Fire Pit BBQ

I've been very excited with my birthday present. This cast iron fire pit has been well-used in the last couple of months, and for a variety of purposes.

As designed, it's very good at burning stuff.... We have lots of leftover timber from recent renovations, as well as plenty of native wood gathered nearby and also donated from neighbours. To store it all, we recycled an old wine rack to separate different wood grades and varieties, and this stands close by under cover.

One thing of note is the lack of am air hole at the bottom of the pit.  The curvature of the bowl means there's no problem with oxygen flow, but it made me wonder if water drainage would be a concern. Iron, water, rust.... Do we move it ever time, or perhaps find some sort of cover ?
Being very heavy, we sacrificed some lawn and laid down some old pavers. So the intentions are clear: it's a permanent structure and will need covering. While there are plenty of soft-cover options available, these tend to degrade over time, and also limit any alternate use of the contraption.

Well, as it happens we had an old dining table top, made of two semi-circles that fit together with metal dowels. Easy enough to push together for a fire pit cover-slash-outdoor setting.

A couple of things to consider, however.  Firstly, the seam between the halves is not water-tight. To allow for this, I bought a sheet of ply and cut an undercover to size.

And, of course, the table was originally indoor furniture, so it won't be able to withstand the elements for too long without some form of applied protection.  For this, I elected marine varnish, of which I used several coats, with the intention of supplementing at regular intervals.  And I varnished the ply undercover as well, for good measure. I'm not expecting water to get in the bowl by any obvious means.

The most gratifying aspect of the fire pit is the inclusion of a hot plate and grill. Made of cast iron, it's a very heavy piece, but sits snugly over 3/5 of the bowl. Washed with soapy water before first use (and lightly olive-oiled too), its first tour-of-duty was to grill some scotch fillet.

It's a great way to practice open-coal cooking, and good schooling for becoming a pitmaster. All I need now is a rotisserie and a suckling pig...

Fire, BBQ, table.... and the steaks were delicious.