Metal brazier: the nuances of manufacturing technology

Barbecue masters can cook this dish even in the middle of a deep forest without a single device for this. But still it is much more pleasant and convenient to use reliable, proven and durable devices for cooking in nature. But most often this process takes place with the participation of braziers.

The most common barbecue device is a metal barbecue.

These are its main advantages.

• Simplicity. Most often, the brazier is a box with legs, inside of which firewood or coals are poured, a fire is made, and skewers with meat or a grill with vegetables are placed on top.
• Mobility. Some metal models can be used anywhere: on the ground, on a concrete site, on a terrace, and even on a sandy beach.
• Functionality. Even the simplest inventions can be decorated with ornate forging, which can serve as additional hooks for hanging skewers or nets. You can build a structure with a roof or with additional shelves.

• Security. The metal does not burn, does not melt and does not create fires. And this is a big plus.
• Profitability. Even in the absence of the necessary material and the desire to make a brazier out of metal yourself, you will spend a small amount of money on its purchase.

The disadvantages include the not always aesthetic appearance and fragility of some models. However, all these nuances are eliminated and adjusted individually for each user and for each case.

You do not need to have any special knowledge or skills for this. You just need to decide on the model and materials, listen to the advice of professionals or just knowledgeable people, and also be sure that your idea is being implemented at 100%.

Starting to consider the device from the bottom up, be sure to pay attention to the legs. As a rule, these are four metal corners, pointed downwards so that they can be thrust into the ground. The height of this element is selected individually if the product is made to order. In construction and gardening stores, you will most likely come across standard universal models with a length of 80 to 120 cm. Metal reinforcing rods are sometimes chosen as this element, some craftsmen resort to forged execution of the base of the barbecue.

There are also unique home-made designs installed on the lower iron part of sewing machines, unsuitable tables, and so on. Almost everything is used that stably adheres to any surface and is able to withstand the mass of a metal box and its contents during cooking on fire.

The steel box, which consists of four sides and a bottom, is the basis of the barbecue structure. Often, the lower part of this box is made reinforced in order to increase the life of the entire structure. The side walls are necessarily perforated so that the heat does not accumulate in one place and air circulation occurs. Thus, a kind of blower is created, like in stoves.

The principle of operation of such barbecues is known to everyone. Coals or logs of firewood are laid at the bottom of the metal box, a fire is kindled. When the fire dies down, and only coals, ash and heat from them remain in the grill, skewers with pre-prepared meat or vegetables are laid out on the structure in orderly rows. The heat in the hearth is maintained by means at hand, which create a powerful air flow inside the structure, but do not rekindle the fire on the ashes.

As for the various designs that imply the comfortable preparation of barbecue, here you should first deal with the main types of metal barbecues.

There are four types of them in total.

• Disposable. Brazier in a hurry. Everything that can be found nearby is used - from cans to two U-shaped metal profiles.
• Stationary. The second step in the evolution of metal braziers. Simple, economical, sustainable. Can be used both outdoors and under a canopy. If necessary, it can be completed with a roof, an extractor hood (or even a chimney), a pot holder and a double bottom.

• Collapsible. It differs from the stationary method of attaching the elements of the barbecue to each other. In the first, all joints are spot welded. In the second, they are screwed on with metal bolts or hinges, which allows it to be disassembled for a time when it will not be used.
• Folding. Original models of mobile barbecues made of metal, which are very convenient to store right in the trunk of a car in case of a sudden trip to nature. They are suitcases, inside which skewers and legs of a folding metal structure can be folded.

Having decided on this crucial step, you can plan to have a smokehouse or barbecue grill.

Some projects also include a cover in the overall design of the barbecue. Having covered the barbecue grill, you can achieve the fastest preparation of your dish and be sure that all the most valuable and useful properties and vitamins will be preserved in it.

In order for the correct air circulation to occur inside the metal box of the barbecue, it is better to make the slots, called the blower, at the bottom of the sidewalls of the structure. Special holes with a diameter of 10-12 mm are made in the bottom so that the oxygen entering these holes burns out, thereby enriching the meat over the fire.

For the legs of barbecues, sometimes metal rods or even pipes are easily used. The main thing is to properly cut, weld or fasten to the main structure.

So, there are options from a barrel, a gas cylinder and even from the drum of an automatic washing machine.

Before starting the production process, it is worth deciding on the model, dimensions, material. The next step will be to create a small but correct project plan, in which you need to display all the nuances and necessary numbers. On the sketch, you need to schematically depict the future structure.

Consider the main components and tools that you need to work.

• A sheet of metal or pieces of it. The thickness of the material, according to the recommendations of professionals, ranges from 3 to 5-7 mm. Of course, the higher this indicator, the longer the service life of the metal structure itself will be. It is convenient in this case to manufacture a prefabricated structure, when the bottom can be made denser and the walls thinner.
• Metal corners or shaped pipes.The first ones are suitable both for the device of the legs of the barbecue, and for strengthening the thin-walled sides of the box. The pipes are only suitable for creating two pairs of legs on which the entire structure will stand.

• Grinder with discs for metal.
• Drill for drilling ventilation holes or mounting holes.
• Welding machine, if you decide to make a stationary grill from one or more sheets of metal.

The main dimensions of a standard stationary metal barbecue are shown in the diagram. But in order to make your measurements, you need to understand why such numbers were chosen. The width of the box is always focused on the length of the skewers minus 8-10 cm.On average, this will be somewhere around 30 cm.

The length depends on the number of skewers that will be simultaneously used in the preparation of kebabs. Here, the distance from one semi-finished product to another is also taken into account, because they should not fit tightly to each other. So, the figure is taken as a basis - 10 cm per one skewered skewer.

The depth of the metal box of the barbecue is calculated clearly and has parameters of 20-25 cm. This distance is enough to fry the meat, but not burn it. If the depth is made more than 25 cm, the fuel consumption and the time for barbecue will increase.

They usually have short legs and are located close to the ground. But even such designs look beautiful and practical thanks to a systematic and careful approach to manufacturing and assembly.

It is worth understanding the step-by-step process of creating stationary metal barbecues with your own hands.

The first step is markup. On a solid sheet of metal, we outline the silhouette of the future structure in a disassembled state. You should have a cross.

At the second stage, we cut out the drawn figure with the help of the grinder. Next, you need to bend all sides and weld them together. The box is ready.

Then we drill holes in the bottom for air and cut the ashlar in the walls of the box. It is also important to observe a certain system here. The holes must be at approximately the same distance from each other and from the edges of the box. Approximately 60 mm per row.

The next step is to cut the grooves for a stable fixation of the skewers on the grill. These "teeth" are located in the upper side of the long sides of the structure. The manufacture and fastening of the legs is planned to be done last.

The stationary metal brazier is ready. You can attach additional handles to it (for ease of movement from place to place), hooks, grates and even wheels for transportation.

You can make a collapsible iron grill for a summer residence yourself.

All work is carried out in four stages.

1. Marking and cutting out the walls and bottom. All elements must be drawn taking into account the allowance for bending seams.
2. We make blowers and air ducts in the walls and bottom.
3. On the allowances left when cutting the elements, holes are made for attaching them to each other.
4. The legs will also be attached without welding. A metal corner is suitable here, which will be screwed to the box with refractory screws or self-tapping screws. It would also be a great idea to use pipes on which you need to make a thread, and weld the bolts to the structure and screw the tube-legs into them.

After cooking, it can be easily folded up and stowed away in a shed or garage. It won't take up much space and won't get in the way.

The travel case is also easy to make at home.To do this, you need to make a drawing on a metal sheet, where 4 cm is added to each side. Holes are made on the long sides. The bottom and walls are fastened together by door canopies. Bolts are welded to the bottom for attaching the legs. We supplement the design with a hook and loop so that the brazier itself does not decompose. We weld a handle to the side to comfortably carry a metal "suitcase", even if you travel to nature by public transport.

Making an original barbecue from scrap materials is as easy as shelling pears. The most popular projects today are recognized as a brazier from a metal barrel, from a gas cylinder and a drum of a washing machine.

There are at least three ways to make it. At the first, the barrel is placed on its side, its upper part is cut out, leaving the ends intact. The cut-out cover is attached to the main body of the future barbecue with ordinary door canopies. Legs are welded to the ends of the barrel, for example, metal rods. At the cut line of the upper part, corners are attached with a welding machine, on which notches are made to fix the skewers.

The second option for trimming the barrel is to split it in two. Putting the base of the barbecue on a flat surface, we make a vertical cut from the top end to the bottom. The percentage of parts can be different: from 30/70 to 50/50. But the bottom must be greater than or equal to the top. Further, the whole process is identical.

Making the perfect smoker is also easy. But this will require two barrels. One will become a base for a smokehouse, inside which a fire will be made. The second one will be cut into two parts horizontally and will become the smoker itself. Sawdust must be placed on the bottom of this barrel. The lid must be in the closed position throughout the entire process.

The main nuance that you should pay attention to is the preparation of the used container for work.

The cylinder must be at least 50 liters in volume so that the brazier turns out to be of good quality. The next step is to clean the tank from gas residues.

To do this, you need to do three steps.

1. release the remaining gas through the valve and turn the cylinder upside down;
2. moisten the valve with soapy water, if bubbles or a corresponding smell appear, the gas has not yet escaped, you need to wait;
3. rinse the empty container.

First of all, while one is sawing off the tap with a grinder, the other periodically pours water over the cut point so that sparks do not get inside and do not react with the remnants of the gas substance on the walls of the cylinder.

A hose is inserted into the resulting hole, from which water is supplied under good pressure. While the liquid flows inside, the cylinder is periodically shaken in order to thoroughly wash all the walls. Pour in a full container and leave for several days. After the allotted time, the water is drained, but remember that this is already poison. To remove the pungent smell of gas from the cylinder, it is burned inside before starting to make a barbecue from it. Further manipulations look and are performed in the same way as in the case of a metal barrel.

The original designs of barbecues are obtained from old cars. Using the hood and the front of the old vehicle, you can get an excellent heat-resistant and unusual brazier with a lid.

The fastest and most durable in this category is the automatic drum brazier. The average processing time is 10-15 minutes. The main condition is to find a drum.You can use it completely, or you can cut off the unnecessary part if you think it is too high. As for the support, the convenience of this option is that it can be placed directly on the ground, bricks or stones. And you can make legs specially for him from reinforcement rods. Both options are noteworthy. Pick it up individually for yourself.

It is impossible to do with just assembling the constituent parts of a metal barbecue. There are a number of features in the operation of this device that must be adopted and implemented to improve its functional qualities and performance.

After all the manufacturing work is over, it is necessary to clean the finished grill from dirt and rust. To remove the latter, use a grinder or drill with a special attachment.

It is recommended to paint metal structures only with heat-resistant paints and varnishes. To induce beauty, a process called bluing is carried out.

It takes place in two stages:

1. degreasing the surface;
2. keeping the elements of the barbecue in a caustic soda solution for about an hour and a half.

Such processing will not only provide a special heat-resistant film, but also protect against metal corrosion for the entire period of operation of the device.

The place where the brazier is planned to be located must be freed from dry grass, branches or other flammable objects in advance and a container with sand must be installed next to it, which will be extinguished in case of fire.

So that the pungent smoke from the fire does not interfere with cooking and enjoying nature, you can independently build a hood for a metal barbecue. It is made from the same material as a device for preparing food in nature. It differs from standard barbecue structures installed indoors in that it looks like a cut pipe. The area of ​​the hood of the hood is usually equal to the area of ​​the barbecue itself. This minimizes the emission of smoke outside the cooking area as much as possible. The hood dome is welded to the barbecue body. It is also important to take into account the mass of the structure so that everything together stands stable.

The original stationary brazier made of metal, made with forging elements. In this case, the forged parts represent a table-stand for a brazier. There is a place under the table for preparing firewood or coal, so as not to run far behind them. Such a grill will not be easy, but quite mobile. That is, it will not be difficult to rearrange it in a convenient place or put it in a shed for the winter. Forged products about

A metal brazier with a roof allows you to cook meals over a fire, even in bad weather. If you don't have a shed or a gazebo in your yard, but you want meat or vegetables fried over a fire, this option is an excellent solution. In addition, the design is equipped with a stand for installing a cauldron and also a convenient place for placing fuel.

Unusual models are also found among stationary barbecues. Two large wheels are very successfully attached to the legs of this design. Simulating a garden wheelbarrow, the device easily moves around your site and stays firmly and stable where you need it.

This configuration of metal braziers in the shape of a boot is quite common. It combines a barbecue maker, a barbecue maker and even the possibility of cooking meat on a spit. The convenient grid table allows you to optimally arrange all the necessary tools and ingredients at hand.

Folding metal brazier when packed resembles a suitcase. This allows you to take it with you wherever and whenever you want. If necessary, skewers and other necessary little things can be folded inside. The only drawback of this design is the height. It is as compact as possible, and therefore you will have to cook on it only in a sitting position.

Another example of a suitcase barbecue, which is already equipped with legs. These additional parts are conveniently folded inside the box, which is closed with a special fastener so that nothing falls apart. The photo also shows other models of folding braziers, which are also compact in size and easy to use.

A spacious stationary barbecue made of a sheet of metal with the addition of forged patterns. It is also equipped with a device for cooking in a cauldron, has a convenient side table and a place for firewood or dishes under the box itself.

An original way to install an exhaust pipe over the barbecue. Suitable for those who do not want to fix the barbecue in one place and install a bulky exhaust structure in the gazebo or on the veranda. All the nuances have already been taken into account here. Some manufacturers even offer benches and chairs in the same style.

A fabulous brazier in the form of a carriage with a roof will impress even the most skeptical buyer. However, the price of such a forged model may not be the most pleasant value. Of the features of this design, it is possible to note the presence of a lid on the barbecue grill.

The original hearth is obtained from the front of the car. This allows you not only to surprise your guests and get a convenient device for cooking on fire. Thanks to this non-standard approach, you also get rid of an unnecessary vehicle that only took up space.

A chic forged brazier in the form of a caravan, equipped with a roof and a chimney, will become a true decoration of your site. The design is bulky, but it allows you to cook immediately for a large company both on skewers and on a barbecue net.

There are a lot of beautiful and practical examples of metal barbecues. It is important to remember all important safety measures when using them so that the external aesthetics do not turn into trouble. Making metal barbecues for your own use with your own strength and hands is a responsible and creative process that requires concentration, caution and an individual approach.

For information on how to make a metal brazier with your own hands, see the video below.