For our family reunion this year my uncle managed to secure a whole hog from a family member for us to cook. We had never cooked a whole hog before but we knew we wanted to smoke it and it would take all night. Lucky for us my uncle has a great cinder block BBQ grill that he built several years ago.
the equipment
This grill is a pitmaster’s dream. I’ve smoked and BBQ’d with him on this grill on several occasions. To build a good homemade grill like the one my uncle built you only need five things:
- concrete
- cinder blocks
- metal barrel
- iron grate
- metal round thermometer
He built a concrete platform first, then he laid out and stacked the cinder block frame in the shape of a T to allow for the fire to not be under the grate. The iron grate is placed on top of the cinder blocks to use as a cook top and the barrel is cut in half to create a lid to go over the iron grate. Hinges can be added to connect the lid to the iron grate. The metal thermometer can be placed into the lid (you have to custom cut a whole to place it in.)
the cooking
A cinder block grill retains heat well and the smoke is consistent when you have the wood fire burning in the back. We used real cedar wood that we cut up and we added mesquite chips to the fire too. Meat cooks evenly on the grill. We smoked 3 turkeys (hour and a half cook time) and we smoked most of a whole hog cut into four pieces (we smoked three of the pieces). The hog took 18 hours at 220 degrees.
the summary
A cinder block grill is a DIY project that is easy to make and can serve as a fun outdoor project for families.
