Fire brick question


 
Rick Body

Rick Body

TVWBB Pro
In another post about my new-to-me OT silver, someone suggested using fire brick instead of the weber charcoal holders.

I was at Lowes today and they didnt carry "fire brick" but they had some good looking "pavers" about the right size. Can I use these instead or are they made of the wrong material

I think home depot carries them, its just further to go to get them

Thanks
 
I have heard that other products e.g. pavers may not stand up to the heat as they are not really designed like firebricks. I think some people have even reported regular bricks/pavers breaking apart/exploding somewhat, but I'm not speaking from personal experience.

Having said that I found firebricks a little challenging to find but after the 3rd or 4th store found them for about $6.00 each and they work GREAT for longer low and slow cooks when you need to pile up a good size bank of coals.

1542AF78-EC21-4FA3-A8F1-4B8BA1CC4041-4360-000002F33C278867.jpg


Good luck - I'd keep looking for the firebricks just MHO :).
 
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I found some at Home Depot up here. Larger hardware stores carry them too. I would think any building supply location should have them as well. They work great as seen above. There are other links on this site where members have shaped them to fit better on the edges and cut the other edges on 45 degrees to join them together. I have also used them on their flat on the charcoal grate to gain some height for a broiler pan and then placed coles on either side. Lots of options.
 
I think you could get away with regular pavers to get you thru til you find some firebrick....they may crack after a while , but what the heck? They're cheap. I don't think they'd hurt anything.
 
Frank H said:
I think you could get away with regular pavers to get you thru til you find some firebrick....they may crack after a while , but what the heck? They're cheap. I don't think they'd hurt anything.
Click to expand...

Theoretically, pavers could explode. Best to find fire bricks.

Bill
 
you will find them at most outdoor/patio supply stores. i payed less than $2 for mine. also i would use the thicker full brick ones.
 
Pavers are made out of concrete, and since they are not kiln-dried like face-brick they still contain moisture.
We know not to light a chimney on our concrete driveway. The concentration of heat causes the moisture to expand, and can cause a blow-out. Same can happen with pavers.
Fire-bricks are ceramic, almost the same as a pizza stone. You can find them at ACE or any local brickyard.

Tim
 
Thanks everyone, I have the weber charcoal baskets so far now I think I will wait until I can get some fire brick.

I just have to run to home depot (not that far, just farther than lowes) since they show them on their website

Rick
 
I've never used fire bricks before. What's the theory for using them?

I would think that you want to have the heat get under the meat without the actual fire being under it. Isn't that the whole premise of indirect grilling? The bricks would tend to block the heat, I would think. Maybe I'm missing something.

I like the KISS principle.

Russ
 
I've used 2-97 cent pavers from Lowe's for years - no problems at all. I also have a box of Rutland firebricks that I use periodically, but their height and top-heaviness makes them more cumbersome than the flatter pavers.

I usually do a minion or low n slow when using this method, and the pavers work great for that. 10 hrs + on a 22 inch kettle, no problem! ;) :)
 
So far from what I am gathering from this and a few other threads is that the fire bricks are mostly used when doing a slow cook, which I would probably be doing on the WSM, so I guess for grilling I just need to pile the coals on one side and do an indirect without the bricks blocking the heat.

I think I got it now, THANKS everyone
 
Russ Sylvester said:
I've never used fire bricks before. What's the theory for using them?
Click to expand...

There's a variety of uses. They can corral coals. I often use something similar to the picture in post #2 although I don't know why he has any coals on the other side. Sear on the side with the coals, then move to indirect on the other. Similar to using the charcoal bin but depending on how many coals you want and the size of the grill sometimes it's just easier to use the bricks.

People also use them for things like raising up a pizza stone so it's closer to the lid (so the top will get done at the same time as the crust).

They're handy to have around.
 
Take your time and find the right ones. The local Tractor Supply had a big stack of them marked down for less than a dollar so I picked up a bunch of them. These were the plain jane fire bricks which are exactly what you need. I have also seen them with finished ceramic glaze for over $6 each - definitely not worth it to me. In addition to using them in your kettle to partition the charcoal, you can also use them on top of your cooking grate for baking. In my case, I use it under my pizza stone for more offset. Not sure about you, but I don't want to use the same ones for both.
 
I found them in the fireplace/woodburning stove section of my local Menards after hunting all over the brick/patio section.

Mike
 
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