How to Build a Brick BBQ Smoking Pit Outdoors
- 1). Level out an area of ground that is 40 square inches with a shovel.
- 2). Lay a base of bricks on the leveled ground, with the brick joints staggered in a basketweave pattern. You should have a 40-by-40 inch square of flat, level bricks.
- 3). Stand in front of the side of the base which you want to be the front of the smoking pit. Along the left and right sides of the base, place a pair of bricks on top of the base with their 8-inch sides facing you and flush with the front sides of the base.
- 4). Place another pair of bricks abutting the first with their 4-inch sides towards the front, and continue along the left and right sides, alternating the direction of the bricks with each pair. Repeat on the back side of the base, so that you have three sides of the walls built to one-brick’s height.
- 5). Place a piece of sheet metal that is 8-by-40 inches across the front side of the base, resting on the wall bricks. Lay a second level of bricks along the wall in an alternating pattern to the first, this time covering over the front side as well, with the bricks sitting on this side sitting on top of the sheet metal. This creates an opening at the front side of the wall to allow access to the bottom of the smoker during operation.
- 6). Continue building up the walls in the alternating pattern until you have eight brick’s height. On the eighth level of the wall, position two pieces of 8-by-40 inch sheet metal on top of the bricks of the front and back wall, positioned around an inch toward the center of the smoker pit to create a ledge for placing on the barbecue rack.
- 7). Stack two more layers of bricks on top of the walls, so the smoker is a cubic 40-by-40 inches.
- 8). Light the barbecue coals in an ash pan that fits into the bottom of the smoker, through the gap in the front wall – up to 20 to 23 inches wide and long is fine. Once the coals are covered in a white ash they are ready to use.
- 9). Place a barbecue rack on the ledge on the inside of the smoker pit, and place your barbecue meats on top.
- 10
Fill your smoker box with soaked wood chips and place it on top of the coals in the ash pan. Insert the ash pan into the smoker pit through the front wall gap, then place a 30-by-40 inch piece of sheet metal over the top of the pit, and slightly block up the front wall gap with a brick. - 11
Change the coals and wood chips as needed throughout the smoking process by pulling out the ash pan and refilling.
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