and after some searching found that one of the burners had rusted out leaving a hole. This BBQ is in the weather at the moment but with the lid always down, but it has been stored under cover until about 2 years ago to make room for restoration stuff on verandah.

Another point is you need a big regulator for a BBQ like this. I have a variable pressure one. I forgot to mention that I also bought the original regulator as well, and from a BBQ shop, with the other stuff. They sold me the wrong one. With the variable regulator it rocks.

191378

Dean

[WelderMick]

Bob, thanks - the more spartan the better. The heatlie's look great. Very good info on the stainless plates too. It's interesting how they come clean on the lower heat transfer for stainless and "don't expect it to stay shiny". It's refreshing to see some honest advertising - makes me want to buy one. I notice they recommend 5mm stainless if you don't overheat the plate, but 10mm if you're less attentive.

Dean - she doesn't look as good as the Heatlie bbq's but I like it anyway. thanks for the tips.

As an update, I was cleaning out a bit of the workshop today and came across (wait for it...) 2 cast iron bbq plates and some grill sections :2tsup: Surely it's a sign :rolleyes:

Cheers

- Mick

[jack620]

I was surprised to read this on the Heatlie website:

"Stainless steel is a poor conductor of heat and therefore the hottest part of your plate will be directly above the burners."

Very disappointed to read that, as I was planning on replacing my cast iron plates with a SS ones. Might have to reconsider that now. :(

[Stustoys]

"Stainless steel is a poor conductor of heat and therefore the hottest part of your plate will be directly above the burners."

Thats why lots of saucepans have a S/S-Alum-S/S sandwich base... Maybe you could find a really large frypan.

Stuart

[Ironwood]

Ive got a stainless 6mm barbie plate, I am happy with it, but you do get hotspots right above the heatsource, the heat doesnt seem to transfer out to the edges as well as a cast iron plate. I have just learnt to cook on it accordingly, you get used to it.

I havent had any trouble with food sticking, and it cleans easily with a wide paint scraper after use.

[Anorak Bob]

Bob, thanks - the more spartan the better. The heatlie's look great. Very good info on the stainless plates too. It's interesting how they come clean on the lower heat transfer for stainless and "don't expect it to stay shiny". It's refreshing to see some honest advertising - makes me want to buy one. I notice they recommend 5mm stainless if you don't overheat the plate, but 10mm if you're less attentive.

Dean - she doesn't look as good as the Heatlie bbq's but I like it anyway. thanks for the tips.

As an update, I was cleaning out a bit of the workshop today and came across (wait for it...) 2 cast iron bbq plates and some grill sections :2tsup: Surely it's a sign :rolleyes:

Cheers

- Mick

Mick, I'm glad you like the austere Heatlies. I was thinking that I might be an orphan in my fondness for the abbreviated look.

As a teenager in the late sixties, the ubiquitous barby was half a 44 gallon drum with a sheet of steel for a hotplate. Wood was the fuel and most of the meat was charred. No one gave a toss because they were usually . A barbeque and a keg usually went together. The good old days.

BT

[Michael G]

We use BBQ's with MS plates for scouts all the time. 5 or 6mm steel seems to do the job without any problems. Typically they are like the Heatlie units and the kids don't seem to be able to break them. I see ads for these $5000+ "outdoor kitchens" and wonder who buys them (and how often they get used too). If you have CI grills and plates then by all means use them - the heat will spread out nicely. Remember if you have too much metal (too thick) you will have to let it warm up before you can cook - can be a trap if you are running late with lunch...
It might be worth looking on the web at sites for Webbers etc - usually they have technical descriptions that tell you how superior their product is, but if you are building from scratch there might be a feature or two that you can pick up.

Michael

[WelderMick]

A barbeque and a keg usually went together. The good old days.

BT

spot on.... and a bucket of schoolies (prawns that is... not the fine new generation that hangs around the gold coast around this time of year) :D

[WelderMick]

We use BBQ's with MS plates for scouts all the time. 5 or 6mm steel seems to do the job without any problems. Typically they are like the Heatlie units and the kids don't seem to be able to break them. I see ads for these $5000+ "outdoor kitchens" and wonder who buys them (and how often they get used too). If you have CI grills and plates then by all means use them - the heat will spread out nicely. Remember if you have too much metal (too thick) you will have to let it warm up before you can cook - can be a trap if you are running late with lunch...
It might be worth looking on the web at sites for Webbers etc - usually they have technical descriptions that tell you how superior their product is, but if you are building from scratch there might be a feature or two that you can pick up.

Michael
thanks Michael - good point with the heating time.
Yeah, there's some amazing outdoor kitchens - not my style, but each to their own I guess. as my wife said - you might as well build a real kitchen out there - it would be cheaper than some of those outdoor units. !

Cheers

- Mick

[RayG]

Hi Mick,

We used to have the standard plough disk setup, 3 bits of water pipe for the stand. Worked well as I recall.

Regards
Ray

[WelderMick]

Hi Mick,

We used to have the standard plough disk setup, 3 bits of water pipe for the stand. Worked well as I recall.

Regards
Ray
Hi Ray, I've seen these before - not bad. I've got to go with gas though, I'm too close to the neighbours and not enough trees to cut down for firewood unfortunately !

Cheers

- Mick

[19brendan81]

"Heatlie make some neat, simple to the point of being Spartan, stainless steel barbeques"

Yep...and they are one of the few left that are actually made in oz. Beefeater are another.

[kraits]

i wouldn't bother with stainless, seen them before, they look ugly, discolour, suseptable to warping and way too expencive to buy ( unless your getting it for nothing)

ive made a bbq here and there for mates, relis, and the odd one for myself over the years, currently thinking about a bbq/smoker/spit, its gonna be a show stopper, no welds 100% rivited, thats another story, will post pics next year when it cools down and i can get the forge a burning.

here's a pic or two of a shashlishnitsa, russian bbq, easy as buggery to make, with my own additons to suite a spit, also have a grill and 5mm pl with X section to keep it true.

[nrb]

Sorry thats your view of stainless,I guess horses for coursers

[WelderMick]

"Heatlie make some neat, simple to the point of being Spartan, stainless steel barbeques"

Yep...and they are one of the few left that are actually made in oz. Beefeater are another.

I don't think it's a coincidence that those two brands also are the ones that have the BBQ's that I like most.

[Harry72]

Why a SS plate, its over priced for the job and it does not work as good as plain old mild steel... SS is wank factor

[nrb]

It's a lot lot cleaner,and that's not a wank

[cava]

We approve BBQ's for Australia and NZ, and chances are that a fair few of this board are cooking on product that we have had an involvement with. Most BBQ's for the Australian/European/American market come out of 4 factories in China and under a plethora of brandnames.

The most important consideration for even cooking is the thickness of the BBQ plate. The thicker, the better for an even heat. Mild steel is better to cook on than stainless steel.

If I was building another BBQ for personal use, I would choose 10-12 mm thick plate, the injectors to be sized @ 1.1 mm, clearance from top of burner to underneath of cooking plate @ 110 mm. A maximum of 6 burners otherwise the LPG bottle can freeze up too much.

I would probably also make my own burners out of 25 mm x 25 mm RHS with 1.0 mm slots cut into the top in groups of 2 with a spacing of circa 6 mm between groups. Better performance than cast iron burners, and cheaper.

Have a grid and tray below the burners so that if the burners are removed, you can cook with timber. Timber in my opine is the best form of cooking. Also remember that the burners require fresh air to operate successfully and also that the products of combustion can exit the BBQ easily. Hope this is of help.

[WelderMick]

Thanks cava - very informative reply and great to get those specs. Your suggestion with the burners is interesting... how long are the slots? and are they in the top of the RHS or on the top of the sides? It would be great if you could post a photo or sketch. What do you mean by better performance? (gas efficiency? heating rate?)

With the plate thickness - it seems it's a trade off between getting even heat (with a thicker plate) and getting more rapid heating and control with a thinner plate.

Cheers

- Mick

[cava]

I cannot scan at the moment, so posting the drawings would be difficult. There are two ways of doing the burners as follows:

1. Cut across one flat side of the RHS ie 25 mm and down both sides circa 4-5 mm or
2. Rotate the RHS 45 degrees and cut down circa half way so that you in effect have cut 2 x 25 mm sides of the RHS (this is the better way). Mount the burner in the BBQ at a 45 degree angle. This is more efficient, with more air getting to the flame = better combustion and more heat.

You will need areation holes x 2 at the injector end and also an interrupter screw to adjust the aeration. Have a look at a cast iron burner for a greater clarification of this.

The plate thickness really is critical. Perhaps you could make the plates removeable and try with several thicknesses. However, having cooked on several thicknesses, thicker really is better. The heat up time difference would be circa 5 minutes and remember cooking on a BBQ is generally a social thing and they are deliberately designed for slower (read not too fast) cooking than fast cooking. Your choice Mick.

[Oldneweng]

Sounds like a good idea to me. Just one more clarification though. You cut thru both sides of the RHS down to the centre line in groups of 2, each group 6mm apart. How much between the 2 cuts in the group, or do you mean the whole cut, thru 2 sides is a group. You appear to be used to using industry speak. We are just amateurs here.

Dean

[Harry72]

It's a lot lot cleaner,and that's not a wank

bull... its the cook who makes it clean nothing to do with the steel used.
All this BS about bacteria on a bbq plate goes out the window within seconds once the plate is heated!

[19brendan81]

"All this BS about bacteria on a bbq plate goes out the window within seconds once the plate is heated!"

yep. Your best bet is to clean the plate of any food scraps after use, but leave the oil and fat behind as this protects the plate. Then you can heat, scrape and wipe the old oil and stuff off prior to cooking. It wont take the whole plate long to go well over 100 degrees. Keep it there for 5 minutes before cooking and its officially sterile.

Clean plates that sit around for weeks or months between uses will rust.

[nrb]

Good to see this issue of steel or stainless has brought out plenty of xmas cheer and good will to all.:roll:
Come on guys this is just a matter of opinion ,comments like BS and such---leave it out

[cava]

Sounds like a good idea to me. Just one more clarification though. You cut thru both sides of the RHS down to the centre line in groups of 2, each group 6mm apart. How much between the 2 cuts in the group, or do you mean the whole cut, thru 2 sides is a group. You appear to be used to using industry speak. We are just amateurs here.

Dean
Sorry if I am confusing Dean,

I have just tried to up load a drawing, to no avail. (Edit: the attachment actually worked) However the two options are as follows:

1. Cut across the flat of the 25 mm RHS so that the cut is 25 mm wide and down both sides of the tube say 5 mm. The distance between the slots in the group can vary, but I would suggest 4 mm. The distance between the groups can also vary, but once again 6 mm plus.
2. Rotate the tube 45 degrees and cut fully down to almost 1/2 way through the RHS ie in effect you are cutting almost fully down two (2) adjacent sides. Distance between cuts as above.

If you are still having problems understanding my ramblings, PM me your phone number and I will call you.

George

[WelderMick]

Sorry if I am confusing Dean,

I have just tried to up load a drawing, to no avail. (Edit: the attachment actually worked) However the two options are as follows:

1. Cut across the flat of the 25 mm RHS so that the cut is 25 mm wide and down both sides of the tube say 5 mm. The distance between the slots in the group can vary, but I would suggest 4 mm. The distance between the groups can also vary, but once again 6 mm plus.
2. Rotate the tube 45 degrees and cut fully down to almost 1/2 way through the RHS ie in effect you are cutting almost fully down two (2) adjacent sides. Distance between cuts as above.

If you are still having problems understanding my ramblings, PM me your phone number and I will call you.

George
I've got you now George, thanks for persisting. So with option 2, the cut goes half way through the SHS, but across the diagonal rather than just into one side. Cheers

- Mick

[Oldneweng]

Sorry if I am confusing Dean,

I have just tried to up load a drawing, to no avail. (Edit: the attachment actually worked) However the two options are as follows:

Snip

George

Got the drawing. All perfectly clear now. Thanks for a great idea.

Dean

[cava]

Good luck guys. :)