- Nov 23, 2023
- 52
- 29
I have both a hot smokehouse and a cold smokehouse that I built this year. I was never quite sure how to build the top of the firebox since I could not figure out a way to put fire bricks on the ceiling without fear of them falling in. I saw somebody on one of the forums put a steel plate across the top of their firebox, build a form, and cover it with 4 inches of concrete. Seems simple enough, and I knew that the plate would not cave in. So I did the same. I wanted to see how hot I could get my hot smokehouse so I built just a regular fire, and within 45 minutes I had the smokehouse at 382° with little effort. But as I quickly learned, steel place in concrete, don’t like each other, and so the expansion of the steel plate push the concrete, covering it up more than an inch!
{EPIC FAIL}
So back to the drawing board…
I put a message out here on the forum, asking for suggestions, but didn’t hear from anyone as I think I put it in the wrong forum area. I talked to the local fireplace store and they said that what I was asking was out of their wheelhouse, and suggested I talk to the metal fabrication shop just down the street from them.
So I did, and they were most helpful! The fabricator had a lot of experience with smoking, and he had the idea that he would build a plate if I would draw out the dimensions of the top of each firebox. It would consist of a plate going all the way across the top, with one and a half inch lip going down to fit like a tight lid. And then he had the all other idea of adding handles on each side of each lid for easy removal for either cleaning, or replacing fire bricks when I need to. They fit over each firebox, nice and snug, almost better than putting a glove on hands! These are really nice, and they are built better than I could’ve ever imagined! Let me know your thoughts…
{EPIC FAIL}
So back to the drawing board…
I put a message out here on the forum, asking for suggestions, but didn’t hear from anyone as I think I put it in the wrong forum area. I talked to the local fireplace store and they said that what I was asking was out of their wheelhouse, and suggested I talk to the metal fabrication shop just down the street from them.
So I did, and they were most helpful! The fabricator had a lot of experience with smoking, and he had the idea that he would build a plate if I would draw out the dimensions of the top of each firebox. It would consist of a plate going all the way across the top, with one and a half inch lip going down to fit like a tight lid. And then he had the all other idea of adding handles on each side of each lid for easy removal for either cleaning, or replacing fire bricks when I need to. They fit over each firebox, nice and snug, almost better than putting a glove on hands! These are really nice, and they are built better than I could’ve ever imagined! Let me know your thoughts…
