Memorial to Skepticism

I went back in the archives and found a picture of the second grill I built. The pictures are from a study for what I, and others, thought at that time was impossibly out of reach; a plan to fence in the back yard. At the time it seemed like an empty endeavor, planning for a fence, but I went ahead with the plan, anyway. We call the fence the "Maryann Ragsdale Memorial Fence." She was a good soldier.
Next in importance after the fence is the gravel screenings which is the base of the patio and other areas. I found the post in the archives where I introduced the gravel screenings. I LOVE THIS STUFF!  Here is the picture:

This whole gardening thing for me began as physical therapy for a debilitating back injury. Some, including some of the Doctors, supposed I would never be able to really walk or be able to live without a great deal of pain. Now the garden has become an important part of my life and an avenue of contribution to the tribe. I think I have grown deaf to the skepticism of others towards me. I have come a long way in a short time. I feel like I have only begun to work.
If I have ever been skeptical of your dreams, I give you my sincere apologies.

Wood-Fired Oven

The grill currently in our back yard is the fourth or fifth generation of grills which I have constructed. Building them is enjoyable to me because I get an idea for something better and then I have to struggle to think through the concept while pushing myself to overcome procrastination. Once I get a good idea I know I will eventually follow through and build it. Anticipation is a feeling that motivates. Somehow there is this thing that truly exists in my mind that others may scorn. Anticipation is that feeling that keeps the vague concept alive and being alive the concept must develop and grow. Then, anon, with a little labor and sweat, a new baby is brought forth into the world with joy. If the project is well-crafted, the skeptics are turned to advocates, especially when supper is served. It is not just the structure, but also the fire and the reactions taking place in the cooking process that invite communion. Then, most important, the hospitality, the fellowship around the table which make the experience rich and rewarding.
The very first time I fired up my new grill I sat in front of the hearth nursing the coals and heating the grill into perfection. The hearth is now about chin level when you sit in a chair. All of a sudden - KAZAAM! Everything I had ever thought, studied and considered about wood-fired cooking flashed through my mind in an instant and, DING! The idea for a new and improved outdoor cooking and hospitality station popped into my mind. I had never yet gotten the grate hot in my new grill and I had an idea for a new one. I'm thinking a  grill with a griddle, a shelf underneath and best of all, a wood fired oven.
Days later I got online and looked up wood fired ovens. Much to my surprise and delight I found that they are closely associated with the Rumford fireplace. Then I saw the hand of Providence, my destiny. Here is a picture I found of a wood fired oven with a Rumford fireplace built next to it.

This is another photo I found of an oven under construction. I envision something like this as part of a cooking and hospitality area. There would be a fire table for a grill and a flat top griddle, a bin for the charcoal, a preparation station, an oven and an outdoor fireplace within a gathering area. There would be a high roof covering everything, and it will be easy to go from inside the house to the outside, no matter the weather. Underfoot it will be clean and smooth for bare feet. In the middle of it all, a big table.

Yet another post about my grill

I did not realize that my hibachi would fit so well on the new top beside the grill. Yay! The piece of concrete under the hibachi was one of the kitchen counters that was replaced. I did not move the others, but I was eager to have this one for my grill. I carried it out and later set it here. It only weighs about 50 pounds. When I lifted it to set it here I felt that old feeling. The one that feels like a cold electric shot, shooting out of my lower spine, down my left leg to the top of my foot. This is another reason I have not gotten much done. I am forced to recuperate. Injury comes like a bolt of lightening, but recovery is slow like the changing seasons. Young people beware! It is a time-out punishment for being stupid. I could have used the hand truck to move it, and lifted it up with a lever and a fulcrum. I was told 35 lbs is the absolute maximum I can lift, and that I should avoid doing that as much as possible.

Grill Add- on

The top photo is the new grill when I had just finished building it. The brick stack supplying the project is just visible beyond in the extreme left, next to the fence. The bottom photo is with the addition of the piece of old concrete counter top incorporated into it. The brick stack has shrunk noticeably.

The brick was formerly a patio. Before the patio, this brick was part of the front and back porches. It is the same brick the house was constructed of. When I pulled it up from the patio I ended up stacking it in that back corner. Then I took some of that and stacked it up for a pedestal to set the steel tub on and screen soil which is the stack in the foreground. I make believe that this brick is a capital store similar to silver ingots. Just sitting it is worth whatever this type of brick is worth- maybe .50 to .75 each. Employed as a temporary grill, this brick is still worth the .50 or .75 and it is also useful in additional ways.

Experimentation in grill construction imparts insight useful in building something first class. This hands-on exercise stimulates insight into understanding masonry discipline. This construction also enables me to reign as the grill master serving our table. At the same time it still serves the purpose of storage for the brick until I can employ it in some project worth more than a temporary grill. So was this effort worth the exertion? I think so.

This exercise should lead to a greater project on the house which will require all the brick in a permanent construction. Something that will see these brick employed with mortar in the joints and incorporated into the house. That project should add some real and lasting value to the property. At that time I will be done with these bricks and I will be finished with the struggle of employing them most profitably.

Progress is pushing me

I have only fired up my new grill one time since I constructed it. Mostly because most of the weeks of days since have been rainy. I had planned to use a piece of the old counter top in the grill when the time came that the job was done. Now that is done and I have these pieces out back.

I was at a loss as to which piece to use and how to incorporate it into the structure. I had that gnawing anxiety that these pieces may lay like tombstones for dead dreams. But then an idea came to me to use the small piece leaning against the grill as a side counter and a picture of how to do that sprung to mind and I instantly thought, "I will do it that way." Then I remembered that I wanted to use the rectangular piece on the front of the stack as a top for a work bench in the basement. This grill as an intangible idea begun in my mind many years ago has taken on a life of it's own and is now driving me instead of my pursuing it. Now I've got to get up and do some work.

Grill - Fini

This is the finished grill with the top course. Looking over the pictures I saw an error. I discovered I made a mistake in the directional orientation. Fortunately, it is easily remedied. Looking back over my drawings I saw my weakness. Those marks were fuzzy. I was not clear about north or south or east or west. But I got it done and I can't wait to try it out.

With the old grill gone the patio is clear to re-grade in anticipation of the new table. And, oh yeah, I did not lay out any cash to construct this grill.

Grill Going Up

This is how I constructed the grill. I stacked a square wall and filled in the interior. I alternated the directions of the inside brick each course. This part is seven courses high. There is a top course to finish it off. That course will have some fire brick for the fire box. I also want some space around the fire box for trays, cold beverages and cooking utensils.
So far, so good.

Grilling Up the First Course

I used this piece of steel and the torpedo level to survey the site for the grill. After putting on four or five layers of screening material, and soaking with the hose in between, the spot came out level. I checked, double checked, and triple checked my drawings and I made double sure of the orientation. Taking time to make sure everything checks out in the beginning is essential. I found a couple of errors in all this that would have thrown me off.
I used the iron and a rafter square to mark the layout. I set each brick with care and squared it up. Then I stood back to go over everything one last time.

Grill Construction - A Firm Foundation

I used a flat piece of steel that is about three inches wide and forty five inches long with a small level to survey the area where the grill is going. Based on those readings I began to shovel the material into the area. Then I raked it out as level as I could get it. I stepped back and sprayed a shower of water all over the area until the water puddled up good. I waited a few minutes for the water to soak in and then I shoveled in some more material and repeated the raking and the sprinkling. I did that four or five times and each round required less material. I wanted to avoid getting too much material on the spot so I started low. Gradually the bubble found the middle and I was satisfied the spot was level and large enough to start stacking.

New Grill - Location and Design

In order to set the table I must re-grade the patio but the grill is in the way. I decided I had to do something or be stymied. I took the pencil and paper and just drew it out. That probably took me all of fifteen minutes. When I had it drawn I looked up and realized that all my uncertainty had disappeared. I thought to myself, "I can do this." This is the first time I used graph paper to draw a brick design. This was very easy to draw. Using pencil, paper, and imagination is much better than scrabbling around in the dirt experimenting with bricks trying to figure something out. DUH, REALLY NOW?!

I decided that I would put the grill this side of the table in the picture. The next thing to do is to lay a solid base on which to stack the grill. I will take the freshly loosened screenings I was going to use for the table to do the base. I feel rich having all this gravel material and bricks at my disposal to do whatever I am able to dream up.

Summer Survey - New Grill

I'm working on an idea to build the new grill. The last time I grilled, I dragged the table over so I would have something to set platters and utensils on. So I need a grill that is table high with a table next to it.

In the bottom photo is our former island counter top. It is made of concrete and about two inches thick. The two sisters who did all the upgrade work on this house cast the counter tops on site and installed them with the help of some very strong friends. We liked the functionality of the concrete, but, it is too heavy and impossible to clean. Becky replaced this island counter top with Silastone(?).

This led to the thought of using this concrete slab as a table outside. That led to my thinking of incorporating the grill and table into a single unit kind of like a Japanese steak house.


My idea is that the table would lay lengthwise from the house to the fence. The grill would be on the left side supporting that side of the table with a ledge. Concrete block legs would support the other side. If this is workable, I would like to add another grill or flat top griddle.

The table would be a good outdoor work table, too.

I need to make some drawings of the thing.

In the beginning there was smoke and fire.

In an earlier post to the "grilling initiate" I wrote that humiliating failure can be turned into "the spur that drives to success." I dug through our archive to find these photos from New Year's Eve, 2005. These photos record the beginning of my story.

The event of record is my first romantic get-away with Becky to Devils Den state park, before we were married. The more I "self-medicated" with beer (as Becky put it) the smokier the cabin became. (I had no garden, you see.) I finally gave up. These photos are hard for me. The story of my humiliating inability to handle fire was a favorite one for Becky to tell and re-tell our friends. The friends told more friends and my reputation began to proceed me. I admit it - this reputation was deserved.

I knew this was the big opportunity for which I had cried out for. I decided to use this humiliation and failure to master fire making. First, I convinced Becky to marry me. Next we got this house which then had a wood-burning fireplace. I built my own grill out back. We invited family and friends. I taught myself, I learned, the art of a good fire. It is all about being in love and sharing hospitality.

I am the only one now who brings up the "Smoke Filled Cabin at Devils Den" story. "They" don't make fun any more. Now they call me the "Grill Master".

To the "Grilling Initiate" - It is love that gives the wisdom, and the ability to strengthen weakness. The garden is a good place to exercise this lifelong transformation.

To the Grilling Initiate

The reason there is a mastery to be obtained in grilling, is that there is the fearsome possibility of catastrophic failure.
This failure will be tasted by the grilling initiate, it is unavoidable. Mastery comes by getting back on your feet after failure with new determination to, "show them you can do it." If you are new to grilling, my advice is to allow plenty of time and charcoal and take it slow. Having the basic tools is essential, too. If your system is made up of parts, or "Frankenstein", don't worry. My system is definitely Frankenstein, but these were some delicious ribs. "They" don't make fun of me now.

Even though my grill looks crummy, it will turn out some good food. I did these ribs the other night. Brother-in-law did the finish work of the sauce slathering.

I have a good neighbor to thank for much of this grill. He loaned me the fire brick that line the fire box. He loaned me the cast iron grill and he loaned me the lid. Thanks Don!

The fire was just right, and even though it took more time than some of our dinner party wished, the ribs were some of my best work. Becky and I were not synchronized on the timing. Getting the fire right is really tricky. You have to consider such factors as atmospheric conditions; the temperature, humidity, wind, etc. Then you have to work out an equation to determine the correct time to start the coals and the amount of coals based on the cooking time. This is sort of like figuring out a car trip; your travel and arrival times, fuel consumption, etc.

I use a chimney type charcoal starter. That's the kind where you put the charcoal in the top and wadded newspaper in the bottom. My time line is no less than 45 minutes until the coals are ready from the time I light the paper. I don't like to be rushed, so I am more comfortable with an hour. My hibachi requires a full load of charcoal in the chimney. This grill requires that, plus about that much again, depending on what is being cooked.

I get the chimney fire going good, where the flame is just reaching over the top. Then I dump it and add enough charcoal to give a good base of about 2 coals deep. I leave it piled up until the added coals start to catch, then I rake them around to even them up. The coals are ready once they are all gray, so's I don't want one place still black while the rest of the coals are burning ready. So, once I rake them around evenly, I put the grill on to get it heating up, at the same time brushing it to get it clean. The grill will brush clean once it is hot enough. It is essential for the grill to be hot and brushed clean.

My grill adjustment consists of removing or adding bricks to raise or lower the grill above the coals. This is very tricky and something I try to avoid. So, I have to calculate the amount of coals to use and the grill height according to what's being cooked and the atmospheric conditions. Once you have everything going, you come to the point of no return, where failure may be inevitable before you realize it. If you don't have enough fire when it comes time to cook, the meal will be late. If the meal is late, the people will be upset. They will take turns coming to the door and asking you, "When is it going to be ready?" Too much fire and you end up with incinerated food. This will also catch the attention of the guests. When you fail, the friends who sit with you at table will re-live and reminisce over your failure till doomsday unless you find some way to redeem yourself.

Temporary Big Grill

This is my big grill. I just stacked it here real quick for temporary use. I did not cut any brick for a properly fitting structure, or prepare a good foundation. I had taken the previous grill down to install the patio stone. Becky called for a bar-b-q before I could hardly get the gravel spread, and I had about an hour to get this built.

I like making the grill from stacked brick without mortar. I incorporated a large rectangle cut stone into the previous grill on the side as a shelf, and that worked very well. I am thinking up a more permanent grill designed to be used until such time in the future when I pave the patio with something like concrete tiles. I am keeping my eye out for a better cast iron grill. I should make some sketches so I have something more definite to guide me.

The fire box is lined with fire brick. The two bricks under the coal rake on the left go on top of the left corner. The two bricks on either side fill in the space as on the other two sides. The grill rests on top. To adjust down, I remove a brick all the way around and turn the gap fillers on their sides. Usually, I just use a lot of charcoal and keep the grill up high. Having the spaces filled in keeps the fire burning lower. If the weather is cool and wet then the grill has to be low and the sides open to keep the heat up.

In the bottom photo the grill is in its place, about ready, as the coals are heating up. Of course, any vegetarians may see this grill as truly monstrous.

My Hibachi

This is what I call my Hibachi. This is perfect for two people. I could not imagine life without this grill. Actually, this is a Lodge Sportsman Grill. That is the same Lodge that does all the cast iron cookware. I purchased it several years ago at Kraftco Hardware in Little Rock. I think it went for about $70. I looked it up on Lodge's website, www.lodgemfg.com, to see the current price. I think it was $135. I don't know if that included shipping or not. I have seen it in a few outdoor supply stores, and hardware stores for less than that.

I knew nothing about charcoal or charcoal grilling when I got this grill. It took some time for me to learn how to get the right fire going in it. With tongs I can place and remove the draft door, the odd shaped thing in front. Its place is on the little shelf right above it that has ash on it. There is an opening there. When the fire gets a little slow, I take away the draft door. In a few minutes when the fire comes up again, I put it back and leave a little space around it for a little more air. In this way you adjust for a good burn of charcoal. It is very easy to have a too hot fire in this. You end up with the outside of the food being unpleasantly charred in order to get the inside fully cooked. Timing is everything.

My only complaint about this grill is that it is top-heavy and difficult to carry. It tends to tip, and the doors and grill fall off. Maybe the newer models are better. If the base were just a little heavier or something it would make it easier to move.

Compared to the new grill in the Lodge catalog, mine is looking a little rough and rusty. I need to learn how to get the base shining again.