How to Make a Primitive Stone Grill

Choose a place that meets with city fire codes. For safety, barbecues should never be less than 10 feet from any structures or overhanging branches, but some city codes specify up to a 20-foot distance for built-in fire pits.

Get a grill grate the size you want to cook on to determine the size of your barbecue pit. You can choose a round or square grill, depending on the shape you want your barbecue.

Calculate the size of your entire structure. It should be 10 to 12 inches wider and 12 inches deeper than your rectangular grill grate, or it should be 10 to 12 inches greater in diameter than a circular grill grate. Mark the size you want your pit with stakes and string.

Dig a hole for your barbecue pit about 4 inches deep. Dig the sides of the hole so they make a clean, straight wall. Pour a 2-inch-deep layer of gravel into the hole and smooth out the top layer. Gravel helps promote good drainage and air flow.

Choose your materials for the stone walls of the barbecue. You can recycle chunks of broken cement, purchase stone bricks or collect stones on your property. Use a variety of sizes for best results in achieving that rustic look. Flat, rough stones will make for easier building while placing round, smooth stones can be a bit trickier.

Push the first layer of stones around the perimeter of the hole, setting them into the gravel. The walls should be 10 to 12 inches thick, so choose your largest, sturdiest stones for this first layer, leaving about ½ inch of space between them.

Mix a bag of premixed mortar according to the manufacturer's instructions. Pick up a stone from the layer you set, and smooth the mortar on one side of it with a trowel. It should stick and stay on the stone and should not be runny or crumbly.

Replace the stone with the mortared side back in place against the stone next to it. Pick up the one next to it to add mortar on its side, and press it against the previous stone. Continue until you have mortared the entire first layer of stones together.

Build on the first layer with another layer of stones, adding mortar between any two stones to connect them. Continue securing stones with mortar, fitting them together as if you are putting together a puzzle, building the pit up layer by layer.

Wipe or brush excess mortar off the stone layers you've completed every now and then as you build. Measure the height of the barbecue as you go. Your primitive barbecue should ideally be about 2 feet high from ground level.

Arrange stones carefully around the top edge to make them even. Use a level if necessary, as you won’t want hot dogs or potatoes rolling off your grill.

Allow the mortar to set as per package instructions before using your grill. Put coal or wood inside the pit, get the fire going then top the grill with your grate.