RECLAIMED PROJECT: CHARCOAL BBQ COOK STATION
Nothing beats a good BBQ like a charcoal BBQ pit. When we moved onto this property, I discovered an old charcoal BBQ pit, and all I needed to do was replace the grill. Which was no problem, take a measurement and go to the hardware store. Problem solved.
Unfortunately, due to my laziness, I didn’t put our pit away for the season. Well, winter came and at one point we had about 5ft of snow on our roof…which meant our pit had about the same amount on top of it. By the time some of the snow melted, I saw the pit and knew my wife was going to kill me. So, I knew I had to fix this and make it better.
I’ve always liked those BBQ stations where the pit sits inside a station so you can have everything at your disposal. I had some pallets and planks lying around, so I decided to give it a go for the BBQ cook station.
I first started off with drawing out some ideas for the station, and once I found something that I liked, I decided to go with it and have some fun.
I started with a few 4’x4’ pallets I had here, which I planned on using for the base and walls for this station. The planks would be used for the top.
Working on it was fairly easy, but the biggest problem is that pallets are square and vary in size, knowing that I just went with it and made it as “square” as possible.
Once the base and sides were put together, I just had to put the top together. Which was fairly easy. Honestly, the hardest part was trying to figure out how to place and secure the pit while not wanting to burn down the entire thing while I’m doing a steak.
The pit had a handle on it that I decided to set it on top of the table top. Which was a great idea when I thought there were two handles on it…Unfortunately, I forgot that the pit only had one handle.
The simple fix, which fortunately did work and has worked, was to put screws into the perimeter of the pit to basically hold that pit up.
My biggest concern with this station catching on fire. I made sure to have an opening big enough to have enough clearance, where a potential fire risk was minimal.
Thus far, I’ve had a few cookouts with it already, and very comfortable with the build. Now, moving forward, I might do some things differently, but I think in the meantime, it works. All I need to do is protect it from the elements like the rain and sun.
This was a fun project to do on a Sunday afternoon, and I’m hoping to get a few more seasons out of this pit.
