Pete Jones Pit: 8
Close but no cigar just yet.
Since I already had metal roofing, that's what I used for the pit lids. Works like a champ, too. The cedar handles stiffen the lids as well as facilitate lifting them when hot.
Here's a peek inside with one of the lids removed. The bars, 5/8-inch square of solid steel, need the paint removed from them. I've only four of them at the moment but could have gotten hundreds from the scrap yard when I bought these for $0.08 a pound! But, then again, I had no idea of building a whole hog pit at the time. Alas, I'm sure the fab shops have this material in stock.
When slow smoking meats, the inner lids can be left out and the meat hung from the roof.
And, here is the complete Sunset Ridge outdoor cooking center with (from left to right) Weber kettle grill, Oklahoma Joe horizontal cooker, wood-fired brick oven, Sidney R. Pig Lexington-style brick pit and Pete Jones Memorial whole-hog pit (with the hood open). The burn-down hearth in Sid, of course, produces coals for both pits.
Pete's doors and roofing got painted with high-temperature black coating today. Since the maximum lifting load (when the hood is fully closed) is only 35 pounds and goes to zero pounds (when fully opened), I've dispensed with the idea of using a counterweight. I did make a rod to hold it open from a 1984 Ford Bronco jack handle that I think is pretty cool.
The boys -- Large, Fried Rice and Gentle Ben -- are coming up for a golf tournament on Sunday throught Tuesday of next week. So, with the house to finish cleaning, etc., that's probably about it for work on the pit until the CFO and I get back from Tuscany in the middle of September.
Hey, the mortar needs to cure.
Since I already had metal roofing, that's what I used for the pit lids. Works like a champ, too. The cedar handles stiffen the lids as well as facilitate lifting them when hot.
Here's a peek inside with one of the lids removed. The bars, 5/8-inch square of solid steel, need the paint removed from them. I've only four of them at the moment but could have gotten hundreds from the scrap yard when I bought these for $0.08 a pound! But, then again, I had no idea of building a whole hog pit at the time. Alas, I'm sure the fab shops have this material in stock.
When slow smoking meats, the inner lids can be left out and the meat hung from the roof.
And, here is the complete Sunset Ridge outdoor cooking center with (from left to right) Weber kettle grill, Oklahoma Joe horizontal cooker, wood-fired brick oven, Sidney R. Pig Lexington-style brick pit and Pete Jones Memorial whole-hog pit (with the hood open). The burn-down hearth in Sid, of course, produces coals for both pits.
Pete's doors and roofing got painted with high-temperature black coating today. Since the maximum lifting load (when the hood is fully closed) is only 35 pounds and goes to zero pounds (when fully opened), I've dispensed with the idea of using a counterweight. I did make a rod to hold it open from a 1984 Ford Bronco jack handle that I think is pretty cool.
The boys -- Large, Fried Rice and Gentle Ben -- are coming up for a golf tournament on Sunday throught Tuesday of next week. So, with the house to finish cleaning, etc., that's probably about it for work on the pit until the CFO and I get back from Tuscany in the middle of September.
Hey, the mortar needs to cure.
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