I definitely have the pyro gene, and I love (am obsessed) with cooking with fire. I also love food and the community and connection built over a long dinner. Ever since I heard a story on NPR about a hispanic woman in LA who cooked meat in a pot in a fire pit while at the same time creating an amazing consommé, I’ve been wanting to both taste it and make it.

I’ve been researching different fire pits, and I settled on a barbacoa style fire pit because it seems more versatile and safer. Here’s the video that made me want a barbacoa pit. (It’s by a couple who call themselves Ketolicious Kitchens.)

You should also know, going into this, that I am a repurposer. (Code for scavenger, collector of potentiality, upcyler, etc) Most projects start with a shopping trip to the barn. The thing that clinched the deal of the barbacoa pit for me were the piles of curved bricks that my neighbor had; the piles that I have been walking past for years. Suddenly, their potential was revealed to me. I also had: a round cooking grate given to me from a friend, a larger circular cooking grate, and a fire pit lid.

Now I just needed to dig a hole! Here in Virginia we have lots of red clay. Fortunately we had some nice rain in September, so the clay was surprisingly soft. I was able to dig a 2 foot deep hole in a couple of hours. I had two friends over two days come help me dig, ultimately ending up with a hole that was about 4 feet deep. (basically the hole was the size of a 50 gallon metal drum) We were able to do this all with a shovel, a PHD (post hole digger), some trowels, and a small bucket.

A big part of the stabilization of the pit is backfilling and tamping with the clay that we had dug up. Tamped clay is very solid, and I also like to think that when I fire the pit, I am curing the clay as well, similar to firing a kiln.

Stay tuned for more details of the first firing…