If you believe that you should absolutely discard, or even better, skip the hypothesis of contacting a professional who designs and builds your masonry barbecue, for economic reasons or because you prefer to test yourself with a do-it-yourself job that it could be fun and bring you a lot of satisfaction, perhaps it is appropriate to start planning the action to follow. In fact, there are various and different techniques to build a brick barbecue, considering that it is important to study and plan every aspect well, so that the final result is not only beautiful and aesthetically flawless, but above all extremely useful and functional, original and perfectly integrated. in the domestic context of the garden, in accordance with your needs and ready to welcome large roasts and grills, for summer dinners in the moonlight and spring aperitifs at midday. Furthermore, let’s not forget that grilled cooking, if done correctly, over low heat and at the right times and with attention to cooking methods and the necessary space, is an important ally, melting the fats of excessively succulent meats and returning exceptional flavors. , for truly refined palates. Trying to make a brick barbecue economically, you can save extremely significant amounts, as long as you dedicate time, patience and attention to it. Hypothetically we could say, based on the creation of a standard model, that a brick barbecue built for personal satisfaction and in the spare time dedicated to hobbies can allow a saving (compared to the cost that would be incurred using professional services) equal to about 50 -60%.

To create a masonry barbecue composed of concrete bricks, after having made a first design draft of the work to be carried out, in which to define first where to place the barbecue, and secondly height and width (more traditionally, the standard measures are stand at about one meter in height, by half a meter in width, to allow you to easily carry out the cooking operations of the dishes and rotation of the grill) and to calculate the number of bricks needed, it is necessary to proceed with the purchase of the necessary materials. To make a solid and stable brick barbecue you will need about 150 bricks (considering the aforementioned standard sizes), a mixture of mortar and sand, and tools such as a trowel for the mortar, a spirit level, a spatula and a small vat to mix the mortar and add it with water until the right consistency is obtained.

Before starting, carefully consider where to place the masonry work, so that it is placed in a fairly sheltered place, in an area that is not a transit area and that does not cause discomfort to other structures that may be present in your garden. The shape of the base of the barbecue should then be sketched, which represents an inverted U, formed by three high masonry walls, with two side and one rear walls, and a front opening, with the possible possibility of providing a lateral plane to be grafted to the main structure, and which will act as a corner intended to support kitchen utensils and serving dishes, or which can easily be converted into the aperitif corner, where guests can be invited to start whet their appetite, assisting at the same time as cooking delicacies that will represent the main part of lunch or dinner. Then, after having laid the bricks to draw the profile of the base, you will proceed to cement the scaffolding, interspersing the adhesive represented by the mortar, overlapping the successive layers of bricks. Be careful to check layer by layer the flatness and the level of the three sides of the masonry, to make sure that at the final level the balance is perfect and the height homogeneous. Finally, when the operation is complete, place a metal shelf on which the cooking phase will develop, destining it to accommodate the coals and the grill.

The use of the barbecue that you have so patiently built and so carefully crafted requires that on a fire-resistant and large surface so as to allow easy operation in cooking, a nice fire of small pieces of wood is lit, to create the embers which, covered with charcoal, will allow you to develop a nice cooking embers, which cook the roasts on a slow flame and without flame, saving you the inconvenience associated with an excess of heat and the emanation of smoke and smells that are too intrusive. On the coals and on the cooking layer obtained in this way, you will then proceed to place a metal grill, to be used for perfect cooking of meat, fish and other dishes. On the market you will find many types of grids, which vary in size and distance of the grid, depending on your needs.

If, on the other hand, you have in mind to create a more complex, more refined and elegant masonry barbecue project, you could consider the hypothesis of creating a work in refractory bricks and in the shape of an h, with a front arch that makes the image and the overall visual impact more airy and graceful. In this case you will initially have to prepare a flat support base, proceeding to create an underground excavation of at least 30 cm in which to place a casting to support the entire structure. On this base you can begin to align the refractory bricks to grow, to first create the two feet, around which to erect the side and rear walls and the pillars. After having made the load-bearing structures and the walls, to build the arch it will be necessary to prepare a sixth with two vertical support sides and two shaped parts, using the mortar as an adhesive, in the quantities necessary to make the structure solid and robust. The work to create a brick barbecue equipped with a cover and arch requires more patience and attention, in particular in the finishing of the commissures, which aesthetically has a great impact on the overall image of the work, while the creation of a precise and regular edge is the guarantee of the stability of the arch, and requires as much care and attention, as it could compromise the final result. To conclude, whatever project you decide to implement, remember that precision, attention, careful planning and patience in the execution of works are the fundamental discriminant between a perfect work, performed in a workmanlike manner, and an approximate work not up to the commitment and investment in terms of time and materials used. Plan carefully before you go to work!