For those who grill

Chris Hatfield

Former Member (by the member's request)
Messages
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If you have or would like a cart (or similar), what would consider to be of importance if buying or making one? Assume for a minute that you don't have a full outdoor kitchen.

Just curious. Thinking about buying or making one as a gift, but I don't know what is important.
 
Hummmm...a wood case for something that burns :eek::eek::rofl::rofl::rofl:

Seriously you'd want something that hides the tanks and as many of the tools to keep everything in one place and look nice.

I think we're (well Brent) down to 6-7 grills/smokers. We had so many when we lived in the bay area, we actually had a BBQ graveyard on our property :rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:
 
Well, I'll take another tack on this, since I think you are talking about a companion piece to the grill itself?

1) Easy to clean surface on top. Sticky stuff will get spilled, so I'd think about the top being made out of something other than wood? Maybe granite, or concrete, or tile or something.

2) Big enough hold a 1/2 sheet pan. Heck, it might be nice to have a short shelf just under the top big enough to hold a couple of 1/2 sheet pans. I use these for staging and holding things prior to putting on and after taking things off.

3) Drawers. Be nice to have a relatively sealed area to store your bbq tools.

4) Other storage. Something to hold maybe a sealed bucket of charcoal, extra proprane tank, bbq cover, rotisserie, etc...

5) Durable. Must be made out of some kind of wood that will last and last out in the elements.

Sounds like a great project, keep us posted!

(Jay, you are going to get me in trouble, I want a big green egg, but my ole weber still works too good for me to justify getting another grill!)
 
Well, At least I'm gonna be able to get my smoker running again. I used to get hard wood in CA all the time for low and slow smoking, but since we moved, all I had was 'grocery store wood', which I wouldn't used.

Got 3 cords of almond wood coming that should be ok for low and slow.

I've only got 3 bbq's right now. A Hank Hill, a Weber, and a New Braunfels Guadalup BBQ/Smoker that's been heavily modified...

The NBGBBQS is gonna get a workout next year, if we don't use all the wood for heat this winter...
 
dont look too hard at this cart, it was one of my 2 hour builds, but I used tiles for the top, cheap and you can make the top quite attractive depending on what tiles you use.
one thing, if you use tiles, make sure you get some kind of waterproofing solution or spray.
 

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I concur with a lot of what Brent said. I have 5 grills that get used a lot (Weber Summit for home use, modified Weber Genesis with big wheels for beach parties and tailgating, Weber kettle, Weber Smokey Joe and a modified New Braunfels smoker).

I have been thinking of building a cart with a Corian top, slide out cooler shelf for the meats, tight sealing drawers for utensil storage, hooks/dowels to hang utensils while in use, spice rack, beer holder, paper towel holder and aluminum foil dispenser. Maybe use redwood or cypress for the construction.
 
I'd keep it simple as far as the structure Probably spring for teak for the cabinet. A place for utensils & propane or briquettes & cap it with stainless. Finish it with a wipe on finish that would only need light sanding or synthetic pad once in a while & wipe on another coat of finish.
 
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