I have lots of 3/8" mild plate steel and a lot of scrap. I'm thinking about building one with a "s"-curved exhaust from the firebox to the stack that can be bipassed. I'm thinking that curving the smoke would cool the exhaust to smoke rather than cook and use the bipass for direct heat.

Or I could learn how to lay bricks.

Out here we'd call that a smoker, not a BBQ. Our big grill is brick, with a grill made of crusher screen from a nearby mine. It's about 30 years old now. Too big to use unless you're cooking for a wedding .Old and lazy now I bought a pellet smoker for everyday use.
Welding up your rig would no doubt be faster, but bricks don't rust. Source for fire-bricks? They can be hard to come by in small quantities.

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You're a daisy if you do.
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84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

Never built one but studied and used many. I have been using a propane grill for an oven lately. Would you believe biscuits and pizza on a propane grill? Don't understand grilling without wood. Wood Smoke.

Commercial grill fireboxes don't look durable.

Grill with side fire box is my current favorite. Wood Smoke.

I also have a brick pit and never use it.

I have hickory trees and save fallen wood for cooking. Wood Smoke.

Oxidation while cooking is a health issue. So is breathing exhaust smoke.

Fire bricks are a problem. What do natives in SW use -- adobe? Guess they rebuild every few years. Id' use adobe except we get Noah's Ark flooding and adobe flows down hill.

How far away is the nearest Lowe's or Home Depot? I would check to see if they sell fire brick.

http://www.architecturendesign.net/diy-outdoor-cooker-how-to-build-a-clay-pot-smoker/

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Satan creates nothing: he only ruins everything. He does not invent: he tampers. And his followers are no different ~ Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò

Huh. That's interesting. But no -- electricity is bad juju for me. Fire. Fire I understand.

85 miles. I'm going up there this pm on an unrelated goal. Good suggestion.

Must the bricks be mortared or can they be stacked on a good foundation?

Lowes has them over here on the east coast.


https://m.lowes.com/pl/Fire-brick-Brick-fire-brick-Asphalt-concrete-masonry-Building-supplies/4294515410

__________________
Satan creates nothing: he only ruins everything. He does not invent: he tampers. And his followers are no different ~ Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò

Fire brick needs to be mortared with fire clay but can be free stacked on a hard base. I helped a buddy build an adobe horno oven. He uses it for pizza and bread. We used a 55 gallon fiber (cardboard) drum, the kind bulk spices come in. It had a circular steel top and base reinforcement. Lid off, cut it in half length-wise to make a half-drum. That became the form on a little concrete slab. Laid in dry firebrick on the concrete. A hole in the top with a steel tomato can became a vent. Chicken wire all over the outside of the drum formed lath for the first layer of fire clay and then adobe mud which was applied in ~ 2in. layers. Upon first firing it up, the fiberboard burned completely off leaving the steel reinforcement at the mouth and backside. He made a simple plywood door for when he's baking bread but leaves it open for pizza. 5-6 hours of a good mesquite fire, rake out the coals and the thing will hold 700 degrees for quite a long time. Makes awesome yeast bread. I think he got the idea from an old article in Sunset Magazine.

__________________
You're a daisy if you do.
__________________________________
84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

Sounds like something from "Mother Earth News". I used to love that magazine!

Me too.

__________________
You're a daisy if you do.
__________________________________
84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

You can make one from an old 15kg propane gas bottle .Cut the front for the door weld f legs on polish it and good to go