what are the metal constituents of the SS you want to use? If it gets red hot and oxidizes, can you tolerate that metal in your food?

SS pots and pans are OK, as they are not in high temp oxidizing environment.

the stainless wire sits under the cooking surface and therefore will not come in contact with the food. The 0.063 wire is akin to the cooking grates your SS pots and pans sit on while over the burners. thanks for the help. Tom

Several summers ago I made a BBQ out of a 275 gal oil tank. I went to our local sand and gravel company to see if I could get some old sand gradeing screen (different size screen for sorting different size rock,what they came up with was for sand, and it was new,just didn't fit their machine.) I don't know the alloy type but it was stainless steel. I made a V shaped fire pit across the front of the tank then used more of the mesh to make the cooking grate behind the fire pit, that way when you needed to add charcoal you could, without disturbing what you were cooking. The Lions club I built it for used it to cook 350 pound pigs,one at a time. 5 to 5.5 hours and 3 bags of charcoal. By haveing the fire pit in the front in a V shape the fire doesn't touch the tank and air would come thru the mesh on both sides and fan the coals. The heated air then went up and over the top,down thru the cooking grate to the bottom then back up thru the fire pit again,createing quite the air flow of convection currents. The other benifit of haveing the fire pit in front of the cooking grate instead of under it was that the grease from whatever you were cooking didn't drop onto the fire, 1 no flareups 2 no putting the fire out. This arangement worked out great. All was mounted on a trailer for portability The wire in the wesh was 1/8 or 3/16 and held up fine,still going strong.

That sounds like a great set up. I use 1/4" and 3/16" round bar for other grill applications and they hold up very well. Unfortunately, the shape of the lump bucket and price prevents me from going that thick of wire. That is why I'm considering 0.063 wire. Thanks Tom

If you are wanting to make charcoal holders a cheaper less expensive way would be to use carbon steel expanded metal. While it will not last as long as stainless it is definitely easier to fab than wire.

Heloow Tom the staninless steel more suitable for high temperature is the 310, and i recommend a biger diameter. But this product to make with stainless steel is very expensive; because of that i think it is not necesary stainless steel x this kind of use, the common steel is enough for charcoal buckets; except that you want for all the life.- Thak a lot Carlos - ccvallino@hotmail.com.

Tom,

The external fire box on my smoker / cooker is 1/4" carbon steel, has been in service for over 11 years and is just now due for replacement.

fire brick in open rows will give expanded lath support as it oxidises. the gaps will allow for air flow and access for ash removal. The lath pictured in rustyh20's post works great especially expanded rolled stainless for a cooking surface.

y

Platinum is ideal in this situation. It will not melt or corrode in this use.

I understand Bill Gates uses platinum barbecue grills. :)

Well if you wanna take that route. Rhodium is tougher and at only $5800.00 per ounce

There must be a tile you can buy with gaps in it that will last

as long

as its not hit

Seriously, you can cast a tile with castable high temperature refractory

I am using it in my grill. It is rated 3000 F

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/tvogds/misc/120_2072.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v233/tvogds/misc/120_2073.jpg

Here are couple pics of a rolled bucket I am currently using. Welded wire or expanded metal will hold the charcoal better. This rolled buckets works but drops pieces between the bars, messy to dump. I can roll more rings and place them closer, but that is really time consuming and still leaves gaps. So, the question is, if I use 0.063 welded wire mesh (#2) or expanded metal (1/2) to replace the rolled rings, how will the 0.063 gauge hold up given temps reaching 1200F. Am I better off with 316 or 321 stainless.

thanks for the help. tom

On this grill we built we used 316 ss wire mesh, still going strong after two years of use.

Mark

Nice rig Branson. I think we as a group have hit on something here. I'm certain that in this group are a lot of well engineered cooking devices. Might be an interesting side topic.

What size and shape bucket you need? Go to Wally World look at Stainless steel cookware section. You can get SS Colander for $6-10 bucks, also lots of preformed SS baskets available round ans square. You can not make it as cheap as Wally World sells it.

For food safe stainless, use 316SS. This is approved for use in grilling surfaces. When at cooking temperature it will not slough off harmful oxides that can contaminate the cooking food. Most commercial grilling surfaces are made of this material. However it is expensive though not as much as Rhodium or Platinum. Rhodium and platinum are used for thermocouple and RTD wire in industry. I'm sure they would stand up to the heat of BBQ but at what cost? 316SS is available in expanded metal sheets of both raised and flat configuration in many different mesh sizes and gages. Hope this is of some help.

Good luck.

Actually Stainless Steel cookware is made from 18-8 that is 18 Cr-8Ni or T304.

Thanks for all the help, but I still don't know how 0.063 gauge welded wire material will hold up at intermitent temps around 1200 degrees. I guess I need to buy it and do a live test. thanks Tom