Fitebrick size


 
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Billy W

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I am going to pick up some fire bricks.this afternoon and wad curious if I need to get the 1 1/4 or 2 1/2 inch. I was leaning more towards the 1 1/4 in. Is there a difference in performance or durability between the 2 different sizes?

Thanks
 
i think mine are shy of 2", the skinnier bricks are harder to keep standing up.

i'd go for the wide ones.
i usually double up just to make sure they don't fall over
 
I use the 1 1/4. The shop called them split bricks. I don't have any problem with them standing up. They may fall if you wheel the kettle around, but I don't do that. Just turn your coal grate so it runs perpendicular to your bricks.

I like the split ones because I have more room for a drip pan.
 
I was wrestling with the same question a month ago and went with the full size firebricks which were the same price at my stone-monger. Looking at pictures posted of a number of grill setups on this forum I have seen probably a 50/50 split between full and split firebricks and either seem to work fine with the advantage of the full being double the thermal mass per brick and more of a stable brick wall and the splits are more maneuverable, more adjustable if used as a riser laid flat, etc. Since I have an additional charcoal grate laid at 90 degrees to the other I did notice on my last rib cook using the bricks that the additional charcoal grate height did move the cooking grate a bit off the tabs so it actually laid more on a slight downward angle. So if you add an extra charcoal grate in your OTS the full size bricks may be more stable.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Wolgast:
Get the thin ones! And you will have a great pizza stone in the setup! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I was wondering how well that would work. Makes me want to get some small bricks now...
 
What so you mean you have another charcoal grate at a 90 angle to the other one? I have never heard that or maybe just not understanding. What is its purpose?
I may go with the thin and I don't like I can always get the thicker ones. They are cheap enough. Under 2 bucks for the thin and little over 2 for the large .


<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Daniel S:
I was wrestling with the same question a month ago and went with the full size firebricks which were the same price at my stone-monger. Looking at pictures posted of a number of grill setups on this forum I have seen probably a 50/50 split between full and split firebricks and either seem to work fine with the advantage of the full being double the thermal mass per brick and more of a stable brick wall and the splits are more maneuverable, more adjustable if used as a riser laid flat, etc. Since I have an additional charcoal grate laid at 90 degrees to the other I did notice on my last rib cook using the bricks that the additional charcoal grate height did move the cooking grate a bit off the tabs so it actually laid more on a slight downward angle. So if you add an extra charcoal grate in your OTS the full size bricks may be more stable. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Billy W:
What so you mean you have another charcoal grate at a 90 angle to the other one? I have never heard that or maybe just not understanding. What is its purpose?
I may go with the thin and I don't like I can always get the thicker ones. They are cheap enough. Under 2 bucks for the thin and little over 2 for the large .
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sorry I didn't explain. Lump charcoal, since it is variable sized, can have smaller pieces which tend to fall through the cracks more so one quick mod is to take two grates and set them at 90-degree angle to each other. This is also described on the WSM charcoal grate modifications page on this site: http://www.virtualweberbullet....rcoalgrate.html#more. (I don't have a WSM, just a 22.5 kettle, but the concept is the same, make the opening size smaller)

Of course it would probably be cheaper (but more work) to simply affix somehow some expanded sheet metal to the charcoal grate. One drawback of the setup I mentioned is that since charcoal grates don't lie perfectly flat on both ends (one side has a support rods in the middle), by stacking two on top of each other you either have a top charcoal grate which is flat but rocks a wee bit or lies flat and has less of a flat top surface to place a chimney starter. There probably isn't a perfect system for this - go with whatever works for you.
 
i also have a 2nd charcoal grate running perpendicular to the first.

That's probably why my bricks are less stable.
Also, mine have fallen from messing with the coal, not from moving the grill.

If i could find them cheaper, i'd definitely get both.
 
Thank you for the explanation Daniel! I know exactly what you mean now.
I went ahead and picked up 4 1 1/4 in for $8.01 including the tax.
I should have gotten the 2.5 inch but didn't think about it. Good thing is that they are 5 mins from my work so I may be running there on Monday to some up!

Thanks everyone for the advice!
 
I use 2 splits to hold the charcoal and 1 full fire brick as a heat sink. I've wrapped them with heavy foil to keep all the drippy stuff off the bricks. Not sure that's necessary, but it seems like a good idea to me.
 
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