A while back I built a cart for a hybrid Santa Maria grill and to store the griddle on the bottom, as well as having a pull out work table. It was a good concept but not fully thought out before building it. Turned out that getting the griddle off the bottom shelf to use it then putting it back when finished was a bit of a pain. Standing in the pool one day I realized how much space I had between the bottom of the cart and the pull out shelf and added another roll out tray for the griddle. Better but stull not efficient. The way I had to set it up, I wasn't able to use the pull out work table when using the griddle and the griddle was down pretty low thus not easy to cook on. Decided to build a new cart from the beginning to have the griddle accessible as well as the work table and get the griddle up higher for ease of access. This cart is 2" taller than the last one and with the griddle above the work table, it's a total of about 6" higher, which makes a huge difference. The new hybrid SM I built is a similar concept but different application. Took a few minutes to figure out how to make it work, but it works like a dream.
Not a lot of build pics but here is the cooking grate for the grill. This one is considerably larger than the last one.
Notice the two 1/2" steel dowels at the rear of the grate.
The vertical towers to hold the cooking grate. This took a bit of time to lay out and cut all the notches. They all needed to be perfect or it wasn't gonna work.
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Cooking grate in place. This was a concern whether or not it'd take the weight and stay in place.
The cart all assembled and checking to see if everything works before prep and paint.
Prepped, painted, and out to the patio.
This worked out great. It affords me so much usability and only takes up a small amount of space on the patio. As noted, this grill is a bit larger than the last one. The cart needed to be wider across the front to make enough space for the griddle so decided to use the space for a larger grill. I'm loving this thing!! Used the griddle a few times and that 6" higher makes a tremendous difference when cooking. The grill is just awesome being able to handle steaks for a larger crown but still not be overly huge and waste a ton of charcoal if I'm only cooking a couple steaks. Done burgers a couple times on it and it's Tracy's favorite way to do them now. You just get a flavor from charcoal that you don't get with propane and there's something primal about cooking like this over an open grill. My first cook on the grill was for a friend who came over for NY Strips the weekend after I finished building it. They were fantastic. Posted a thread on that cook and here is the link if anybody wants to see the grill in action:
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/my-friend-asked-for-a-ny-strip-pics.317659/
Oh well, my first post in a long time and it doesn't even relate to food....but it was a fun project that worked out well so figured I'd share. Y'all take care....
Robert
Not a lot of build pics but here is the cooking grate for the grill. This one is considerably larger than the last one.
Notice the two 1/2" steel dowels at the rear of the grate.
The vertical towers to hold the cooking grate. This took a bit of time to lay out and cut all the notches. They all needed to be perfect or it wasn't gonna work.
Cooking grate in place. This was a concern whether or not it'd take the weight and stay in place.
The cart all assembled and checking to see if everything works before prep and paint.
Prepped, painted, and out to the patio.
This worked out great. It affords me so much usability and only takes up a small amount of space on the patio. As noted, this grill is a bit larger than the last one. The cart needed to be wider across the front to make enough space for the griddle so decided to use the space for a larger grill. I'm loving this thing!! Used the griddle a few times and that 6" higher makes a tremendous difference when cooking. The grill is just awesome being able to handle steaks for a larger crown but still not be overly huge and waste a ton of charcoal if I'm only cooking a couple steaks. Done burgers a couple times on it and it's Tracy's favorite way to do them now. You just get a flavor from charcoal that you don't get with propane and there's something primal about cooking like this over an open grill. My first cook on the grill was for a friend who came over for NY Strips the weekend after I finished building it. They were fantastic. Posted a thread on that cook and here is the link if anybody wants to see the grill in action:
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/my-friend-asked-for-a-ny-strip-pics.317659/
Oh well, my first post in a long time and it doesn't even relate to food....but it was a fun project that worked out well so figured I'd share. Y'all take care....
Robert
