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Looking for a ceramic or clay grill. I have a gas grill, I want one I can use as firepit.


elevator

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Yes, the clay is not high temperature kilned. I still use my Thai Bucket stove. It costs about $95, then shipping to Laredo about $13. It has high temperature cement (fondue) and a metal case (the bucket) and uses just a little charcoal or wood chunks to get to a very hot grilling temperature. It is also built to hold a 13 inch wok, which gets searing hot. You would have a lot of fun entertaining with this - stir fry and grill sticks party.

https://importfood.com/products/thai-cookware/item/tao-charcoal-burner-made-in-thailand

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What do you call high temperature kilned? What temperature do you have in mind?Hogh fired clay is not good for kiln or ovens as it cracks with the  change of temperature... like the flames hittongit.. We build wood kilns that reach 1200 degrees with bricks and clay.. The bricks we get in Chiapa  can take temperature of 1200 degrees  without much distortion , not all brick are made alike but the Japanese ingeneer that build these kilns specifcally tells the women not to fire the chimneys or cookware at high temperature so that they do not crack .. 

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These Thai ones are fired at 1,200, according to their video. Someone down South has to make a reproduction. Minor defects would be tolerated if marketed as supporting indigenous communities. Maya Bucket Stoves? I could get huge orders from government owned campgrounds in Canada and the U.S.A. This is the exact product they are looking for to replace their firepits. They would be chained up to prevent theft, just like the existing ones. We have gone over this before, but that was a few years ago. Make another model that could easily fit in a typical house fireplace.

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If what you want is just a firepit and not really a grill, we have been using, for the last eight years, a simple large, shallow clay planter.  We build really hot fires and so we have it sitting in a low, three legged iron stand.  We actually call it our firepot.  If you think about it, it is made of the same material as the chimineas and is much easier to sit around since it is open.  Sits outside all year and has never cracked.  Seems like the repeated fires have hardened it over the years.  Cheap too!  Alan

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barrbower, you are right a big pot will do. The Tonala clay i fired at arounf 750 degrees celcius or less especially for chimneys.. the higher you fire the clay the harder it get and the less resistant to heat it becomes..  So the fact that your pit is getting harder is not necesaraly good but since you have had it for several years,  I am sure you will have ut for more years..

In Chiapas we have pure clay that has to be mixed with sand and t can be fired at high temperature (more than 1000 degree celcius) but this is to make dishes  and not traditonal Mexican cookware which is fired around 750 degrees and is fine for cooking or making chimney and firepits. As you say it is cheap so even it breaks once in a while , it is cheap enough to buy another pot.

 

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Harder or not harder...It doesn't matter to us.  It has been moved to two different homes, moved all over the yards and patios, had some big fires in it, had rain water on it as the fire was dying down, been banged into by gardeners with brooms, and it is still working fine.  I think we paid something like two hundred pesos for it at the vivero.  Best ten bucks I ever spent!  Alan

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25 minutes ago, elevator said:

Thanks Barrbower that is exactly what I'm looking for. That is what I had with my grill. It was low and open. I took it off the stand it came on and used a lower one. I thought about a big planter, but never looked for one since my grill worked fine. I like nice size fires. Which vivero?

There is a place just east of Zona gym in Riberas that's not a vivero but lots of pot choices of every size. Some with stands some without and reasonably priced .

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