# charcoal basket



## mcp9 (Mar 27, 2008)

i was wondering where anybody got the material for their homemade charcoal baskets?  and exactly what material is it?


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## pigcicles (Mar 27, 2008)

It's called expanded metal (diamond shaped holes). You can get it at metal suppliers or in smaller quantity at home improvement stores. For a 12" square basket you will need a piece 24" square and allow 6" high walls. 

There is some cutting involved but you don't have to weld it. It can be cut in a way as to fold ends through the holes to lock it together or use bolts and washers, or even heavy gauge wire.

Hope that helps some.


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## peculiarmike (Mar 27, 2008)

What PigCicles said!
Buy it at Lowe's, etc. Not cheap. You can cut it with good aviation tin snips and a strong hand. Bend it in a vise.
Or, if you have a sheetmetal shop disregard the whole thing and go to work.







You can see the basket I made in the SFB of my C-G Duo.


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## teeotee (Mar 27, 2008)

I got mine from Lowes for $12.00. It was a 12" x 24" sheet which i cut down to 6" x 24". Then made it the same way pigcicles said, by folding ends through the holes. Then i pounded the corners together. 
I can get half a bag of lump in there.


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## pigcicles (Mar 28, 2008)

Here is a layout of how mine would look laid out flat, before bending. The extra inch on the walls is for folding around the corners to help add strength. 

This was drawn in MS Visio and converted to jpg.


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## mcp9 (Mar 28, 2008)

thanks! i plan on getting to work on that.  i want to try a long cook using the minion method so i can get some sleep at the same time.  i think this box is the best way to organize it. definitely worth a try for 12 bucks anyways.


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## smokin' joe (Mar 28, 2008)

Cool baskets guys, I think I am going to make one too.  Sometimes my itty bitty lump pieces fall through the grate.  The basket would keep that from happening.

Thanks for the pics and diagrams.


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## pigcicles (Mar 28, 2008)

Here's a shot of the basket showing in the left corner how the ends were folded through to lock it together. Nothing fancy needed to do this.


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## teeotee (Mar 28, 2008)

Just stopped in Home Depot and found they have the same thing i got fro mlowes for only $9.00. Also they had a 24" x 24" sheet for $16.00. It is only 20ga but seems to be holding up so far in mine.


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## cowgirl (Mar 28, 2008)

I made one last week....used a hammer and 2x4 to bend it, folded the ends in and bolted it.
I had planned on using hog rings but didn't have any the right size on hand.

35 minutes and 2 bandaids later, I had this.


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## teeotee (Mar 28, 2008)

Cool, looks good, and LOL at the bandaids, i can appreciate that 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





. 

If there's something sharp, muddy or greasy you can be sure i'll find it.


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## cowgirl (Mar 29, 2008)

lol...teeotee, I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one.


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## danbono (Jun 12, 2013)

Hi All All I can find in expanded metal with 1/2 opennings. The 3/4 openning were 16 ga.no way I can bend that by hand.Would the 1/2 be good for a charcoal basket, the 1/2 openning look kinda of small for the ashes to fall thru?
Thanks Dan
PS Tried 2 Home Depots, 1 Lowe's and a local store.


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## danbono (Jun 12, 2013)

Hi all I did find online a place that has 3/4 opening 18Ga. expanded metal, but is galvanized. Would that be a problem for my charcoal basket?
From there web site:Galvanized refers to a process that covers mild steel with a layer of zinc to provide good corrosion resistance.
Plus they cold rolled steel that they can cut to my size for tuning plates.I'm thinking 14 Ga.
From there web site:Cold rolled sheet is mild steel that has a nice smooth surface. 
Thanks Dan


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## tbjoebbq ss (Jun 13, 2013)

Dan,
Cold rolled would work,  though it will come oiled to keep it from rusting.  If they have a hot rolled product it should be cheaper.  

Basically when the steel sheet is made it comes out hot rolled.  It then goes through a pickling bath to remove scale and then rolled again "cold" to finer manufactuing tolerance.   

For the amount you need for tuning plates though it may not make a lot of difference.


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## danbono (Jun 17, 2013)

Hi All Would 12 Ga. Cold rolled steel be good for the tuning plates? Here is what I'm looking at:  http://www.speedymetals.com/information/material23.html

Thanks Dan


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## danbono (Jun 17, 2013)

Hi All Here is what my basket looks like.18Ga. Expanded metal 24 x 24 from Home Depot, You have look where they stock the angle iron to find it.
Now that the basket problem is solved,next is the tuning plates.Im having a hard time find any that would cut my plates. One guy quoted me $50.00 for 5 PCs of 1/8 x 6"x 15". I told him that was way too expensive, he came Back and said it was the set up time.In my younger days I used to work in a sheet metal place in New York City, doesn't take much to set up. Just cut the length then cut the width












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I bent the tabs in to hold the basket together












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Here are my cuts on my forearm after handling the Expanded metal. Be careful lots of sharp edges
Thanks Dan


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## rocco (Jun 17, 2013)

After going to my local Lowes and finding out they don't carry expanded metal at that location, they won't order it either, then I found out they won't ship it to the store from the website. I checked to see if the closest Home Depot had some in stock before I drove 45 minutes and discovered that they will ship it for $6. I would spend more than that in gas. Mr. Postman should be delivering my future basket by the end of the week.


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## danbono (Jun 18, 2013)

Rocco I went the same Home Depot 3x before I found the expanded metal. Yesterday I went  to HD with the pic of expanded metal from HD web site. I was directed to same place I was looking at before, then I was told to check, by where the angle iron is stocked , and sure enough there were 4 pcs of the metal.
Still haven't tried out the basket yet, showers are in the forecast for today.Right now I'm trying to figure out the best way to light it.
1. Put unlit coals around the edges and place the lit coals in the center, with wood on top.
2 Put unlit coals on the bottom 1/2 the way up and place the lit coals over them, then the wood.
3. Mix in the wood split with the unlit coals.

Dan
PS My Lowe's did have the EM but only in 12x24 sheets with 1/2 opening.


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## jirodriguez (Jun 18, 2013)

For tuning plates, either find some ungalvanized sheet metal or buy a big 11X17 aluminum baking tray - then just use a cut off wheel to cut it into strips.


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## danbono (Jun 18, 2013)

]Hi JIRodrigues I don't any cutting tools except for my Dremel and a pair of cutting snips. Your idea sounds tempting, be alot cheaper.
Still have to fireup the Smoke N Pit, when the rains stop and see where I'm at with thin metal plates.
Thanks Dan
PS Here is what temps looked like using my Marvick 732


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## hambone1950 (Jun 18, 2013)

Here's a video from YouTube that shows how to make a basket with just a cutting wheel and a ruler. I think you could do this with aircraft snips as well....it would just take longer

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=I5poqrIboAE&desktop_uri=/watch?v=I5poqrIboAE


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## danbono (Jun 18, 2013)

Hambone:
 I did make a basket, haven't tried it yet. I'm working on getting tuning plates. The ones that came with Smoke N Pit are thin ones. Looking for something heavier.
As you can see from my previous post my temps side to side were way off.
My basket is in post 17
Thanks Dan


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## jirodriguez (Jun 18, 2013)

Heavier plates are nice if you can get them for a reasonable cost. Another option is buy a stepped drill bit and take the 11X17 heavy aluminum baking sheat and drill rows of holes that start at 1/4" along one of the short sides, then after you have drilled a few rows at 1/4", step up the size to 1/2" and drill a few more rows, then for the last few rows step up to 1".

Then put the pan in so that the smaller holes are closest to the firebox, this allows some heat to come up near the firebox while forcing most of it towards the cold end of the smoker and the larger holes.


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## hambone1950 (Jun 18, 2013)

DanBono said:


> Hambone:
> I did make a basket, haven't tried it yet. I'm working on getting tuning plates. The ones that came with Smoke N Pit are thin ones. Looking for something heavier.
> As you can see from my previous post my temps side to side were way off.
> My basket is in post 17
> Thanks Dan


your basket looks good. i just thought that video was pretty good for anyone else thinking of making one.


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## danbono (Jun 19, 2013)

Hi All Does the expanded metal basket have to be cured?? I hate to waste charcoal on just the basket.
Thanks Dan


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## jirodriguez (Jun 19, 2013)

DanBono said:


> Hi All Does the expanded metal basket have to be cured?? I hate to waste charcoal on just the basket.
> Thanks Dan


Nope - it would never retain a cure anyway - the fire would burn it off. Just let the charcoal burn for a bit incase of any coating the manufacutre puts on the expanded metal.


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## danbono (Jun 19, 2013)

Hi All Here is what I used for tuning Plates. Read about it somewhere in this forum .I took the charcoal tray that runs the length of the cooking chamber, turned it upside down and placed it by firebox opening.Hope it shows in the pics.If I can get them uploaded.

Tonite I just used the firebox as a grill. Put 1/2 Weber chimney of Kingsford charcoal into my home made basket.
 Temps were only off by 20* side to side, much better then last time. I think with a little more working on the problem, the temps would even out some more.
I wasn't happy about the way the grill worked, next time I have to get the grill grates closer to charcoal. The charcoal was 6" from the grills.

Thanks Dan
All 4 of my thermo's were checked in boiling water before testing the pit.












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## madhatter (Sep 18, 2013)

menards has this Weldable Steel Sheet 12" x 18" - 22 Gauge for $8


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## jaikun (May 14, 2014)

Great thread! I made my basket today and it was much easier than I expected. Even in Canada Home Depot had the expanded metal, so thanks for the tip! For any other newbies like me don't put this mod off. I cut mine quick with a cutting blade on an angle grinder (blade was like $4 at same Home Depot), and bending wasn't hard. I used a hammer and clamped the metal to a workbench.












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 Here are some pics of the process. Cheers!


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