THE ESSENTIAL OUTDOOR BARBECUE

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The cookout season is hard upon us, so why not build . . .

STAFF PHOTOS

Summer's the time to enjoy good food, warm weather, and the company of friends . . . and there's no better opportunity to bring these things together than at a genuine oldfashioned cookout!

This year, you can make your backyard the envy of every charcoal chef in the neighborhood. How? By building a permanent outdoor barbecue that'll not only equal the performance of the best manufactured grills, but probably cost the same (or less, depending upon how many components you can locate used), last longer, and allow you to try out some fancy cooking techniques in the bargain.

As you might imagine, our goals were to come up with a design that was flexible and multifunctional . . . to employ a construction method that even a novice could duplicate . . . to make certain it was cost-effective . . . and to end up with a good-looking, fine-cooking finished product.

Though it's probably not that obvious from the photos, MOTHER's barbecue grill is constructed of dry-stacked concrete block coated with a structural surface-bonding cement and lined, in the firebox, with common refractory brick. Expanded metal screens, set at appropriate levels in the stacked firebrick joints, serve as inexpensive grilling surfaces; sections of scrap 1/4" metal plate fitted above the screens create a closed oven environment and can be lowered without much fuss to become effective griddles.

But that's not all. Since draft control is critical to heat regulation, we've included a stonesimple, and removable, loading and airinlet door at the front, and—for use with cooler fires—a similar flue control on the chimney above a built-in smoker rack. Then, its a final touch, we fabricated an additional cover plate with an 8-1/2" hole in the center to be used in conjunction with a wok or a castiron stock pot.

In the case of this barbecue, a picture really is worth a thousand words, so we're going to present our basic design by means of an illustration and two photos. But we're not about to set you on your own just yet: A few hints and tips passed in your direction should help to start you on a project that'll be just as much fun to build as it will be to use. And keep in mind that there's plenty of room for modifications, in the event that you want to make some layout changes.

To begin, you'll want to select a level site in a somewhat open area. If you don't have a flat place available, you'll have to make one by digging a slab footing, grading it with a hoe and square-nosed trenching spade, and checking it with a level. Take some care with this, because it will influence the integrity of your finished grill.