That chainsaw is gorgeous.

 

That is a sweet F'ing chainsaw

 

Haven't had time to run the saw anymore yet with the crazy rainy weather we have had lately and my busy schedule as of late.

I have taken on considering another project for the house though. I want to smoke some meat. I want good food but I don't honestly want to have to tend to it super often while making it. So I am looking at a Big Green Egg due to a sale they are having locally and a coupon I have.

I originally was going to buy the Egg and make my own table for it for my deck. However, my deck is not very large and I am not sure I want to give up all of its space for an outdoor kitchen really. I am the only one that really uses it though so it wouldn't be that big of a loss. So I have come up with three options of what I might do for it.

Option 1 & 2. Basically the same L shape option just switching the two pieces of equipment to different spots. My deck isn't big though at only 15ft x 7.8ft. For both of these options I would build my own wooden table for the Egg. The table would be slighly different with the Egg on the short wall and the


Putting the grill on the short deck edge and the smoker on the long deck edge makes up the least space from each edge. However, the Egg table will need to be 32in deep and thus taking out almost 3ft of the 7ft 8in dept of my deck. That would make things pretty tight. It does however block less of the view out to the yard than the grill would. If I go with this option the plans below are what I would build but I would make it 54in long instead of 60in.




Putting the grill on the long side and the Egg on the short side gets both cookers further from the house. It also doesn't take up as much depth of my deck as the grill is only 27in deep at the deepest spot and only 22in seep at the side tables. That makes it seem like it takes up less space. The egg table would be a bit more complicated to build in this design but nothing I could not handle.


Option 3 is my least favorite. It was actually suggested by my mother. It involves buying the basic metal stand alone metal stand for the green egg and putting it next to my grill. Doesn't give me any counter space of anything. My egg would be on the left using the stand below and my grill would be to the right of it. They would take up the entire short railing of my deck. The second half of the suggestion is to do this for a year or two and then expand my deck and build a full kitchen along with the expanded deck.
[img]https://fthmb.tqn.com/TCuY4aH0nEM9loN1hAzVKof3OaE=/960x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/big_green_egg_XL-589ddb2d3df78c47588abb1b.jpg

I have also thought of a sligh difference to option 3 would be to go with a square table build. I wouldn't give me counter space but it would look nicer than that black metal stand. Basically build something like this just 32inx32in square.

 

That table looks awesome! And I need that chainsaw

 

Apparently the first link didn't work. Can a mod replace the broken image link with this at some point. Thanks

 

Thanks. I think it would look best in a wooden table. But some of the photos in this link scare me. Naked Whiz Table Using 2X4's? ? Big Green Egg - EGGhead Forum - The Ultimate Cooking Experience...

Chainsaws are very enjoable if you give them the proper respect and care while using them. I love spending an hour or two out in the yard using the saw.

 

I have looked into putting my grille into an outdoor kitchen sorta deal. I have a weber grill. Maybe you want to see about integrating both the grill and the smoker into one counter/table sorta deal. My grille looked like I could separate the grill and the controls from the cabinet base pretty easily and put it into something. Just an idea.

 

I have since decided not to. I do a lot of grilling and like to wheel the grill right over to the patio slider when it's raining.

 

That is the eventual plan I think. I don't really have any way of rolling mine under a roof at all so not a big deal to me. Don't really want a roof over the porch section that has my three large windows to my living room. If I would do that then I would have to have skylights cut and installed in the living room cause I really like the natural light I get right now. A pergola would be the only type of cover I would probably think of putting over my deck. With some retracable cloth covers for shade if desired. The deck bump out would be somewhere between 3 and 6ft at most. Not sure it if would be just straight out or to the side of the house.

 

I only have a little soffit... the meat gets way, but I don't.

 

I'd do option 2 with a custom built table to house everything. You can customize extra stuff in there for more storage and stuff for charcoal, extra propane tanks, etc so that you can get at least some space back. I'm sure there are lots of good ideas on the interwebs for doing something like this.

 

So you would do option 2 now instead of wait and build an even bigger full kitchen down the road when increasing the deck size?

 

Build a tree house. Now.

 

 

Look into my avi....build a tree house...you will build a tree house...

 

Yes. Wood is cheap and easy to add on to existing designs fairly easily. You're basically just making a countertop with a shelf under it, that's very easy to scale up and down in the future if/when you re-do the deck. This way you can enjoy now and see the little things you may want to change in the future with a new deck to accommodate the weird quirks that inevitably come up.

 

So did some physical testing of the two layouts last night as I am a very visual person with things. I have kept the two layouts ordered the same as above so as not to be confusing. The potting table I used to simulate the Egg table is obviously smaller than the table will be so I pulled it out to represent the further point would be. It also will be much taller. Will be taller by 10-12inches too.

Layout 1






Layout 2








After having 2 beers and messing around looking at these configurations for close to two hours I think I am leaning towards layout 1 more. I think even though the Egg is almost the size of the top of the grill and will be about the same height it should block less of the backyard with not being square at all. I know this design will make it have less usable space for easy access storage but if I don't build the grill in at all and just let the two items be seperate but butt up to each other I should still be able to access it when needed. Also if I build this layout and don't like it I can always expand the table to try out layout 2 but it would be hard to cut down the table to try layout 1.

Opinions wanted.

I am being crazy and trying to finalize my plans tonight as I want to completely build this Thursday night and Friday. I am having company Saturday through Tuesday and want to use them as guinea pigs for my first smoke. It might be a crazy time table but going to give it a shot.

 

:gheylaugh:

 

I think layout 1 gives you the best use of space and you can rotate between the grill and egg easily

 

My opinion is still layout 2. IMO layout 1 makes the deck look tiny.

 

So your saying you think because the green egg table takes up so much of the depth of the deck it makes the deck seem tiny as compared to the grill grill sticking out further from the side railing but is not as deep?

 

Agreed...
plus, with all the overthinking you're doing, you'll probably generate enough heat to not even need the grills!

 

 

That looks great but not in the market for a new grill too.

 

that's what I was trying to explain to you in my earlier post. I have a Weber grill. I can take mine out of it's cabinet base and put it into something else like pictured above. You seem like a pretty handy guy, so I thought it was right up your alley.

 

My vote is for a bigger deck.

 

Ahhh I see what you are saying now. Didn't know you can do that with them. I will have to take a look at mine and see if that is possible.

 

That would be nice but not in the budget right now.

 

So true. So true. I want it to be so perfect the first time around cause I don't like redoing things. So instead I go way overboard overthinking them. I mean we haven't even gotten to the design aspect of it yet.

Another though to save space is to remove the one side table on the left side of the grill if I put the grill on the long railing.

 

is the glass table staying?
i think it looks out of place...
you need to build your dining furniture too to fit your style and the shape of your deick.

 

Yup, exactly. The table would take up less percentage of the dimension if you go option 2 vs a higher percentage in option 1.

You definitely can. Just unbolt the firebox and lid from the frame and you're good to go. Also make sure that you mount it properly in the wood frame so as to not burn down your house.

 

+1

I'd love to make one for him but shipping it from MN to NC seems like a bit of a waste lol.

 

With either design though isn't the net sqft the same?

 

Yeah it was free. It isn't ideal but it is functional. Right now with no counter space besides the grill table I use it for the food and most things I need while cooking.

Appreciate the offer. Might take me 8 years to figure out my design but building it is the almost more fun than the final result is but I am sure you know that.

 

Took another picture over lunch and noticed something I had not picked up on before. I was putting the grill in too close to what would be the front of the Egg table. I would barely be able to open the right door under the grill which is where the propane tank is stored. That would not be good. That door needs to be able almost the whole way for easy access.




Starting to just think it would be easier to build a square table or buy the metal stand right now and just put it in the corner next to the grill when the grill is in this location.

 

He hears that a lot

 

Yeah Megan has been asking for a actual bigger deck for the house for a while now. She said that is the only thing she really misses about our last house.

 

So I need to pick a design. At this point I think I am going to build a 60x32 table and be done with it. It won't look as full custom build it but It will allow me to play around and figure out which position I like the grill and the smoker in the most. Also with a 60x32in design it is the same size tables that Green Egg sells so there will be a premade cover I can buy for it instead of having to have a custom cover made. This won't be under a roof so I would like to have the wood table covered when not in use to try and increase the life of it. Also I should be able to eventually sell this table when I look to build something else. Still not ruling out a bigger table completely. Here are a few of my favorite designs. Anything I do right now will have a wooden top. I am not trying to learn how to do poured concrete right now.














This is probably the design I am most leaning towards.
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I like that it is inclosed all the way around. Not sure if that is great for the keeping the wood cool and from catching fire. I could try and add doors to the left side but they might be blocked by the grill depending on where it sits. I have never built a drawer before but it would be nice to have one under where the egg sits for storing the eventual pizza trays and cast iron cooking grates. I can't find pictures of it but I have seen a hybrid of this design and the one just above it where there is a drawer below the egg shelf and the compartment to the left is enclosed but three sides around the egg base are left open for air flow. I want to take as many fire precautions with this as possible since I could be cooking things overnight.

Would like to keep the cost of building the cart to $200 or less. So currently leaning to doing it in cedar or pressure treated lumber. I actually like the rustic look of cedar when it turns grey so I really wouldn't even have to stain it.

 

That looks so good!...
okay fine...take the glass out of the table you got for free...cut a piece of wood with a circle cut out of it for your egg...then make legs from your felled trees in the yard...
bammmmm