How to Build a Churrasco Grill

Before you begin constructing an outdoor barbecue or fireplace, it’s crucial to understand the process of making a churrasco grill. Typically, a churrascaria refers to a Brazilian eatery known for offering churrasco, which is meat prepared over direct flame or heat.

Although the churrasco grill is similar to a traditional grill, the fireplaces of this grill must have thick walls on the three sides of the cooking region. These thickened walls are to radiate the heat back to your meat.

If you are going to build your fireplace for cooking churrasco, it is better to go for stacking churrasco kits from home design stores that are specialized in outdoor living. These kits may also be known as outdoor fireplace kits. Because it includes all of the equipment you may need to build a sturdy and long-lasting churrasco fireplace in your home. You have to assemble the parts and seal them with a covering of stucco over the complete fireplace.

In this blog, we will discuss how you can build a churrasco grill. Here is a basic guide for you.

How to Build a Churrasco Grill 

Here are the steps on how you can build a churrasco grill.

1. First of all, locate a concrete slab on which you have to install the fireplace before starting construction. It must be capable of supporting at least 1 ton as it is recommended by experts.
2. Layout a 1-inch deep layer of your prepared mortar on this slab. You can put the mortar with the help of a trowel at the feet of fireplace stand.
3. And then put the stand for the churrasco barbecue fireplace on top of the mortar.
4. Bolt one L-bracket into every foot of the fireplace stand as well as into the concrete slab for safe and secure the base of the fireplace.
5. Now spread a layer of mortar mix over the top edge of the stand and then lower the firebox base on the top of it.
6. After that, put a level of carpenter on the top of the firebox base to check out whether it is level across the length and width or not.
7. To level the higher edges of your firebox tap down then with the help of a rubber mallet.
8. Pile up the base of your cooking area along with the top of it and the chimney on the top of the outer firebox. You can do this by applying a layer of mortar between each level and checking that the parts are equally level after every addition. Because the top of the firebox is the floor of the cooking area.
9. Drag off excess mortar from the outside of your assembled churrasco fireplace.
10. Now you have to cover the edges that are around the floor of the firebox. You may cover them with a one-inch deep layer of prepared mortar. While doing this, you have to press each of the four pieces of the inside walls of the cooking chamber into a mortar.
11. The cooking chamber might be open at the bottom, therefore the firebox base sitting on top of that fireplace stand can be the floor of them. While the inner walls of this cooking chamber come in 4 pieces, one for each side.
12. It will create a double wall around the bottom part of the cooking chamber, where the fire is lightened up. As it is installed, this double-wall will provide you with additional heat resistance.
13. Fill up any gaps in the cooking area with the mortar and drag off the excess.
14. Cut metal lath with the help of tin snips or metal-cutting scissors. It is because you have a piece to cover each side of your fireplace and the side of the chimney.
15. Bolt the metal lath to the sides and chimney of the fireplace. You can also use washers between the lath and fireplace to hold the lath 3/ 8 inches away from the sides of the chimney.
16. Layout a stucco base coat 3/ 8 inch thick on the metal lath to cover up the side and chimney of the fireplace. After that, you have to wait for 24 hours to cure it.
17. Then cover the base stucco layer with another final stucco layer that is also 3/ 8 inch thick and let it cure too for 24 hours.

Tips to Cooking Perfect Brazilian Churrasco

The basics of cooking Brazilian churrasco are very simple. Here we will give you some of the tips to cook a perfect one.

• You have to choose a Churrasco beef with lots of marbling.
• You can use traditional cuts such as Picanha whenever it is possible.
• It is recommended to use a good quality of charcoal as it will greatly affect your grilling and cooking.
• You may know that you can offer a wide variety of meats at your churrasco.
• Remember that salt might seem traditional but it can’t be your only option. You may also use other spices for seasoning your meat.
• Do not let the flames touch your churrasco meat as the meat may get a bitter flavor from it.
• Thoroughly identify the different heating zones of your grill.
• It is better to serve churrasco beef in several layers.
• Keep the churrasco meat rotating while grilling it. By rotating it, the fat will get tender and start liquefying the salt.
• Once the large cuts of meat are cooked let them rest at the coolest part of the grill.

Final thoughts

We hope that you how to build a churrasco grill so that now you can have a great time cooking Brazilian churrasco. If you have any questions from our side, please leave them below. We will get back to you as soon as possible.