Content
- 1 Varieties of designs
- 2 Pros of a homemade brick grill with a smokehouse
- 3 How to build a brick smoker
- 4 Terms of use
- 5 Fire safety
- 6 Photo gallery of brick smoked barbecues
- 7 Conclusion
A brazier-smokehouse made of bricks with your own hands can be erected under the supervision of a master or a specialist who understands stove masonry. Everything is important here: choose the right building material, prepare it, hammer the solution with the desired consistency. In addition to the construction process itself, it is important for the smokehouse to find a suitable place on the site, to take care of fire safety.
Varieties of designs
Externally, multifunctional smokehouses differ in size, finish, shape and other nuances. They resemble a large Russian stove. However, this is only a design. The main difference between smokers and barbecue lies precisely in functionality. It depends on what a brick structure is capable of. The more work areas there are, the more extensive the menu for cooking products. In a brick structure, the following options can be organized:
- Smokehouse... The working area is considered the main one, since for the sake of it, the construction of a brick structure is provided in this case. In general terms, a smokehouse is a closed chamber. Inside there are grids or hooks for fixing food. In the process of cooking, they are doused with smoke, acquire a golden color and a smoked aroma.
- Brazier... By design, it is an open brazier. Barbecue is cooked here on hot coals. The sides of the barbecue are adapted for laying skewers.
- B-B-Q... This is the same grill, but instead of skewers, a grate is provided here. Steaks and other products are baked on it.
- Grill... The device is the same as a barbecue, but the food being cooked on the wire rack is covered with a lid. They are fried simultaneously not only from the bottom, but also from the top.Important! In the smokehouse, they make one area for a brazier and use it for its intended purpose: brazier, grill or barbecue.
- Kazan... To cook pilaf, fish soup and other hot dishes on a fire, you will need a separate working area in the smokehouse. It is made in the form of an oven. The slab is laid not deaf, but with a round cut. A cast-iron cauldron is immersed in the window.
From additional working areas in the smokehouse with barbecue, a countertop and a sink can be provided. They make it possible to cut and wash dishes without leaving the cooking area. In addition to working areas, niches are provided in a brick building. They are used instead of cabinets for storing dishes, firewood, stove accessories.
In addition to all the above nuances, regardless of functionality, all smokehouses are divided into two types:
- A hot-smoked smokehouse is considered to be simple in design. The food inside the chamber is cooked at a high temperature due to the close proximity of the hearth.
- The smoker-brazier made of cold smoked bricks is more complicated, where cold smoke envelops the products inside the chamber. This is achieved due to the remote location of the focus. Passing through many channels, the smoke cools.
Hot smoked products cook faster in the smokehouse, but due to the heat treatment they become slightly cooked.
Pros of a homemade brick grill with a smokehouse
It is difficult to build a multifunctional smokehouse on your own. Here you don't just need to lay bricks on mortar. The experience of a stove-maker is important in order to properly equip smoke channels and other complex units. The negative point is also the high cost of purchasing bricks.
If we ignore all the disadvantages, then a multifunctional brick smokehouse has many advantages:
- long service life;
- Beautiful design;
- reliability;
- comfort of cooking.
However, real gourmets see the merits in a completely different area. In such brick structures, food is much tastier than cooked foods with a similar recipe in metal structures. This is explained by the properties of the building material. The brick absorbs heat and releases it evenly if necessary. The product is equally well exposed to heat treatment from all sides, it burns less.
How to build a brick smoker
For a person who does not understand anything in stove business, it is optimal to invite a master for work. Mistakes should not be allowed here, otherwise the expended funds and labor will turn out to be useless. If you have minimal experience in building stoves, the instructions will help you build a smokehouse with barbecue and other work areas on your site.
Model and drawing selection
The first step is determined with the model. To do this, you need to clearly understand for yourself what work areas are needed in the smokehouse. For example, one barbecue with a barbecue is enough or additionally provide a place for a cauldron. When you have a clear idea of what you want to build with your own hands, it will be easier to develop drawings of a grill-smokehouse made of bricks. In the absence of experience in this matter, schemes can be found on the Internet or ordered from a specialist.
Selection of materials and tools
The main building material for barbecue and smokehouse is brick. Several varieties of it will be required. For combustion chambers, where there is a high temperature, only fireclay bricks are used. The adjacent areas are laid out from a different material. Refractory bricks work well here. It must be full-bodied. For forcing the walls of the smokehouse themselves, two types of bricks are suitable: solid red and decorative. The first material is cheaper, but the walls will be ugly. Then they will have to be revetted with decorative stone or other material. The walls of the smokehouse made of decorative bricks will cost more, but it is unnecessary to veneer them later.
Additionally, sand, water, cement will be required from the materials. The main laying is done on red clay.
From the tool you need a level, a plumb line, a hammer, a trowel. For mixing a large amount of mortar, it is optimal to use a concrete mixer. If it is absent, you can knead the clay in the basin with a shovel.
Seat selection
A multifunctional smokehouse is not only a cooking structure, but also an architectural structure. Having incurred high costs for the purchase of decorative bricks or facing material, it is unreasonable to build a multifunctional barbecue somewhere in the background of the site. The smokehouse should become part of the architectural ensemble, but not interfere with the yard.
It is optimal to place a brick smokehouse near a house or a gazebo, so as not to run after dishes. However, being too close is also unacceptable. Smoke from the smokehouse and barbecue should not interfere with neighbors or enter through the windows into your own house.
Do not place the stoves under trees, near flammable objects due to the threat of fire. A windblown area is also not suitable. It's uncomfortable to cook in a draft.
Laying procedure
Creating a barbecue smokehouse with a place for a cauldron, a grill and a barbecue with your own hands from a brick, they prepare a detailed diagram of the structure. She should always be at hand, throughout the entire construction. According to the scheme, it is easier to decide how to lay out each row of smokehouse bricks.
Digging and pouring the foundation
The construction of a smokehouse with barbecue begins with laying the foundation. The brick building is massive. A reliable concrete base is indispensable here. In general terms, the foundation of the smokehouse is a monolithic slab with a reinforcing metal frame.
The size of the foundation depends on the dimensions of the smokehouse. It repeats the shape of a brick structure, with a margin of about 10 cm outside the walls. First, a pit is dug in the marked area. Its depth depends on the quality of the soil, the expected load on the foundation from the future barbecue with a brick smokehouse. In any case, the minimum parameter is 50 cm.
The bottom of the pit is covered with a layer of sand and gravel 10 cm thick. The pillow is moistened and tamped. On top of the crushed stone from rods with a thickness of 10-12 mm, a reinforcing frame is tied with a knitting wire. Formwork is installed along the perimeter of the pit from the boards. To make the base monolithic, concrete is poured at one time. The finished foundation should rise about 5 cm above the ground level.
Brick laying begins in about a month. During this time, the concrete will gain its strength. To prevent the lower rows of bricks from pulling dampness, the foundation is waterproofed with two layers of roofing material.
First level
The first step is to prepare a mortar for laying bricks. You will need two mixtures. The first level of the grill with a smokehouse is the basement. It can be laid out on a cement mortar. The proportions are as follows: sand - 3 parts, cement and lime - 1 part each. The rest of the rows and fireclay bricks are laid on clay. Sand is added to the solution. Its amount depends on the fat content of the clay. The quality of the solution is checked by forming several balls. After drying, they should not crack, and when dropped onto the floor from a height of 1 m, retain their shape.
The first row of the base is laid out dry without mortar. The contour of the future smokehouse is formed from bricks. The next rows of the base are laid out on the solution. The dressing of the seams must be observed. The top level brick should cover the vertical joint on the bottom row. Due to the dressing, the strength of the walls increases.
Barbecue laying
After the construction of the basement, they proceed to the construction of the barbecue. Here again you need to check everything horizontally and vertically with a level, a plumb line. Craftsmen use special slats with marking divisions. All these devices allow you to build even walls of the barbecue.
To form a brazier, corners are embedded in the brickwork at the required level. They are needed to fix the base.It is laid out of bricks without mortar, leaving 2-3 gaps. Oxygen will flow through the gaps to keep the wood burning. The furnace body is optimally formed from metal. The design similarly provides openings for air access.
On the same level with the barbecue, lay out an area under the cauldron. From above it is covered with a steel plate 10 mm thick. A round hole is cut out in it with a grinder, inside which a cauldron will be immersed.
When laying out the walls of the smokehouse, it is expected that the first 8 rows will form a firewood and other niches. Next comes the overlap and work areas. On the upper level, there is a hot-smoked smokehouse, which is warmed up by the flame from the firebox. The countertops are formed around the 12th row of bricks.
The final design of the smokehouse is the smoke collector. It is laid out from 10 rows of bricks. On the front side of the masonry, ledges are made of 17 mm, and on the sides - up to 35 mm. The last row of the flue gas collector must correspond to the chimney size.
Cold smoked smokehouse
A brick structure with a barbecue and a cold smoked smokehouse is built according to a different scheme. In particular, the location of the firebox is changed. It is removed to the maximum from the smoking chamber. It is optimal when the length of the connecting channel is at least 4 m. The firebox is usually made closer to the ground, in the base of the smokehouse. A channel is laid from it with a metal pipe or brick. Depending on the scheme, it can be straight or curved.
Additional touches
Finishing works serve as the final of construction. If the walls of the smokehouse with barbecue were laid from decorative bricks, it is enough just to join the joints. This is done before the solution has time to harden.
If the walls of the smokehouse are built of ordinary red brick, they look unpresentable. Of course, you can make a jointing and leave it that way. However, it is better to hide such a grill in the background of the yard. To give the smokehouse aesthetics, the walls are faced with stone and tiles. Countertops are bought ready-made marble or cast themselves from concrete.
Brazier and barbecue with a do-it-yourself smokehouse made of bricks
A smokehouse without a cauldron and grill, but with barbecue and barbecue is also considered multifunctional. They build it according to a similar principle. The difference is a simplified diagram. There is no need to create a stove with a stove under the cauldron.
Foundation
The construction of a smokehouse without a place for a cauldron, but with a barbecue, begins with laying the foundation. First, a pit is dug. The bottom is covered with sand and gravel. Arrange the pillow. A reinforcing frame is tied from above from the reinforcement rods.
After reinforcement, formwork is placed along the contour of the pit, concrete is poured. At least 1 month is allowed for complete solidification. During this time, the concrete is periodically moistened. For less evaporation of moisture, the stove can be covered with foil or covered with sawdust and often watered with a watering can.
Styling
Brick laying technology is no different from the previous design. First, a waterproofing of two layers of roofing material is laid on a concrete base. The first row of bricks is laid dry without mortar. The next 8 rows form the base of the smokehouse. A firewood is provided here. The hearth of the barbecue can be laid out of fireclay bricks or a stainless steel trough can be welded. Be sure to leave protrusions or embed metal rods. Items are needed for skewers or barbecue grills.
The next rows form a firebox with a blower, a smokehouse, a smoke collector and a chimney. All niches of a brick structure can be made rectangular or arched. In the first case, when overlapping, jumpers are laid from a steel corner. To make an arch, semicircular templates are bent from plywood. They are placed on the floor, and laid out on top. To make the arch strong, a castle brick is always placed in the center.
Cladding
For finishing a brick smokehouse, stone or tiles are similarly used. It is best to drive the walls out of decorative bricks immediately. Niches that are not exposed to heating can be closed with wooden sashes. Cast iron doors are placed on the firebox and ash chamber. The countertop is similarly bought marble or poured out of concrete.
Terms of use
For smoking in the smokehouse, they buy special wood chips. You can do it yourself by collecting shavings after processing a tree of fruit varieties. Firewood is used for the barbecue. Logs are harvested in the same way from fruit trees. An oak will do. Less commonly, firewood from other deciduous trees is used. It is impossible to use spruce, pine and other types of resinous wood for the smokehouse and barbecue.
In a stationary smokehouse, meat and fish are most often smoked. Poultry carcasses, sausages, bacon are popular. Depending on the recipe, the product is smoked fresh or salted, raw and previously cooked. If the smokehouse is cold smoked, you can smoke pears, prunes. The same products are cooked on the grill, barbecue or grill, plus you can bake vegetables.
Fire safety
When a fire is lit in a firebox, it is not considered an open source, since the chamber is closed by a door. Sparks can sometimes fly out of the chimney. This disadvantage must be taken into account. To avoid a fire, a spark arrester is placed on the pipe of the smokehouse.
The brazier is an open source of fire. In windy weather, you need to be careful or refuse to cook dishes altogether. The wind is able to blow sparks out of the barbecue and spread them across the territory. In any case, having a multifunctional smokehouse, it is optimal to get a fire extinguisher or install a large container of water in case of an emergency.
Photo gallery of brick smoked barbecues
Conclusion
Brazier-smokehouse made of bricks with your own hands cannot be built in a month. The construction will take a whole summer. Only the foundation will freeze for a month. Then there is still a lot of work to be done with forcing the walls out of bricks and finishing. But for the next season, you can enjoy cooking on a fire.