I took the day off to babysit a pair of shoulders. This is the first thing I've cooked on Sparky, so I kept it close to the vest; I didn't want to inflict anything inedible on anyone else ( Read more... )

Several have wondered about my classification of Sparky as "she". I refer you to these words of the late, great Ian Fleming, in his classic work of gender studies entitled Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1964):

It's funny but all bits of [functional structure] that people love are made into females. All ships are 'she.' Racing drivers call their cars ' ( Read more... )

Today was the day! I took a break from the office in order to fire up Sparky. I wanted to season Sparky's innards and verify whether adequate heat will flow through the structure for proper barbecue making. I needed a stretch of several hours with no rain and today was the day.
( Read more... )

And, with the advent of sunshine, and the waning of the raining, Phase II has come to its belated end. The steel lids are painted a lovely, gleaming obsidian black -- as black as space, as black as the recesses of my benighted soul. (That's hyperbole: my soul is not all that benighted and I'm working hard on illumination ( Read more... )

With a brief respite from the eternal rain, I managed to get the lids scraped of the recent rust patches, cleansed with mineral spirits, and painted with Rust-Oleum's high temp paint.


( Read more... )

Sparky's steel covers were delivered today, courtesy of my bro-in-law. They look lovely! A coat or two of high-temp Rust-Oleum will have them ready to roll.

If I can get then painted on Friday, I'll be set to launch the initial fire test on Saturday.


( Read more... )

A little work this afternoon and evening has Sparky almost done. I added the pea gravel to the bottom of the smoking chamber, filled in various gaps and crevices with rock wool batting, and adjusted the fit of the chimney, etc. It all looks very good ( Read more... )

And the grate is installed.


( Read more... )

Phase II is piecemealing along. But got the smokestack today.


( Read more... )

A few interlocutors asked for more pics of the innards of Sparky. Herewith, then, they are ( Read more... )