An old soup kettle, especially one made of cast iron, can be transformed into a barbecue with a few parts from a hardware or grill specialty store. A round charcoal grate as well as a round cooking grate separate the fire from your food. Replacement parts for kettle-style grills are the ideal solution for converting an old soup kettle into an outdoor grill. This makes an interesting conversation piece and perhaps gives you a few more years of service out of a kettle no longer used for cooking soup. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Measure the inner diameter of the kettle opening, for example, 10 inches. This is the diameter of cooking grate and charcoal grate you'll need from the hardware store or grilling specialty shop. The charcoal grate needs short legs no more than 1 inch long to hold the grate off the interior bottom of the soup kettle. The cooking grill must have legs at least 6 inches long to keep the food off the fire. Alternatively, you can use a grill of almost any diameter to place directly on top of the kettle.
2. Place the charcoal grate inside the kettle with the feet facing downward.
3. Lower the cooking grill into the kettle if you plan to use it as a smoker with the kettle lid on top. For regular grilling of foods such as burgers and steaks, a larger diameter grill can be placed directly atop the kettle.
Tags: charcoal grate, soup kettle, cooking grate, cooking grill, from hardware
