Barbeque
 

In the hot seat? Afraid of getting your fingers burnt? That's what its like to be the chef at the BBQ

Don't let your dreams go up in smoke - here's a simple step by step guide as to how to build your own barbeque

Barbeques are ideally effected by hot charcoal or wood embers generating heat from underneath the food. This traditional method of cooking naturally goes back to Man's first use of fire to cook but an early example of a purpose-made barbeque (as opposed to cooking by camp fire) was used by Native Americans and was a wooden structure which they used to preserve meat by smoke drying. The completely slaughtered animal was positioned on the spit with burning coal underneath.

Instead of a whole animal, you will probably be wanting to cook steak, chicken pieces, burgers, ribs and sausages. There are a wide range of purpose-made products on the market or you can build your own. The advantage of the latter is that it is a lot more permanent, a proper garden feature and that it can be customised to meet your exact requirements. If you are going to make your own BBQ then there are a few basic design factors to consider.

First, choose a location. There are three obvious choices - near the kitchen (convenient for the chef but perhaps not so aesthetic), near the swimming pool (convenient for the guests but difficult to sit and eat) or in a specific location (near a panorama or in shelter for example). Before deciding think of the prevailing wind and what it will do. If the wind is blowing towards the chef they are likely to get burned. The best direction for the wind is from behind the chef or to be in complete shelter. Having the wind coming from behind will fan the fire and get the barbeque underway more quickly. The ground needs to be flat and obviously consider your neighbours and the smoke.

Never consider a cloth or vinyl awning to a barbeque - it is a real fire hazard.

Lay a concrete slab about 10cm to 15cm thick to extend at least 15cm beyond the barbeque walls in each direction. Incorporate a 1:40 (1 inch to 1 metre) crossfall to allow rainwater to run off.

Using engineering bricks or fireproof blocks build walls to about 1 metre high on three sides of the barbeque leaving air gaps on the side furthest away from the chef. Build a lower wall, about 50 cm high, across the chef's side and then a further full height wall across the central part of where the chef stands thus masking him or her from the heat but allowing fuel to be fed in at either side.

Buy a stainless steel grill or get a blacksmith to make one for you. Get it so that it has brackets which can be built in to the side walls so that the grill can be easily removed for cleaning.

Purchase tools and accessories plus charcoal or wood depending upon your preferences.

Particularly if the barbeque is to be sited near the house, you may wish to consider the external finish of your BBQ. Maybe you would like to face it with natural stone, paint it, use coloured blocks etc? Maybe you would like to pave the surface where the chef stands or build a bunker for the fuel.

Another design consideration is whether you want to include built-in shelves and storage areas. If you have enough space and the budget will run to it, why not? The more you put into your barbeque, the more use you will get out of it. One great thing about building your own is that you can use any pieces of waste timber, dry garden cuttings etc and sit around in the warmth until late in the season or even on a sunny winter's day.

Finally, don't forget lighting. The chef needs to see the food and it is important that there is good overhead lighting in the vicinity.

All that remains now is for you to buy some food and start up that barbeque!

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How to build a barbeque