> wrote in message
...
> In alt.food.barbecue, Piedmont > wrote:
>
> > Also, once the cooker walls reach temp on a thicker wall, it could help
> > stabilize the temp. fluctuations for a time. But then weight could
> > become an issue if you want to move it often. I'd say I'd do it with
> > say, perhaps, 1/4 inch steel.
>
> The place to use especially thick steel is the firebox. It will help to
> keep the wood burning cleanly.
>

Esk knows his stuff, Klose and Tejas pits are typically 1/4" everywhere, but
offer an upgrade to 1/2" for the firebox for this exact reason.

My "dream pit" would be something along the lines of the Tejas 2042 with the
vertical chamber and horizontal main and I would add an adjustable firegrate
for grilling into the main chamber. I'd copy Klose's firebox ideas including
the "extender" (or buy one from Klose and build the firebox to fit). Main
chamber would be at least 20" (21-22 would be ideal) deep and 5 large
untrimmed pork ribs wide. Too large and it become too much of a fuel hog for
smaller cooks, too small isnt good either. For grilling in the main chamber
you might want to add a smokestack to the main chamber lid.

Here's a collection of links for pit and grill manufacturers for ideas of
what others already do.
http://www.bbqjudge.com/webpages/bbqjc_pitbuilders.htm

Damn, wish I had the skills for this, sounds like fun dont it?