# Brick or steel?



## D.C (Jul 4, 2006)

Hi everyone, I have a quick question. I am thinking of building a pit in my backyard and I was wondering which would be better for the material, either a pit built out of brick or a pit built out of steel.

thanks for the input


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## Andy M. (Jul 4, 2006)

If you're intent is to make a permanent fixture, I'd go with brick or field stone, or similar.  They'll last forever.


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## BreezyCooking (Jul 5, 2006)

I fully agree with brick.

My father built a huge brick barbecue back in 1957 that's still going strong today!!!  Started with a large thick concrete slab & then built an "L" or chair-shaped barbecue out of brick atop it.  Back portion of the "L" was a wide "chimney", while the front was open & had slots for two levels of cast-iron grill racks.  Since the brick walls were several brick-widths thick, the "arms" of the "chair" were more than wide enough to put platters, tools, etc.

You could either build a charcoal fire on the lower grate, or build a big wood fire right on the concrete-slab bottom (great for marshmallow roasting).  It was terrific for parties, & my childhood & teenage years are peppered with many happy memories of lots & lots of wonderful summer parties.

And as far as esthetics go, brick is much nicer & more pleasing to the eye than steel any day, in my opinion.


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## D.C (Jul 5, 2006)

thanks for the advice, now another question. will any type of brick do, or is there a special type of brick that needs to be used


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## BreezyCooking (Jul 5, 2006)

I don't know if there have been any improvements since 1957, but my dad used regular red bricks & mortar to build his barbecue.  In this day & age though, you might want to investigate further.


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## JohnL (Jul 5, 2006)

*Hi D.C.,*
*I'm by no means an expert here, but I'm sure any non porous brick will work fine for the exterior features of your BBQ pit. But I think that the fire box of the pit should be constructed of fire brick.*


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