Thread: Best surface for weber BBQ cabinet?

I don't like the idea of a painted metal top, it will be hard to keep the paint clean, and the metal will just carry the heat through to the substrate.

I think I would opt for a layer of fibro tile underlay with large glazed tiles over that, have seen a few done that way, the tiles should be able to handle the heat and there would not be a lot of grout in the joints if you use fairly large tiles. Easy to clean and two layers of heat resistance, the tiles annd the underlay.

I must check how much heat comes out the bottom of my webber next time I use it, I would have thought not much. Just had a look, so with the air ventilation and the aluminium fat tray underneath I would still think not enough to burn wood. They webber trolley which I have has a top made from plastic with a large square missing in the middle.

the in laws use their webber on a laminate top card table so I still say not enough to char timber,
cheers

Whilst I have not worked on the Weber BBQ, I have been involved with the testing of quite a few others on the market in Australia.

To that end, I have also written the installation and operating instructions also for quite a few.

Stainless steel, cement sheet, ceramic tiles or any non-combustible surface is acceptable. If it was me and I had the material, I would use stainless steel.

Originally Posted by Dengue

Hello, I am in the process of making a rolling cabinet for a Weber 220Q BBQ. The Weber will sit on the top of the cabinet. The carcase and top will be made of 18mm structural ply, and painted with an oil based paint.

My problem is how to do the 750 x 500mm top, with the heat generated by the Weber just 50mm above this surface.

I would welcome all suggestions and ideas.

One idea I would like comments on is to cover the top with sheet metal, and paint it with heat resistant paint used for car motors.

I plonked my Weber on an oiled ply top and have had no problems.

However, I am playing with the idea of building a new unit with an impervious top, just to make it easier to keep clean. I'd like stone, but reckon economics will likely result in ceramic tiles.

In my case, heat was not the problem ... keeping it clean was.

Cheerio!

John

I once had a problem in my shed with a pot belly stove being to close to a timber lined wall,
with the pot belly raging the wall got hot, it was about 18 inches away, so I tried to stop it
happening by placing an old dark Maroon Jag bonnet/ Hood between the wall and the stove.
It was maroon on one side and black on the side facing the wall , I knew it was not an ideal
colour and thought the bonnet will get hot but the gap of air on the other side would help.
Not much changed though , the bonnet got hot and so did the timber wall .
I had a nice big off cut of shinny aluminium sheet ,about 2mm thick, and I bent it so it would
stand on it's own and match the curve made roughly 10 inches off the stove . Placed halfway
between the wall and the stove, and higher than the stove.
With the stove roaring away on Oak, cherry and Walnut off cuts I was flipping amazed that I could
not feel any heat at all on the back side of the aluminium , and I could only just feel a slight rise in heat on the side
facing the stove . The wall was cold.
I was telling a friend at work and he told me how heat is like light and can be reflected.
I always wondered how well that reflective sheet worked in roofs.
The stainless sounds good.

Originally Posted by Dengue

Hello, I am in the process of making a rolling cabinet for a Weber 220Q BBQ. The Weber will sit on the top of the cabinet. The carcase and top will be made of 18mm structural ply, and painted with an oil based paint.

My problem is how to do the 750 x 500mm top, with the heat generated by the Weber just 50mm above this surface.

I would welcome all suggestions and ideas.

One idea I would like comments on is to cover the top with sheet metal, and paint it with heat resistant paint used for car motors.

Good Morning Dengy

For ruggedness, hygeine and ease of cleaning, I would go with stainless steel. That's why its mandated for commercial kitchens. Also, with the Weber you get an occasional hot coal falling through the air inlet vents - this would challenge any paint, limiting options to SS or ceramic tiles. Grease on grout would eliminate ceramics, IMHO.

I used that heat resistant paint used for car motors (and warranted to 800ºC) on the deisel engine in my boat with very disappointing results - it went flakey quite quickly. Then I used Wattyl KillRust epoxy paint and eight years later the engine still looks good. A BBQ is a fairly hostile environment for surfaces.



Fair Winds

Graeme

In terms if heat generation - my laminex kitchen bench offcut has lasted years under my weber q without any damage.

I've been thinking about a cabinet for mine so I'd be interested to see what you come up with.

Just another thought, but might not be readily available in FNQ.

Our local 'Bargain Centre' (vendor of seconds, rejects and discontinued lines in plumbing, roofing, timber, composite boards, and general hardware) has a huge collection of 20mm Cesarstone or similar artifical stone benchtop offcuts and cuttouts. At our prices, a piece the size you want would be $15-20, but I am not sure how you would trim it to size. Sink cuttouts seem to all have a 1mm or so pilot hole near the edge with a slot leading to the edge so I suspect they are being cut with a waterjet or similar.

Thanks for all these great comments and suggestions. Looks like stainless steel is the way to go - will investigate getting 1mm sheet with the edges turned down for ease of cleaning, and some fibro between it and the ply top.

Will post pics of the finished article - probably take about a month up here, it is so hot and humid - a couple of hours in the shed each morning and sometimes an hour late in the day is the best I can do at the moment.

This Weber trolley has been in service for a bit over 2 years.
The timber is Bunnings "Tassie Oak", the finish is some marine clear semi gloss that I had left from a job.
Being on a covered deck facing east and 200 mtrs from the ocean in sub tropical Qld I expected the finish to deteriorate by now but apart from a little mould in the deeper grain the surface is OK.
Definitely no scorching from the Weber and we use it at high settings for pork roasting etc.

Regards
Bob
BBQ Trolley.jpg

Oops! Just realised that we were talking about a gas BBQ. Much less radiant heat involved.

My above comments relate to my experience with my charcoal Weber kettle.




Fair Winds

Graeme