We have the opportunity to work with a local guy to customize a grill. I'm looking to spend a few thousand bux and I reallllllllllllllllllly want to do this right.
I love the tagwood grills, especially the BBQ06SS and I'm looking to replicate this to a certain extent.
I frequently grill for ~20 people, sometimes up to 30 or 40. Here are some of the options I'm considering:
Santa maria style crank that raises up and down. I"m trying to figure out if a dual crank is beneficial. I like the idea, but I'm not sure I'll really need it. My thought is, I can just manage the amount of coal on one side of the grates to have seperate zones, right?
V grates to catch greese
Secondary grate over the brasero
Some sort of camptable griddle/plancha
Mesh grill grates?
Laser cut grill grates for more delicate proteins like burgers?
Roofing grill/warming rack?
Other kinds of grates?
Some sort of kabob configuration
Brasero for coal management and to put good use for all of the fellen trees on our property.
Bar for "S" hooks
Rotisserie for gyros, shawarma, al pastor, kontosouvli, chickens, etc.
Im inspired by the tagwood with the left hand side space for either grilling accessories such as a clamp grate so I would want some dedicated free space. The other question I have is if a clamp grate is even worth it? Another way of asking the question: Is Asador style cooking that much better than rotisserie? I've not ever cooked on a clamp grill, but I have some FOMO.
I know I want a wind guard and doors to access the coals.
I want to do a cart because our rneighbordhood has block parties and I'd love to be able to roll the grill out to the culdesac.
Open to any insight others may have. If you had unlimited funds to build a perfect grill, what would you add?
by gveliopoulos
3 Comments
Bro, most of us use Weber kettles and kamados. This is far beyond what most people can do, so you know best. Go crazy, do what you want.
FWIW, Lone Star Grillz makes grills with all terrain tires and even trailers if that’s what you want. Or Mill Scale or CenTex or a dozen other custom fabricators in Texas. That’s what I’m most familiar with. But maybe you can look at their web sites and get some ideas.
I have had a Backyard Discoveries Argie grill since early July and have cooked on it maybe a dozen times, for up to 25 people. Decades ago, I also helped cater asados in Argentina and have cooked on pretty much all the equipment they use (Asados, parillas, etc.)
Here are my observations:
Creating your own coals from wood splits is cool, but it is a metriic shit-ton of work. If you are expecting to just light a load of charcoal to cook, you will be sadly disillusioned. Argie cooks are long cooks. While cooking, it is hotter than the gates of hell. You will sweat. You will burn through a bunch of wood. If you can cut your own, the quantity of wood burned may not matter but needs consideration.
My personal preference is conventional grates over V-grates. Why? These grills are designed to cook over longer time with radiant heat. Those V-grates put too much of the meat in radiant shadow. Also, meat juice drips with the fat, and that turns to steam.
IMO, Separate cranks and such are not necessary, because you can rake coals where you need them to create separate heat zones.
The brasero is essential, but the size and extent of flames need to be part of your plan on where you place the grill.
I really wish I had a second area to the left of the brasero to accommodate an Asado (cross), so I could cook bigger stuff.
The drop-down front is also essential, for moving embers from the brasero to under the meat. If you leave that front down, it compounds the heat radiated to your body. That means you need a long rake and insulated welding gloves to deal with the heat in August, but closing it means the heat produced by your embers is reduced. Better would be to have a front cover with adjust Le vents, so you can keep it closed and still get great air flow.
Fire brick bottom is great, but reduces airflow across the embers, so many self-extinguish. I am planning to build a lower grate atop the bricks to prevent this.
That’s all I can remember right now.
Why not have the grill size of your custom grill grate match one of your pre-existing ones? Then all of your existing shiz will already fit. Or match the grate size of a larger grill of the same size being sold that has aftermarket accessories available you like . For example if you match the size of a large Weber Genesis you now have a whole world of accessories and grates that fit. I don’t like v grates, I like the juices to hit the fire then the proteins, but even if you like v-grates you’ll still want standard for certain foods anyhow. Look at the Weber gourmet system inserts.
Brassero’s rock for live fire but a spare chimney makes a poor man’s charcoal brassero for free and saves space. Usually my guests show up long after the woods been turned into charcoal anyhow.
With standard fire management (e.g. Multiple zones) I don’t think there’s much need for a dual lift system, I’d much rather just have a larger grate and a taller Santa Maria. I’d like to be able to lift my proteins up higher from the coals at times, tall hangars too. Also make sure it’s designed that the grates can go down right on the coals, I’ve seen some that mechanically could not drop into a foot deep fire box!