# Charcoal baskets



## mpeachhead (Mar 5, 2008)

Does anyone know of a good vendor for these things? I don't weld, but I would sure like to have one.


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## jdfire40 (Mar 5, 2008)

Good question....I would like to know the same thing!


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## crewdawg52 (Mar 5, 2008)

No junkyard around these parts so I made one from pieces I bought at Home Depot (think they come in 18x24 sheets for around $18...dont remember exactly).  No welding needed.  Got two pieces, a couple of heavy duty nuts, bolts, and washers (can use heavy duty wire) and bent the hell out of them to fit (had the help of a heavy duty vise).  Then used the bolts to secure the bends.

If dont want to do that, just look in the phonebook for a cimpany/outfit that works with metal.  Describe what you want, take them pictures, and they will make you one more likely than not.


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## simondsjt (Mar 5, 2008)

Thats what I did for my charcoal basket too.


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## luv2camp35 (Mar 5, 2008)

Also depends on what unit you have.  I have the Home Depot Brinkmann vertical (2 door).

Found this at Walmart last night and it fit in their model of Brinkmann vertical...should work in the HD model.  It is a Wok pan for a grill.  I think it was $8.97


I will probably make a slight mod to it just to make the tabs longer for more stability.  Throw a cheap aluminum pan under it to catch the ash and cleanup should be a breeze.


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## crewdawg52 (Mar 5, 2008)

Only one possible problem I see with this.  Probably made with coated aluminum.  Not meant to hold very hot coals for long periods of time.  Could eventually melt the thing.

Just my guess.


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## morkdach (Mar 5, 2008)

i've used a old pizza pan the one with holes in it from rema bakeware for over 4 years now has not even warped can find em at yard sales and flea markets cheap or wally world


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## desertlites (Mar 5, 2008)

I make mine outta hardware wire-mold it the way I want & burn it off in the fire pit-


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## luv2camp35 (Mar 5, 2008)

Good point on the tray possibly being made out of aluminum.  I am headed back that way tonight and will take a magnet with me.


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## mpeachhead (Mar 5, 2008)

Thanks for the advice. I'll see if I can't come up with something.


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## cook1536 (Mar 5, 2008)

I use one of these in the main chamber of my CG Pro when cooking indirect. Other than a slight warp, it has held up good. By slight warp I mean it just don't sit flat anymore.


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## walking dude (Mar 5, 2008)

LOLOL.......mork............mine lasted bout 6 long smokes........and melted to peices.........but they DO werk well...........for a time anyway.....least here........


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## hell fire grill (Mar 5, 2008)

I have seen the ones like luv2camp recomended at Fred Meyers and Home Depot in stainless steel. I dont know how big your fire box is but you can probably make one cheaper. Try going to a second hand store like goodwill or value village. See if they have a chicken roaster or small turkey roaster that will fit in your unit and drill it full-O-holes. A steel pot or cake pan might work also. Or an old ammo can with the paint burned off and filled full-O-holes might work. If you dont have a drill take it out back and shoot it with a 22 a bunch of times.


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## mpeachhead (Mar 5, 2008)

Good answer. That sounds like a fun way to make them too. I appreciate it. I have a drill and a .22. Now all I need to do is get busy with an old chicken roaster.


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## geek with fire (Mar 5, 2008)

Possibly off topic, but slightly related:  anyone ever thought about adding a vertical charcoal stack, like the one used in a Stumps smoker, to your firebox on the horizontal smoker.  I was thinking about removing the door and building a new one with a huge piece of square tubing welded through it.  Put a sealable door at the top and a large piece of grate at the bottom.  Make it big enough to hold 20 pound of charcoal.  Would have to build a support on the firebox or the smoker would flip, I guess.


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## fred420 (Mar 5, 2008)

home depot and lowes have similar items==check their website......


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## smokewatcher (Mar 5, 2008)

I used one of those for a long time before I modded my GOSM with a SFB. It worked good, but didn't hold a lot of coals.


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## wavector (Mar 5, 2008)

I made on myself last week out of scrap expanded metal and tack welded it together. It was actually my very, very first welding job. But you can go to Home Depot buy a piece of expanded matal for about 10 bucks, grab some brass all-thread stainless washers and nuts and make one. Just take the expanded matal and bow it to fit into the firebox. Use the all-therad with washers and nuts to hold the bow. Simply remove to refill and clean the firebox using welding gloves purchased at Harbor Freight.

Here's what I welded together. I'm not welder but I find it very fun to do. It's a blast.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-...ckwagon008.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-...ckwagon010.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-...ckwagon009.jpg

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2006-...ckwagon011.jpg


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## walking dude (Mar 5, 2008)

wave........with that setup............why not just bend it each side over summin.........pound it over the edge with a deadblow hammer?

just a thought


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## bbq bubba (Mar 6, 2008)

Wave, only problem i see with yours is the ends are open and it sits to low in the F/B.....
This was cut with a sawzall and bent with some clamps and bolted together....no welding needed!!





By imn88fan

This sits up about 3" off the bottom so the air can flow under and the ash has somewhere to go....I get about 8 hours off 1 basket of charcoal!!





By imn88fan


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## pigcicles (Mar 6, 2008)

I did mine similar to BBQ Bubba's only I didn't even bolt mine. I cut it long enough to clip the metal and bend the ends through to hook it all together. No bolts, no welds - just a hammer, side cutters, and something to bend the expanded metal over.


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## walking dude (Mar 6, 2008)

bubba........how many pounds of charchol does the basket hold?


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## bbq bubba (Mar 6, 2008)

I think about 8# in that basket.......so thats an hour burn per pound, does that sound decent??


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## walking dude (Mar 6, 2008)

pound a hour..........H*LL YEAH...........sounds like the times you get outta your ugly drum smoker


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## bbq bubba (Mar 6, 2008)

Oh nooooooooo, that same basket will go 12 hrs + in my drum!!!


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## gramason (Mar 6, 2008)

Got a 20" grate from Home Depot, and made this basket for my UDS, Tried it out Saturday, and it worked well.


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## geek with fire (Mar 6, 2008)

Well done Lance!  Can you explain the design a bit?  Namely center area?


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## mpeachhead (Mar 6, 2008)

I found an old pizza pan in the cabinet last night. It fit perfectly into my firebox. It has vents in the bottom. It's not a basket, but it raised the level a few inches. At least my ashes won't build up and choke out the flame. I'll try it out this weekend and let y'all know how it worked. 

I also bought some 10 inch aluminum flashing, rolled it up into a tube, and stuck that in my smoke stack. It lowered it to grate level. Then, I cut another 10 inch square strip of the flashing and made a baffle. I crimped the top edge around the ledge that my charcoal grate hangs on in the smoke box.

So, now I have a baffle, a lowered smoke stack, and a charcoal basket, all for about $16 in materials (counting the tin snips I bought). I'm excited as hell. I'm going to smoke some St. Louis ribs and a corned beef brisket this weekend. I think it's all going to work well.


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## morkdach (Mar 6, 2008)

sounds like a sound plan man


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## gramason (Mar 6, 2008)

I leave the center empty as a divider, and put the coals around the outside, so they burn one way around the basket, I found it to be more of a even temp than using a basket with all of the coals together.


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## smoke_chef (Mar 6, 2008)

I don't understand that??


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## gramason (Mar 7, 2008)

I dump a lit chimney at on end of the coals, the coals burn their way around the basket. Longer burn time, lit at 10am, still warm the next morning.


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## walking dude (Mar 7, 2008)

seems it would burn in both directions........maybe put a expanded wire dividermaybe 4 inches apart? this needs to be far enough away so the heat won't start the other side of the divider.....or maybe a solid divider........better heat resistance, and no chance of stray sparks crossing the open barrier

so it burns in ONE direction..........long time burn that way


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## capt dan (Mar 7, 2008)

Rotation of the earth makes it always  burn clockwise.


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## walking dude (Mar 7, 2008)

LOLOLOLOL.........yeah THATS it

killing me here


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## jdfire40 (Mar 7, 2008)

Looks good....I think I'll be working on something like this in the next couple of days.  Do you happen to know the dimensions of this box?

So when you use this, do you start a chimney, get it glowing, dump it in then fill with fresh coals....or do you fill with fresh coals then dump a chimney of glowing coals on top (if it even matters which way).


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## geek with fire (Mar 7, 2008)

I know you asked him, but I'll give a stab at it: It think it depends on the temps you want to achieve. Fire wants to travel up, so if you put hot coals on the bottom and unlit on top, you will get that "holy hell" type heat. If you put the coals on top, the heat will rise, but slowly ignite the coals underneath; this being the "Minion method". This works well if you only have to load coal once. The problem is, if you run out of coal half way through the smoke, you have to fire a chimney full again, dump unlit coals in and the hit chimney coals on top. This will cause a temperature dip, follow most likely by a temperature spike.

What I do is put hot coals on the intake side, and unlit on the smoke chamber side (I'm talking horizontal here. I'm thinkin you have an upright...oh well). The hot coals will make their way through the unlit coals. When it's time to load coals, rake them to the intake side and add fresh to the open void. Your temperatures stay more even and requires less damper adjustment to maintain temperature.


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## nh3b's (Mar 7, 2008)

Nice explanation GWF. It makes sence to me....Thanks


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## bustedluckbarbq (Mar 7, 2008)

Geek... thats the way I've been doing it....  i pile my lump at the chamber side with my wood chunks spread in.... light in the chimney and dump in at the intake side letting it burn into the pile... I get a pretty good burn out of the pile....  when i add.. i try to rake towards the intake and add coals to the chamber side... or i'll load another chinmey... and just dump hot coals in....


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## jdfire40 (Mar 7, 2008)

Thanks for the explination!


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## wavector (Mar 7, 2008)

I tacked some ends on it yesterday and it sits about and inch off the bottom. I tacked some stock on the bottom to raise it up. One problem I have is my smoker is only 12" in diameter which is kind of small compared to most units today. It's still a work in progress.


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## teeotee (Mar 10, 2008)

I just made my basket recently and not having the best cashflow i had to improvise a little 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






.

I bought a 12 X 24 sheet of expanded steel from Lowes for $12.00. Cut it in half widthwise to make two 6 X 24 peices. Bent the tow peices into right angles, laced the ends together and bent them over with some channel locks. Then hammered them down over over a brick edge.

Then i took the grilling grate that came with the firebox (ike anyone is going to grill in that thing) and cut two rows off and turned it 90 deg in the firebox. It sits good on some bolt heads and the guides for the ash pan.


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