Fire Basket

[Bubba]

I am planning on building my 2nd UDS for my brother in law over Xmas and was looking for some input on fire basket options.

On my first one I took a 12" tall piece of expanded metal and rolled it in a circle, bolted the ends and wire tied a charcoal basket 3" from the bottom. Pretty standard stuff.

Thing is, the damn thing nearly killed me. Rolling the expanded metal was by far the hardest part of the job. Maybe I just had too heavy a gauge wire, but hey, the stuff was priced right (free!)

Soooo what do you guys have for firebaskets? How did you roll it? I was considering making a square one out of 4 seperate pieces that i would wire tie in the corners.

Thoughts/pictures are appreciated!

[PigCicles]

Mine was light enought that I could work it into a circle by stepping on it and working it a little at a time. It doesn't have to be a heavy gage expanded metal. I'll drop in a few pics of mine and hopefully you can see the gage

[Bubba]

I will have to measure mine tomorrow, but i get the feeling it is heavier gauge than what you have there. I ain't exactly a pip squeak and it was an awful job. My father in law and myself were working the steel, a vise was involved and alot of "don't let go"'s were said!

[lazy]

I just used 1-inch hardware cloth to make the basket for my UDS. I used a small pair of dykes to cut the cloth, and wrapped the ends around the grate, and the two ends together. I used three short lengths of chain and s-hooks to make a handle. The chains are long enough I can "hang" the upper hook on the screw that holds the grate. Makes it easy to lift out.

I've filled it with 10lbs plus of lump and chunks, then lifted it up and put it in the UDS. Works great!

And yes, the hardware cloth is galvanized. I don't figure there's enough galvanization on the small amount of wire involved to cause any issues. YMMV...

[smokinok]

Found this aluminum looking stuff at Lowe's and it was quite east to bend and I used hog rings to fasten it closed and to attach it to the 2 weber grated that I had (17"). I was afraid that it might not hold up but after 10 or 12 cooks there seems to be no problem. I am going to build a new one and place a center void and build a plate across it so as to prevent the fire from spreading across but make the fire burn in a circle.

[jerry516planes]

Now That is a really good Idea! Let me explain. The bottom has had me scratching my head. I like how you used two webber grates turned 90 degrees to each other. I picked up some stainless steel expanded metal out of the dumpster so the cost was 0. I also am going to build my bother-in-law a drum. Thanks for the tip!

[h20loo]

"and place a center void and build a plate across it so as to prevent the fire from spreading across but make the fire burn in a circle."
Why?

[Raklet]

How big is that basket? 17 x ?

[smokinok]

"and place a center void and build a plate across it so as to prevent the fire from spreading across but make the fire burn in a circle."
Why?

This is designed to keep the fire small. I have had problems with tooo big of a fire mass and it is very difficult to get the temps under control. By creating a 2 wall fire break on one side and then lighting there it will force the fire to burn around the void meaning that you have much less fire mass to deal with.

I will psot pix when finished but I have seen them here.

[smokinok]

How big is that basket? 17 x ?

17 inch by 10 inches tall. I can put 20 lbs of briquetts or 10 lbs of briquetts and 5 lbs of lump with 6 or 7 large pieces of hickory, etc. Quite heavy to get in drumand guide through all my grate bolts. I have been switching to smaller eye bolts.