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Deep pit BBQ

16K views 9 replies 9 participants last post by  bbrasuell71 
#1 ·
Growing up in Bakersfield,CA,the locals would often cook meet in a "deep pit" buried in the ground. Pig, beef, turkey, no matter what you put in there, it came out (after 18 hours of cooking) so tender you could use nothing but a plastic fork.

My grandfather taught me how to do it. Now we're going to put one in at the new house. I have an excavator to dig the hole. The options are to use a 55 gallon drum, or a large concrete pipe buried in the ground, then make a lid for it. The lid them gets covered with dirt for cooking so the heat doesn't escape.

Here's sample pics of what it will look like:





Meat wrapped in burlap sacks:



Cooking:



Finished product:




Anyone ever tried this? Have any suggestions for building the pit? I'm inclined to use a clean drum, rather than the concrete, because it is cheap.
 
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#2 ·
My grandfather did one, and we grew up on it.

I'd go concrete pipe, or brick. It will retain heat better / longer and is just all around nicer. You never have to worry about rust or any other crap.

The other option is, if you have dude across the street from you who had the backhoe or excavator would be to have him dig you a big ass hole, then go buy those interlocking blocks / brick from Lowe'sDepot and build the hole yourself, and if you needed, slop some concrete mortar in there as you're putting it together. Once done, backfull the hole around the cooking chamber.
EZPZ. (as in, yes, even you can do it)

For the lid, I'd use steel or something, obviously with burlap around it to give it a good seal. You can also cut a hole in the top to vent if you need to / choke it down.

I like where you're going with your backyard. Visits from Uncle Q and Aunt Weswie are going to be nuuuuuuts!
 
#10 ·
My grandfather did one, and we grew up on it.

I'd go concrete pipe, or brick. It will retain heat better / longer and is just all around nicer. You never have to worry about rust or any other crap.

The other option is, if you have dude across the street from you who had the backhoe or excavator would be to have him dig you a big ass hole, then go buy those interlocking blocks / brick from Lowe'sDepot and build the hole yourself, and if you needed, slop some concrete mortar in there as you're putting it together. Once done, backfull the hole around the cooking chamber.
EZPZ. (as in, yes, even you can do it)

For the lid, I'd use steel or something, obviously with burlap around it to give it a good seal. You can also cut a hole in the top to vent if you need to / choke it down.

I like where you're going with your backyard. Visits from Uncle Q and Aunt Weswie are going to be nuuuuuuts!
If it gets air it will burn the meat up no vents and wrap the meat a couple times in heavy duty foil and wet the burlap
 
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