A British engineer has unveiled one of the world’s largest barbecues – a £10,000 monster dubbed ‘God-grilla’ which can cook a staggering 1,000 sausages at once.
Jack Henriques, 31, spent three months welding the bespoke steel grill, which weighs two tonnes, measures 16ft across and requires 14 bags of coal to ignite.
The 11ft tall barbecue is so big it can cook seven WHOLE lambs, three pigs or two cows at the same time.
Jack, who runs the Bespoke BBQ Company, has pledged to build an even larger unit in future and says the ”sky is the limit”.
He said: ”When the barbecue is loaded up to full capacity at least three chefs are needed and it would be impossible to flip everything on your own.
”It does get extremely hot and you often have to cover your face because you are standing just a few feet away from a big wall of flame which can cook a cow.
”We think the hottest temperature it has reached is about 500 degrees centigrade because the paint on the steel is heatproofed up to 600 and it has never cracked.
”I have never seen or heard of a bigger fixed barbecue. This is the biggest one I’ve made yet but I’m sure we will go much larger in the future.”
Jack built a giant barbecue for himself in April 2008 and the grill was such a success that friends persuaded him to go into business.
He launched the Bespoke BBQ Company from his workshop in the Cotswolds and completed God-grilla in May this year.
It measures 16.4ft (5m) long, by 4.9ft (1.9m) wide and its twin chimneys – which can be fitted with extractor fans – stand 11.5ft (3.5m) tall.
Each of the seven coal trays is fixed to a custom-built scissor jack which can be raised or lowered using a turning handle.
This ensures that the cooking temperature can be easily changed for each tray without the difficulty of moving and disturbing the meat.
The cooker also features abattoir-style meat hooks on which whole animal carcasses can be hung for cooking.
God-grilla – which can grill 500 burgers at once – was commissioned by the Stone Barn, a wedding venue in the Cotswolds village of Aldsworth, Glos.
Jack’s brother Mark, who runs Cripps Catering and manages the barn, confirmed that the jacks give ”infinite” cooking control.
He said: ”The idea of using a jack to raise and lower the coals is Jack’s trademark on his bespoke barbecues and, even with a grill that is heavy with meat, it gives one infinite control.”
God-grilla is the largest fixed barbecue in the world – there is a larger lorry barbecue in Texas, USA, but this is a smoker rather than a traditional coal grill.
What about the Big Taste Grill from Johnsonville – the entire back end of a tanker truck, which is used to cook over 200,000 bratwurst every labor day in Madison, Wisconsin? Here's a link to pictures of the fine event: http://www.bratfest.com/a-celebration/photo-galle….