Charcoal Maze Made Out Of Fire Brick or Metal ?

BBQ Freak · Sep 20, 2016

getting ready to buy a new smoke / grill to add to my arsenal and was going to buy T-Maze pieces or make them to get a 12 hour burn time but I read that the fire brick are the way to go ? any pros and cons ? I found a special purpose saw to cut the bricks if needed just wanted your thoughts .

mrboy · Sep 20, 2016

I'm not much of a metal worker, but I tried to build a charcoal maze out of metal and it didn't work very well... fire kept jumping the maze.

Fire bricks on the other hand have a far superior insulating factor, compared to metal, the fastest conductor of heat on the planet.

I use fire bricks in my weber and my UDS... and if I want to up the ante my backwoods chubby, I put fire bricks in the water pan instead of water to get to higher, yet controllable temps.

Kaptain Kadian · Sep 20, 2016

I use firebricks in my lsg vertical cabinet. Work fine and cheap

Ham14 · Sep 20, 2016

Just bought some firebricks today for the kettle.

BBQ Freak · Sep 20, 2016

mrboy said:
I'm not much of a metal worker, but I tried to build a charcoal maze out of metal and it didn't work very well... fire kept jumping the maze.

Fire bricks on the other hand have a far superior insulating factor, compared to metal, the fastest conductor of heat on the planet.

I use fire bricks in my weber and my UDS... and if I want to up the ante my backwoods chubby, I put fire bricks in the water pan instead of water to get to higher, yet controllable temps.

that is what I have been finding out that meal ones jump the maze and spikes the temps .

Kyle Hasty · Sep 20, 2016

Got bricks in the Bandera, both fire box and cook chamber. Has really helped holding heat and reducing fuel consumption (stick burner). I also found them very easy to work with, cutting them with a tile wet saw.

pjtexas1 · Sep 20, 2016

I use firebricks because they are cheap and keep the fire in line. Metal ones don't always jump but they have done it to me.

SimcoBBQ · Sep 21, 2016

Sent you a PM.
I overstacked my charcoal on my 1st burn using the metal maze and the maze jumped and temps spiked. ill try again this weekend , but I think what happened to me could've been avoided by using less charcoal

cfrazier77 · Sep 21, 2016

I have metal ones in my Humphrey's but I have not had a problem with jumping. Either work well as long as you do not overfill so the jump goes over the top. This happened to me once.

Ham14 · Sep 21, 2016

I'm going to try it out on the 48 on my next cook. Will use the firebrick I got wrapped in foil.

BBQ Freak · Sep 21, 2016

I am thinking the firebrick is the way to go and they are only $4 a each , now I just need to get to Tractor Supply this weekend and get them cut in half .

WareZdaBeef · Sep 21, 2016

Can someone post a link to this fire brick maze? Atleast the idea behind it. I have never heard of it before. And google results dont seem to have anything to do with grills or smokers. I have only used fire bricks for my pizza oven.

BBQ Freak · Sep 21, 2016

WareZdaBeef said:
Can someone post a link to this fire brick maze? Atleast the idea behind it. I have never heard of it before. And google results dont seem to have anything to do with grills or smokers. I have only used fire bricks for my pizza oven.

here you go

1MoreFord · Sep 21, 2016

If you do metal you have to double wall the maze pieces so you have an air gap between the pieces.

BBQ Freak · Sep 21, 2016

1MoreFord said:
If you do metal you have to double wall the maze pieces so you have an air gap between the pieces.

that was what I was thinking too when I was researching it on the net , I figured the metal got too hot and would ignite the other side in advance ahead of the snake .

WareZdaBeef · Sep 21, 2016

BBQ Freak said:
here you go

Thanks. So basicly this prevents the charcoal from burning up too fast. How does it affect the temp? Use your setup as an example.

BBQ Freak · Sep 21, 2016

WareZdaBeef said:
Thanks. So basicly this prevents the charcoal from burning up too fast. How does it affect the temp? Use your setup as an example.

sorry but I am not one to ask yet because I am ordering a new smoker / grill at the first of next month and have never tried the method yet because I am a stick burner guy that once in awhile once to get some sleep . :biggrin1:

pjtexas1 · Sep 21, 2016

WareZdaBeef said:
Thanks. So basicly this prevents the charcoal from burning up too fast. How does it affect the temp? Use your setup as an example.

It varies by cooker but the thought is you control how much charcoal is burning at a given time. This allows you to use more oxygen and have more consistent temps. On my smaller cabinet towards the end of the maze I only have a single row of charcoal as once it gets hotit doesn't take much to keep it hot. On my bigger one the charcoal is just a little less towards the end of the maze compared to the start of the maze.

Without the maze I end up choking the intakes down way too much to keep temps down.

Edit: this is all without water in the water pan.

BBQ Freak · Sep 21, 2016

pjtexas1 said:
It varies by cooker but the thought is you control how much charcoal is burning at a given time. This allows you to use more oxygen and have more consistent temps. On my smaller cabinet towards the end of the maze I only have a single row of charcoal as once it gets hotit doesn't take much to keep it hot. On my bigger one the charcoal is just a little less towards the end of the maze compared to the start of the maze.

Without the maze I end up choking the intakes down way too much to keep temps down.

this is great information and thank you :rockon:

WareZdaBeef · Sep 21, 2016

pjtexas1 said:
It varies by cooker but the thought is you control how much charcoal is burning at a given time. This allows you to use more oxygen and have more consistent temps. On my smaller cabinet towards the end of the maze I only have a single row of charcoal as once it gets hotit doesn't take much to keep it hot. On my bigger one the charcoal is just a little less towards the end of the maze compared to the start of the maze.

Without the maze I end up choking the intakes down way too much to keep temps down.

Edit: this is all without water in the water pan.

So the basic idea is to insulate your cooker as much as possible to retain heat. Do you adjust the height of the walls of the maze to compensate for larger cookers?

Charcoal Maze Made Out Of Fire Brick or Metal ?

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