My Project Man

Last weekend we had an impromptu hotdog roast outside. The weather has been really beautiful and we have wanted to be outside as much as possible, after this long, wet winter.

Last summer I got it in my head that I wanted a gas firepit for our backyard. I wanted to save up and buy a nice one that we could enjoy, but Eric decided this was a project just calling his name.

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So we scoped out the different firepits at Home Depot and Lowes and found a basic wood-burning pit that we really liked that was pretty inexpensive. He then spent the remainder of the summer/fall trying to convert it to a gas pit. The converting wasn't a problem. The problem was he didn't want to buy an expensive firepit insert, but thought he could come up with one of his own. So began the experiments....

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The first trial was the gas stove section from our old barbeque grill. It worked pretty well, but it put off such a tiny flame that it wasn't entirely satisfying. I wanted fire, baby! Second trial was a copper coil tube that Eric put together and punched holes in for the gas to burn through. He thought that by varying the size of the holes he could control how big the flame was. It also worked, but it looked more like a ring of birthday candles lit up. Again with the fire! Third trial was the charm. Like always, I had already given up on the experiment working and was trying to talk him into giving in and ordering the firepit insert already (I had been waiting a while for my fire by this time, OK?) While I was at work one day, he suddenly came upon an alternative source....

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(Bear with me, there is always a back story....)

Two summers ago I was frustrated trying to can some pickles because the enamel pot for water-bath canning does not work well on a glasstop stove. Ever my McGeyver man, Eric came up with the solution to use a turkey-fryer base. You know, the big huge pot that you deep-fat-fry a turkey in? Well, it has a stand with a lovely gas burner that heats up really well. It was the perfect solution. I plop my canning pot on that burner and it fires up immediately.

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So now Eric decided to sacrifice my "canning burner" for the much nobler assertion of becoming our flaming glory for the backyard. His reputation for genious innovation was on the line, after all. (This was all disassembled, then jerry-rigged while I was conveniently gone, hence no arguing over using my valuable appliance....)

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Well, it worked gloriously! We now have a beautiful fire we can light up at any time. Now I just need to have him figure out how to jerry-rig a new canning burner for me!!