Content
- 1 Types of designs
- 2 Pros of a homemade brick grill with a smokehouse
- 3 How to build a barbecue smokehouse out of brick
- 4 Terms of use
- 5 Fire safety
- 6 Photo gallery of brick grills and smokehouses
- 7 Conclusion
A brick grill-smokehouse can be built with your own hands under the supervision of a master or a specialist who understands stove masonry. Everything is important here: choosing the right building material, preparing it, hammering the mortar to the desired consistency. In addition to the construction process itself, it is important to find a suitable place on the site for the smokehouse and take care of fire safety.
Types of designs
Externally, multifunctional smokehouses differ in size, finish, shape and other nuances. They resemble a large Russian oven. However, this is just a design. The main difference between smokehouses and barbecues is functionality. This determines what a brick structure is capable of. The more work areas there are, the more extensive the menu for preparing food. The following options can be arranged in a brick structure:
- Smokehouse. The work area is considered the main one, since for its sake the construction of a brick structure is envisaged in this case. In general terms, a smokehouse is a closed chamber. There are grates or hooks inside to secure food. During the cooking process, they are doused with smoke, acquiring a golden color and a smoky aroma.
- Brazier. By design, it is an open-type fryer. Kebabs are cooked here on hot coals. The sides of the grill are adapted for laying skewers.
- B-B-Q. This is the same grill, only instead of skewers there is a grate. Steaks and other foods are baked on it.
- Grill. The device is the same as a barbecue, but the food being cooked on the grill is covered with a lid. They are simultaneously fried not only from below, but also from above.Important! In the smokehouse, they make one zone for a roaster and use it for its intended purpose: barbecue, grill or barbecue.
- Kazan. To cook pilaf, fish soup and other hot dishes over a fire, you will need a separate working area in the smokehouse. It is made in the form of an oven. The slab is not laid blank, but with a round cutout. A cast iron cauldron is immersed in the window.
A multifunctional smokehouse is made with several working areas
Additional work areas in the smokehouse with barbecue can include a countertop and a sink. They make it possible to do cutting and wash dishes without leaving the cooking area. In addition to work areas, niches are provided in brick buildings. They are used instead of cabinets for storing dishes, firewood, and stove accessories.
In addition to all the listed 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 high temperatures due to the close location of the hearth.
- A smokehouse-barbecue made of cold-smoked bricks is more complex, where the food inside the chamber is enveloped in cold smoke. This is achieved due to the remote location of the source. Passing through many channels, the smoke cools.
When hot smoking, the products in the smokehouse cook faster, but due to heat treatment they become slightly cooked.
Pros of a homemade brick grill with a smokehouse
Building a multifunctional smokehouse on your own is difficult. Here you don’t just need to lay brick on mortar. The experience of a stove maker is important in order to properly arrange smoke ducts and other complex components. A negative point is also the high cost of purchasing bricks.
A brick smokehouse requires a lot of investment and experience in furnace masonry
If we put all the shortcomings aside, the multifunctional brick smokehouse has many advantages:
- long service life;
- Beautiful design;
- reliability;
- comfort of cooking.
However, real gourmets see merit in a completely different area. In such brick structures, food is much tastier than food prepared according to a similar recipe in metal structures. This is explained by the properties of the building material. Brick absorbs heat and releases it evenly when necessary. The product is equally well cooked on all sides and burns less.
How to build a barbecue smokehouse out of brick
For a person who does not understand anything about the stove business, it is optimal to invite a master to do the work. Mistakes cannot be made here, otherwise the money and labor spent will be useless. If you have minimal experience in building stoves, the instructions will help you build a smokehouse with a barbecue and other work areas on your site.
Selecting a model and drawing
The first step is to decide on the model. To do this, you need to clearly understand for yourself what working areas are needed in the smokehouse. For example, one grill with a barbecue is enough or you can additionally provide space 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 for a brick grill-smokehouse. If you have no experience in this matter, the diagrams can be found on the Internet or ordered from a specialist.
The drawing will help you build a multifunctional smokehouse with shelves, niches, and a dishwashing area
According to the diagram, it is possible to build a simple smokehouse with a roasting pan, which can be used for grilling and barbecuing
Selection of materials and tools
The main building material for barbecues and smokehouses is brick. You will need several varieties of it. For combustion chambers where there is high temperature, only fireclay bricks are used. The adjacent areas are laid out from a different material. Fire bricks are suitable here. It must be full-bodied. For forcing the walls of the smokehouse themselves, two types of bricks are suitable: red solid and decorative. The first material is cheaper, but the walls will turn out ugly. They will then have to be lined with decorative stone or other material. Smokehouse walls made of decorative bricks will cost more, but there is no need to veneer them later.
Additional materials you will need are sand, water, and cement. The main masonry is done on red clay.
For construction work you need a simple tool that will help you mix the mortar and lay bricks
The tools you need are a level, a plumb line, a hammer, and a trowel. To mix a large amount of mortar, it is optimal to use a concrete mixer. If it is not available, you can knead the clay in a basin with a shovel.
Selecting a location
A multifunctional smokehouse is not only a structure for cooking, but also an architectural structure. Having incurred large costs for the purchase of decorative bricks or facing material, it is unwise 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.
The location of a beautiful multifunctional smokehouse is chosen in a visible area of the yard
It is optimal to place a brick smokehouse close to the house or gazebo, so as not to have to run around for dishes. However, too close a location is also unacceptable. Smoke from the smokehouse and barbecue should not disturb neighbors or enter through the windows into your own home.
Stoves should not be located under trees or near flammable objects due to the risk of fire. A windy area is also not suitable. Cooking in a draft is uncomfortable.
Laying order
When creating a barbecue smokehouse with a place for a cauldron, a grill and a barbecue with your own hands, a detailed diagram of the structure is prepared. It should always be at hand throughout construction. Using the diagram it is easier to decide how to lay out each row of smokehouse bricks.
According to the diagram, you can build a multifunctional smokehouse with a cauldron and a roasting pan
Excavation and pouring of the foundation
The construction of a smokehouse with a barbecue begins with laying the foundation. The brick building is massive. This cannot be done without a reliable concrete foundation. In general terms, the smokehouse foundation is a monolithic slab with a reinforcing metal frame.
The foundation for the barbecue with smokehouse is poured in concrete with a reinforced frame on a bed of sand and crushed stone
The size of the foundation depends on the dimensions of the smokehouse. It follows the shape of a brick structure and extends with a margin of about 10 cm beyond the walls. First, a pit is dug in a 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 crushed stone 10 cm thick. The cushion is moistened and compacted. On top of crushed stone from rods 10-12 mm thick, a reinforcing frame is tied with knitting wire. Formwork is installed along the perimeter of the pit from boards. To make the base monolithic, concrete is poured in one go. The finished foundation should rise approximately 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 attracting dampness, the foundation is waterproofed with two layers of roofing felt.
First level
The first step is to prepare a mortar for laying bricks. You will need two mixtures. The first level of a barbecue with a smokehouse is considered to be the basement. It can be laid out on cement mortar. The proportions are as follows: sand - 3 parts, cement and lime - 1 part each. The remaining 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 thrown onto the floor from a height of 1 m, retain their shape.
The base of a brick smokehouse can be laid out on cement mortar with the addition of lime
The first row of the plinth is laid out dry without mortar. The outline of the future smokehouse is formed from bricks. The next rows of the base are laid out on the mortar. Be sure to follow the ligation of the seams. The top level brick should overlap the vertical joint on the bottom course. Due to bandaging, the strength of the walls increases.
Laying the barbecue
After the construction of the base, the construction of the barbecue begins. Here again you need to check everything horizontally and vertically with a level and plumb line. Craftsmen use special slats with marking divisions. All these devices allow you to build smooth barbecue walls.
After the base, they begin to build the brick walls of the barbecue
To form a brazier, corners are embedded into the brickwork at the required level. They are needed to fix the base. It is laid out of brick without mortar, leaving 2-3 cracks. Oxygen will flow through the gaps to support the combustion of wood. The firebox body is optimally formed from metal.The design similarly provides openings for air access.
The combustion chamber and smokehouse are made of metal
An area under the cauldron is laid out on the same level as the barbecue. It is covered on top with a steel plate 10 mm thick. A round hole is cut out in it with a grinder, into which the cauldron will be immersed.
When laying out the walls of the smokehouse, it is hoped that the first 8 rows will form the woodshed and other niches. Next comes the overlap and work areas. On the upper level there is a hot smoked smokehouse, which is heated by flames from the firebox. Tabletops are formed on approximately 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 smoke collector must correspond to the size of the chimney pipe.
Cold smoked smokehouse
The 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 as far as possible 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 design, it can be straight or curved.
Additional touches
The final stage of construction is finishing work. If the walls of the smokehouse with barbecue were laid using decorative bricks, all you need to do is fill out the joints. This is done before the solution has time to harden.
When using decorative bricks, it is enough to do the jointing
If the walls of the smokehouse are built from ordinary red brick, they have an unpresentable appearance.Of course, you can do the 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 lined with stone and tiles. Countertops are purchased ready-made from marble or cast from concrete.
Do-it-yourself grill and barbecue with brick smokehouse
A smokehouse without a cauldron and grill, but with a grill and barbecue, is also considered multifunctional. It is erected according to a similar principle. The difference is the 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 crushed stone. Set up a pillow. A reinforcing frame is connected from the reinforcement rods on top.
To protect the foundation from high groundwater, a bed of sand and crushed stone is covered with black film, and a reinforcing mesh is laid on top
After reinforcement, formwork is placed along the contour of the pit and concrete is poured. Allow at least 1 month for complete hardening. During this time, the concrete is periodically moistened. To reduce moisture evaporation, the slab can be covered with film or covered with sawdust and watered frequently from a watering can.
Laying
The brick laying technology is no different from the previous design. First, waterproofing consisting of two layers of roofing material is laid on the concrete base. The first row of bricks is laid dry without mortar. The base of the smokehouse is formed from the next 8 rows. A woodshed is provided here. The grill hearth can be made of fireclay bricks or a stainless steel trough can be welded.Be sure to leave protrusions or embed metal rods. Elements are needed for skewers or barbecue grills.
The most often demanded scheme is where the smokehouse is placed on one edge of the foundation, and on the other side an area with a barbecue and barbecue is set up
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 from steel angles are laid. To create an arch, semicircular templates are bent from plywood. They are placed on the ceiling and laid out on top. To make the arch strong, a key brick is always placed in the center.
Facing
To finish a brick smokehouse, stone or tiles are used in the same way. It is best to immediately remove the walls from decorative bricks. Niches that are not exposed to heat can be closed with wooden doors. Cast iron doors are placed on the firebox and ash chamber. The tabletop is similarly purchased from marble or poured from concrete.
The decoration of the smokehouse looks beautiful if the walls are made of decorative bricks of different shades, forming a pattern
Terms of use
For smoking in a smokehouse, they buy special wood chips. You can make it yourself by collecting shavings after processing the wood of fruit varieties. Firewood is used for the barbecue. Logs are prepared similarly from fruit trees. Oak will do. Firewood from other deciduous trees is used less frequently. Spruce, pine and other types of resinous wood should not be used for smokehouses and barbecues.
Smoking and cooking products on the grill is done using firewood from fruit or deciduous trees
In a stationary smokehouse, meat and fish are most often smoked.Poultry carcasses, sausages, and lard are popular. Depending on the recipe, the product is smoked fresh or salted, raw and pre-heat-treated. If the smokehouse is cold smoked, you can smoke pears and prunes. The same products are prepared on the grill, barbecue or grill, plus you can bake vegetables.
Fire safety
When a fire burns in a firebox, it is not considered an open source, since the chamber is closed with a door. Sparks can sometimes fly out of the chimney. This drawback must be taken into account. To avoid a fire, a spark arrester is placed on the smokehouse pipe.
The grill is an open source of fire. In windy weather, you need to be careful or avoid cooking altogether. The wind can blow sparks out of the grill and spread them throughout the area. In any case, having a multifunctional smokehouse, it is optimal to acquire a fire extinguisher or install a large container of water in case of an unforeseen situation.
Photo gallery of brick grills and smokehouses
The approach to the outdoor barbecue can be covered with crushed stone so that there is no dirt
Under the canopy, the grill with smokehouse is protected from precipitation
The combination of decorative stone and brick looks beautiful in the decoration of the smokehouse facade
The woodshed and other niches that are not exposed to heat can be closed with wooden doors
When finishing, brickwork can be combined with concrete plaster
Conclusion
A brick grill-smokehouse cannot be built with your own hands in a month. Construction will take the whole summer. Only the foundation will harden for a month. Then there is still a lot of work to be done with the brick walls and finishing. But next season you can enjoy cooking over a fire.
