Earlier in the year I went to light the BBQ, only to realise that the coal tray had pretty much rusted right through, and had massive holes in it. I managed to bodge a repair by laying a bit of scrap sheet metal in the bottom of it as a stop gap (literally!) But I decided at the time I really ought to make something better.
Just in time for the end of the summer. I finally got round to it:
Looks like you've got subsidence on the back wall of your barbecue! :-D
S.
I won't go near one of those things. They do seem to cause a lot of injuries and burns if you believe these medical programs on the telly. Maybe people should treat their exposed skin in something like fire eaters and that woman who puts her feet into a fire in a James bond film, if it actually exists, Then you need a blast suit in case a gas one explodes... grin. Brian
It has never been quite the same since one of the kits was marginally wider than what it was built for, and I had to partially demolish it and rebuild with an offset in the brickwork!
Isn't it supposed to have some holes in the tray to let the air flow up through the charcoal?
The previous one did not[1], but I was toying with the idea of adding some for drainage if nothing else. I will try it first and see how well it works.
It had a wire rack covering the tray - but the gaps were such the coals fell though, and it was so feeble it curled up anyway! Not sure if it was intended the coals to sit on directly, or to support a pan that you wanted to place directly in the fire.
You could add some bellows as well so it can be used as a barbecue and as a small forge.
Owain
On the canonical Hibachi, they did have draft control.
If you open the sliders, that "turns it into a blast furnace" :-) Well, not really.
You were supposed to flick droplets of water onto the charcoal, if you wanted to adjust the fire level on the other barbecue types. Some barbecues were made of extremely thin metal, and you lined those with foil and other imaginative solutions, to make the barbecue "last".
********But a lot of other charcoal devices, made no special arrangement for draft.
I see someone here has the right idea. They get them started first, then toss them into the cooking device.
Paul
And the flavour
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