Chiminea - Cast iron or clay?

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pammy

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After a couple of years of prevaricating we've almost decided to buy a chiminea. But.... do we go for clay or cast iron? decisions decisions.

Which give out the best heat? Friends have a clay one that cracked almost straightaway, iron ones go rusty - or do they? We want to put it on wooden decking so it'll have to go on a stone slab or something too, and we're gonna have to have a guard arouns it or the dog's will end up being melted :crazy:

And what about a BBQ grille? Seen one where the grille swings out, but others where you have to take the chimney off :rolleyes:. We do have a gas BBQ, but there's sommat nice about sitting round a real fire pulling food off it - yum yumm :cool: :p

So ideas, views, buying tips etc all welcome please chaps :D
 
Not had any experience with clay, but iron ones do indeed rust. I suppose you could attack it with Hammerite every year to get round this problem.

The heat they give out is tremendous. Me and Shude used a leaf-blower to oxygenate the fire, and the resulting heat was amazing :)

Probably not suited for barbeque, but you can toast marshmallows with ease.

A stone slab and some kind of fire guard (as long as its not a chocolate one) is a good idea. The chimnea comes with a grille facia to prevent stray embers flying out of the front.

Another thing to note is that the cast iron chimneas are *heavy*, so take care when lifting one.

Finally, they are as addictive as it gets, so make sure you have a good supply of wood to keep it well-stoked :)

--
Ant
 
bloodmoon said:
. Me and Shude used a leaf-blower to oxygenate the fire, and the resulting heat was amazing :)

Thanks for that Ant. Like the leaf blower idea ;) We have a friend who uses a hot air paint stripper to light his BBQ. It's wickedly effective :devil:

They recommend using a special heat resistant paint - can't remember the name now, but that's supposed to resist the rust as it is crack resistant.

P
 
We bought a clay one from Homebase last June. Did the preparation meticulously; heated up twice and allowed to cool down. Used it once last year. Used it for the first time this year last week and it cracked *everywhere* :rolleyes: .

We went back to Homebase who gave a full refund (practically every one they sold cracked) and have now ordered an iron one (with the grille for BBQ), due for delivery next week - far too heavy to shove in the back of the car ;)

Cheers
Andrew
 
TVR's are always breaking down, stick with the Merc.

















Joke, joke, joke, it was bad but it made me laugh, OK?
 
Graham, you were not the only one to think TVR when I first read the post. Was wondering what a clay TVR would go like. A little fragile and not something you would want to go to Tesco's in :D Although a cast iron one would be fun, if you could get an engine big enough :)
 
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well i hope i'm not the only one........but, what's a chiminea??? :confused:

(i'm guessing it's a fancy bbq)
 
simonl said:
well i hope i'm not the only one........but, what's a chiminea??? :confused:

(i'm guessing it's a fancy bbq)

Not the only one, dunno either, sounds very grand.
 
Simon - I'm with you - have never heard of such a thing !

I now feel educated !

S.
 
GrahamC230K said:
Not the only one, dunno either, sounds very grand.

Think its one of these fancy garden heater sort of things. Very North Yorkshire :D
 
Ian B Walker said:
Think its one of these fancy garden heater sort of things. Very North Yorkshire :D

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh - now you're at it too :eek: :eek: :eek:
 
thanks for the helpful replies - a TVR indeed :rolleyes: :crazy: :D

A chiminea is indeed a garden heater and some can have the added bonus of bbq facilities too ;)

Looks like it's going to be the cast iron one then :D I'll do a pic when it's up and running for ya :D
 
You say chiminea, I say chimney

simonl said:
well i hope i'm not the only one........but, what's a chiminea??? :confused:

(i'm guessing it's a fancy bbq)

I think it's like a chimney but different. Anyone seen a Chimaera with a chimney ?

Found out it's one of these.
 
Ian B Walker said:
....... Very North Yorkshire :D

Brilliant Ian !!

My dad's from 'uddersfield but his family never had one.

PS I've worked it out, A Chiminea can have a chimney but a chimney doesn't have to have a chiminea.

PPS My WORD spell checker didn't know about it.
 
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Did you ever get this Pammy?
Had mine for a couple of years now and has only just started to go rusty.
I do use it a lot though.
I've now made an extra piece to go on the top so I can have it inside the gazebo and the smoke goes outside:D :bannana: :bannana:
 
GRAV888 said:
Did you ever get this Pammy?
Had mine for a couple of years now and has only just started to go rusty.
I do use it a lot though.
I've now made an extra piece to go on the top so I can have it inside the gazebo and the smoke goes outside:D :bannana: :bannana:

Nope - still looking. Fancy a fire pit now and have seen one in Homebase that we like - think it would be better - but we have to either move house (unlikely to happen now) or get rid of a greenhouse first, as we don't really want either on a wooden deck.:confused:

But thanks for the update and glad to hear it's still going strong after two years.:rock:
 
I just lift the metal tray out my BBQ that holds the coals and move it nearer to where we are sitting - works really well, but not as fashionable as a fire pit.
 
pammy said:
Fancy a fire pit now and have seen one in Homebase that we like

You're going to buy a hole in the ground?!

PJ
 

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