Do-it-yourself vertical barbecue grill

Although such a dish as kebab is of Eastern origin, we all simply adore meat prepared in this way, without even knowing which country is its homeland. And it’s difficult to determine this, since almost every Turkic-speaking country has a consonant name for this dish.

Only one thing can be said: a grill is required to prepare it. The name of its inventor is also unknown. We only know that the coals should be at the bottom and the meat should be placed above them. But the popular “left-hander” A.P. Loginov took and refuted this axiom by inventing a vertical barbecue. For what? It’s just that his wife is a supporter of healthy food, and according to some reports, food cooked over an open fire is harmful to the body.

Features of a vertical barbecue

Regardless of their appearance, all classic barbecues work according to the following principle: pieces of meat are placed on skewers over the coals. The melting fat falls onto the hot coals and saturates the smoke with benzopyrene. This is a very strong carcinogen that is harmful to the body.

The peculiarity of the vertical design of the grill is that with this arrangement the smoke does not permeate the pieces of meat.

Externally, such a barbecue looks like a box, inside of which a grid for fuel is installed. Smoke along with harmful substances, rising vertically, does not come into contact with the meat.The skewers themselves are located centrally around the roasting pan.

Due to some distance from the coals, the meat is fried on the side that is directly facing the fryer.

Not only firewood, but also prepared coals can be used as fuel.

The skewers are installed in fasteners located on the sides. A grill protects them from contact with fuel. You can place a platform above the brazier itself, place a kettle or pan on it and combine the preparation of two dishes.

The lower part of the structure is made in the form of a lattice. It is on it that fuel (wood or coals) is located. The cell sizes should not allow coals to fall out. Only ash has this opportunity.

A tray for collecting fat is installed at the bottom.

Reference! Since the meat is exposed to heat and hot air, the cooking process does not take very much time, and the meat itself is fried evenly.

Dripping fat accumulates in the pan. Due to this, it does not burn and does not produce soot or smoke. The meat has a characteristic aroma for this dish, and the surface of the grill is not covered with soot.

Unlike a barbecue with a horizontal design, this arrangement has a number of positive qualities:

1. Harmlessness of the finished dish. Due to the design, the grill allows you to place the meat out of contact with the fire, which prevents smoke from reaching the product. Despite the fact that the meat is located away from the coals, the frying effect is quite high, regardless of the amount of coal. The meat is cooked under the influence of heat that comes from the body and smoke.
2. Increased capacity. The special design of the grill allows you to attach skewers from all sides at once.If the roasting pan is large, it is possible to simultaneously load up to seven kilograms of meat.
3. Multifunctionality. You can cook several dishes at the same time: kebab itself, and others can be cooked on the platform installed on top.
4. Unique design. The plates for installing skewers have special grooves that allow you to change the distance from the fryer.
5. Fire safety. The coals are separated from the product by a mesh, which eliminates the possibility of fire moving to adjacent objects.

Making a vertical barbecue with your own hands

If you have some skills, free time and a place where the work will be carried out, you can make such a structure yourself. At the same time, such an unusual grill will not require an engineering education, but the ability to work with an angle grinder and welding will not be superfluous.

Closed option

For work you can use a variety of materials. Cast iron is resistant to wear, but difficult to machine. Galvanized steel looks beautiful, but when the temperature gets very high, it can release harmful substances. However, it is unlikely to achieve such heating while frying shish kebab. Stainless steel is the most widely used. Many manufacturers recognize her as the most suitable material, since it is not afraid of temperature changes. Below is diagram No. 1.

Work should begin with preparing the drawing. This will allow you to avoid errors with dimensions and correctly calculate proportions. It is better to make the sides of the outer box trapezoidal. The thickness of the steel can be from two to four millimeters. But a more correct range would be from three to five millimeters.

Thin metal is subject to deformation and will completely burn out within three years of use. It is good to use for developing a compact, portable barbecue. Thick steel makes the structure heavy, but increases strength and extends the service life to ten years or more.

The design, tapering at the bottom and widening at the top, makes it possible to quickly install skewers. And it will be much easier to observe the cooking process. An important point of this design option is the saving of combustible material. You need to weld the sides at an angle of seventy-five degrees.

Attention! The height of each side should allow the entire length of the skewer to be installed, starting from the handle and ending with the tip. The tip must rest on the bottom or holes must be provided for it.

In order for the skewers to hold, strips are welded along the perimeter of the upper part. You can bend the edges of the box to make slits in which the skewers will be placed. The distance between the slots should be at least six centimeters. If the slots are large enough, this will allow you to adjust the distance between the fryer and the skewer. Below is diagram No. 2.

The skewers can be swapped during cooking. Place those on which the meat is less cooked closer to the center, and where it has already reached its condition - in the corners. The fact is that the heat inside the grill is distributed unevenly. It is stronger in the central part and weaker in the corners.

Assembling the box is only part of the job. It is also necessary to make a mesh into which the flammable material will be loaded. It should be located in the very center. The dimensions of the cells must be such that the coals do not fall out and the movement of air flow is not impeded.

The height of the fuel part of the grill must correspond to the box and have equal proportions with it. But the size should be twice as small. The outer casing from the “firebox” should be at a distance of at least twenty centimeters.

Attention! The grill should rise above the ground at such a level that it is convenient to work with it.

Unlike stainless steel, regular metal needs to be painted. And if you have chosen just such a material for your design, then do not be too lazy to apply acrylic varnish, which can resist moisture.

If the product is not painted, then very soon rust will form on it and it will not last long. It makes no sense to paint the inner surface, because no paint can withstand intense heat, but the outer surfaces are necessary. This will protect against corrosion and allow the structure to look organically in any surrounding space. The paint must be environmentally friendly and heat-resistant.

Open option

Vertical barbecues may not have an external casing. It is better to make such a design collapsible so that you can take it with you on a picnic. The central part, as in the closed version, is intended for fuel. It’s just that you need to attach strips with recesses to it for installing skewers.

The skewers on these slats will be arranged in the classic way - horizontally. But the harmlessness of the barbecue will be preserved. The fire is away from the meat, not directly underneath it. This design can be either one-sided or two-sided. You just need to rotate the skewers more often so that the meat is evenly fried on all sides. Scheme No. 3.

Reference! The uneven temperature distribution in such a grill can be an additional advantage.We place fish or vegetables in the corners, and meat in the central part.

The disadvantage of such a barbecue is a longer cooking procedure. After all, the coals are located at a distance from the product. And the force of habit plays a role. Many barbecue lovers will be against this design. What's a barbecue without smoke?!