Ceramic cookers > boiler re-builders

[D'Laine]

I just bought a very friggin expensive ceramic cooker after 40 years of gas grilles that I toss out after 6 years or so due to rot.
It's a Green Egg knock off, but looking at the Primo, Kamado and the whole slew of them available in the USA and Canada, they are as different as 6 and half a dozen for what they end up doing.

It's a fact that I'll likely pass this one on to my grand kids. I'm impressed with how temperature and smoke and humidity are controlled by these ceramic crocks. Makes the food that I've always wanted to prepare, and easily.

So I bought one to leave at the cabin in the woods by the lake, and after a ball-busting experience of unloading it, mounting in the cradle-legs using a grassy hill as leverage, and rolling the sucker very slowly to it's resting place, I'm not inclined to ever move it again.
Now I'd like one for the city home but not at the rip-off prices they sell at in Toronto Canada.
Having rebuilt boilers and fire-boxes as an apprentice, I know that castable refractory and fire brick are pretty cheap and easy to work with.

Question: Who's built the successful slow cooker from scratch? 80% of old-time boiler rebuilders do it every day. Only a few will respond to this message.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

D.

[D'Laine]

So 77 of you good folks looked at this message and thought
...
Fill in the bank...

I'm thinking fire brick comes in rectangles. so that dictates the shape of the grill some what. My commercial high-priced cooker is round and from what I can tell so far, the temp. at the grill is pretty even, at the edges too. So with a 4 cornered grill , I suspect there will be cool spots.

Cut the bricks to make it round? Cast a ferro cement lid. I dont care what it looks like, the fellas at the tin shop can skin it any way I want.
Still pondering this for those long dreary winter nights.

D.

[Some Dude]

Ive got some fire brick im going to use.

Flat breads in los alamos ca. made their own.

They used a dome shape woven out of grape vines , covered in cement
Underneath that the center part was fire brick. The left and right side was soap stone.
Heat it up really good the first time, burn off all the vine and cover it later with tile etc.
Cooks from both sides

[Green Mountain]

I've rebuilt a refactory or two in my time. Also I'm old. But I don't understand the question.

I did try to make a BBQ out of fire brick years ago. It didn't turn out very well. I should have had air being fed from the sides or underneath. Too late to change it after it was all mortared in place. :(

I have a Vermont Castings BBQ and a Brinkman propane smoker. These ought to last me until I croak.