Transform my grill

November 10, 2007 2:02 PM

I have a Weber brand Smokey Joe® charcoal grill, and I'd like to modify it someway to transform its main duties from cooking to heating human beings on an outdoor porch.

Modifications need to be temporary, or if they're not temporary, they need to be minimal. Meaning, I'd still like to use it to cook food in the summer. But in the winter it's cold on the deck and I don't want to pony up for one of those super expensive outdoor heaters/fire pits. So, great ones, what can I do to ole' Smokey to maximize his human-heating abilities? We're cold!

posted by c:\awesome to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

Line the bottom with foil to deflect the heat up and out (as well as make cleaning up easier), buy a one of those duraflame logs, surround it with your left over charcoal, and make a column out of chicken wire that will fit the grill's lip. Light the log, sit back, and enjoy.
posted by (bb|[^b]{2}) at 2:04 PM on November 10, 2007

You might also want to throw a few fire bricks into the grill. They'll heat up while it's burning and radiate the heat for hours after the flame is out.
posted by nathan_teske at 2:09 PM on November 10, 2007

Do the above, but remove the circular vent thingy on the bottom and insert a length of metal pipe. Take the grill off its stand and turn the grill on its side (but not so much the coals/wood fall out) with the pipe sticking straight up.

Voila! You've created a chimenea.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 2:37 PM on November 10, 2007

You could make a cone out of heavy duty screen (sometimes called metal cloth) to go over the top to keep embers at bay.
posted by Frank Grimes at 5:19 PM on November 10, 2007

Reinforce your charcoal/log grate. The high temps you'll be running will weaken it.
posted by greenskpr at 3:49 AM on November 12, 2007

It may be a little too late for this suggestion, but you could build a makeshift radiator:

from boingboing
posted by kookywon at 12:32 PM on November 20, 2007