My first attempt at a brick barbecue grill is actually holding heat!

I built this grill over the past few weekends with some friends. We followed a basic plan but added our own tweaks. What are some common issues to avoid with outdoor brick grills?

4 comments

4 Comments

max5641mo ago

Nice work getting it to hold heat on the first try! My first one was more of a brick oven because I used the wrong bricks and everything just soaked up the fire. Learned the hard way that firebricks and the right mortar aren't just a suggestion. Those regular bricks can actually hold moisture and pop when they get hot enough, which is a fun surprise. Make sure your metal grate sits in there nice and tight, or all your heat escapes out the sides like Susan said. A little gap turns your grill into a space heater for your patio instead of your food.

jakel251mo ago

Attempted a clay oven for pizzas last summer, skipped the proper mix like a fool. The whole thing cracked after the first fire, leaving me with a pile of rubble and a very disappointed family. Learned that moisture in clay acts just like those bricks popping, just with more dramatic crumbling. Still find bits of baked clay in the garden when it rains, like some kind of sad old dig site. Now I just order pizza and watch DIY fails on youtube instead.

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susan3611mo ago

How's the heat loss around the grill grate? My first brick monstrosity looked great until the fire got going and all the heat rushed out the sides because we messed up the metal fitting. The bricks held together, barely, but the whole thing cooked like a drafty old house. Watch for tiny cracks in the mortar after a few uses, that heat makes everything shift. Also, make sure the top slopes so rain doesn't pool up there and turn your hard work into a moss garden.

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blairm931mo ago

Why do people always skip the high heat mortar? That stuff is made for temps that would turn regular mortar to dust. Your heat loss problem probably started with the wrong mix. Those tiny cracks after a few uses are a dead giveaway. Sloping the top is smart, but if the base can't handle the heat, you're just building a fancy rain shelter. Take it from someone who's seen their share of brick fails, it's worth the extra cash to do it right.