Help with cinder block pit

[eap0510]

I have a good friend of mine that is building a cinder block pit so that one day we can cook a whole hog. The pit itself is being made out of cap blocks rather then actual hollow cinder block since cap blocks have a higher firer rating. That part of the build is going nicely but we are not certain about our fire barrel build.



Here are some shots of the barrel

We did a test burn last night in it using pine and noticed that we just were not getting that many coals falling down. We began to shake and stir the fire which did help the coals to fall and after about an hour we had maybe 3 - 4 shovel loads. To us this did not seem like very much since we loaded the barrel all the way up and were steadily feeding it. We had some serious heat coming off of it but when we looked up from the bottom it seemed to not really be burning that much. Most of the fire from what we could tell was as the top and not at the bottom. It was at this point that we began to stir and shake the fire to get the coals to fall down.


Our question for those that have seen or had experience cooking this way is what does your barrel look like and how are you getting the coals to the bottom? At what rate were you feeding the barrel to continue to have a nice stream of coals to move over to the pit? How much wood did you end up using to complete the cook? We are thinking at the rate we saw coals being made from the pine wood we would need a good face cord. We are hoping that once we burn hardwood that we will get better coal production. Any assistance or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[eap0510]

Here are some pics of the pit.

 

[Inthewoods]

Woods like pine and white fir don't create very many coals. A change of wood is in order.

-D

 

[eap0510]

Woods like pine and white fir don't create very many coals. A change of wood is in order.

-D

That is what we were thinking as well but did not want to waste good hardwood on a burn in test. Do you know how much more we can expect once we use hardwood? We must have used about 100 splits of pine and by the end we might have gotten 6 or 7 good shovel fulls of coal. To us we were thinking that we should have gotten more and were thinking that we might have been feeding the fire to fast. We are thinking that we should have let more the fire taken place a the bottom rather than the top by not filling the barrel so full.

 

[Cook]

Other than changing over to hardwood...be sure to start the fire from the bottom & allow it to burn up. That's really all it takes...no tricks or secrets.

Do understand though...it will take a while to start getting a supply of coals...and yes, you do have to beat them out at times.

 

[Cook]

Pit looks good by the way. A little scary with those cap blocks up on edge...but if it feels sturdy to you, then go with it.

 

[eap0510]

Pit looks good by the way. A little scary with those cap blocks up on edge, but if it feels sturdy to you then go with it.

They will be put in with high temp mortar so being up on end will not be an issue. This will be a permanent structure once complete.

 

[cowgirl]

What Inthewoods said.
Also, I wouldn't build the pit on cement. Friends copied my block pit but built it on a slab. First cook, the cement exploded, sending chunks 15' into the air.
Mine sits on dirt.

 

[eap0510]

What Inthewoods said.
Also, I wouldn't build the pit on cement. Friends copied my block pit but built it on a slab. First cook, the cement exploded, sending chunks 15' into the air.
Mine sits on dirt.

Thanks for the input. We are planning on putting the pit on dirt and pouring the slab up to the pit walls. Where it is sitting on the picture is just where we mocked it up. If you look at the barrel pictures in the background you will see the posts to the structure that is being built to cover the pit.


It appears once we switch over to hardwood that it will take care of the coal production issue. Does anyone know how about how fast we should feed the fire? Should be just keep the barrel full or can we feed it a few logs ever so often?

 

[cowgirl]

I add hot coals every 30 to 45 minutes beneath the hams and shoulders. The rib section cooks by indirect heat. Ribs can be covered in foil to keep from overcooking. There are other methods to keep the rib section moist too.. bacon, injecting, etc..
I like to keep the heat low and steady.

 

[smoke ninja]

No need to use cap blocks or cement

As for the burn barrel try using your cooking wood and that's a lot o reber. Focus on a smaller hot fire instead of packing the barrel

 

[Cook]

How often you add coals depends on several factors...how fast are your coals burning up, the weather, etc. You shouldn't need to foil any parts of the hog to keep it from burning...your pit shouldn't be hot enough to burn anything. If you need foil, you need to stop cooking so hot. You also don't need any magic tricks to keep the loin area moist. Just cook the hog & the loin will come out pull apart & moist.

Here is the best video I've ever seen that plainly explains the process of firing a pit cooked hog.

https://youtu.be/KPphDl9CieI

I'm not sure why that link it starting mid-video...just rewind it to the beginning. It explains it all.

 

[Inthewoods]

If it's in the ground or on the ground...I'll follow Miss Lady's input.
That woman puts shame on the chest thumpers...be humble, lol

-D

 

[Swine Spectator]

for reference. Here is how we do it... temporarily. No mortar.

 

[Titch]

for reference. Here is how we do it... temporarily. No mortar.

I gotta do that to a sheep soon
We use to, your way looks easy

 

[eap0510]

for reference. Here is how we do it... temporarily. No mortar.

That pig has some seriously nice color to it.



We are making it permanent for when it is not in use we are going to convert it over to an outdoor pool table. It will be enclosed so we figured might as well make a pool table top for it so that when we are not cooking we can still get some use out of it. Figuring out how to do outdoor felt will be interesting once we get to that stage.