Hey guys I have to tell you I got a date and while that's kinda not the point, it's the grill I'm hoping to build but need a bit of critique. Anyways she's open to trying new things and I wanna set something up that is simple with purpose. So if any of you know what yakitori is, its food cooked on those small grills that are not much wider than a shoebox. So my plan is to get the sawhorse out and put a couple cinderblocks on top. Then Im thinking I just might grab some firebrick at my local TS shop and lay that on top then some on the sides upright. After that get some angle iron and cut to size and put one on each brick 'wall' to hold up the skewers. Just wondering what you guys think, Im just placing firebrick on top so the cinderblocks don't blow.
Ok then I might have her help me with that! I did let her use my chainsaw the other day, first time for her too! Shoulda caught some pics of that but that's in my own memory bank.
Daryl, are you on holiday in Washington state? She likes traditional grills and such, before anyone looks at the screen name funny....
Im really building this so im able to cook the food more directly. I also intend to make my own charcoal. Can'r say its going to be anything like the charcoal they use for this traditionally which is BinchÅtan. Anyways this stuff seems fabled in song and story. Supposedly it burns for 4-5 hours and we're talking a tiny stick of the stuff not much bigger than a mop handle wide and few inches long. Just gonna try some oak and give it a shot.
I would just stack some firebrick. Make sure you leave a gap for airflow in from the bottom. Traditional yakitori cooks super hot and super fast. You can make your own hardwood charcoal very easily and it would be great for this setup. Another idea would be to make a big charcoal chimney starter and cook over it.
This. The regular old stainless steel chimney gets hotter than Hades on top. It's almost like a forge. Lay anything over that torch of flame and it will be seeing very high temps. Searing tuna, steaks, or that funny sounding yakitori. No need to try using a cinderblock that doesn't seem to be able to let air in under the flame.
yakitori | l k t c To take this one step further, either notch the sides of the block or drill small holes with a hammer drill to allow some air in, or put the top block on some spacers (or maybe an old cake rack?). This is simple enough that I'm going to try it myself at home. We gonna do DIY kabob night.
I'll post more pictures so you guys got an idea about what this may look like. Got all the supplies with me too. Hold fast.
So this is all the step by step set-up. Starting with the metal sawhorse and then the cinderblocks. Followed by the firebrick, bought these at TSC, 10 of them. My intention was to line these in the wind coming from the SW and getting channeled into the brick so I can easily keep the fire hot. With this I realize I can do more than just cook what I am planning to, this just helps bring my idea to fruition that I don't need a welder and anyone can copy this. Most yakitori grills are just metal but they require the food to be cooked over high temperatures close to the fire for the umami flavors. Here I bought also some angle iron. This is 36 inch long 1/8 thick. Provides control for food on the skewers. And Ive got a little bit of cooking grate I could potentially use on this later. And there you have it. The skewer I put on top is for reference that I wont need to stuff an entire skewer full of meat, just where the cooking is. I initially thought about just using brick on my grill but heat and weight don't mix. Will post more photos when this gets to cooking.
Needs some airflow from underneath into the firebox. Right side will run much hotter than the left if not capped too.
That's actually a good thing. Allows fast cooking and a quick sear on one end, move the skewers to the other end for finishing. I like it.
Its kinda what im hoping for since you kinda need a place to keep coals going then move more in place if neccessary. Not all of this is considered the cooking area anyways.
Next time tell her there's an official cutting oufit...for safety of course...and hand over a bikini and some chainsaw chaps. And please don't forget the pictures.
I'm really liking this thread. I can see where a grate would make sense keeping the skewers from rolling. I may have to fab one up or see what the scrapyard has for rectangle bins. Thanks for the enlightenment of this cooking method.
First thing I thought of when I saw this pic were the street vendors cooking/selling monkey meat at Subic Bay/Olongapo city P.I. back in the 70's! Good stuff.
Lotta history of different meat cuts for this method. We ended up doing this and turned it into a successful failure. That is to say we got some food cooked but it didn't stay hot, the air was a dead calm last night but no shortage of fun. I sparked up the weber chimney and finished them in there. Tasted so good in fact, we were already full and continued to eat. Some modifications to come. I don't wanna put this to rest, seems like a couple of fixes are in order. With that in mind, is it possible to drill into firebrick?