BBQ - drill holes in base?

My thought is a 6 or 10 5mm drill holes in the bottom should do it and the top vent would allow heat control if it gets too hot?

Yup, indeed I'd stick 15-20 in. I had a similar cheap BBQ that didn't really get any airflow, a few holes in the base made a massive difference.

Yes I would. Surprised they're not there be already...

You can cover the bottom with a sheet of foil and poke through a few holes if you need to reduce airflow in future, depending on what your grilling

While it is more to buy the Weber go anywhere is a great bbq for home or mobile use 🙂

The reason it will not have holes in the bottom is to stop the ground catching fire !

Is it burning out even with the lid off ?

Those little disposable BBQs work without venting from below - I wonder why yours needs it?

Raise the charcoal off the base of the BBQ with a shallow wire mesh/grill of some kind. YOu get airflow without dropping embers and burning the forests down

Raise the charcoal off the base of the BBQ with a shallow wire mesh/grill of some kind. YOu get airflow without dropping embers and burning the forests down

This is probably the answer.

My bbq has a vent that you can open and close. I never have it open and mine burns fine

The product images show it as being on a raised bed with holes already, but if there's no air under that pan then that's where these new holes will help. They probably also need to be clear of ash/dust to allow airflow too.

Those little disposable BBQs work

I assume you buy better ones than any I've ever used/seen people use. They are usually trash in my experience.

Thanks all.
The charcoal doesn't just sit in the base - it does sit on a try with (in theory) air flowing around it, so should work and as WCA points out, those disposables don't have holes.
There's not really anything to lose, so will give it a go.

The reason it will not have holes in the bottom is to stop the ground catching fire !

Most camping places aske you to put BBQs on bricks/slabs to stop this happening anyway. And if you stick stick the holes around the upward edge of the base, under the level of the raised bed bit, very little is going to come out.

Drill holes in the sides.

I have a Weber barbecue on my patio that has vents underneath, and that has an ash tray. The Weber Go-Anywhere that is meant to be used er.. anywhere.. has holes in the sides beneath the level of the coals, which let air in but don't drop hot coals on the floor and burn down the countryside.

I assume you buy better ones than any I’ve ever used/seen people use. They are usually trash in my experience.

I have rarely had one fail and have used many of them over the years when camping, at festivals, at home before I had space for a proper full size one etc.

Drill holes is the answer.

I've used an old Roses tin with a rack on for many years.

I've got a tiny gas burner that I use for boiling kettles when camping. Because it's so unstable I stick it in an old metal bucket which prevents it toppling. At first the flame used to go out after a minute so I drilled a bunch of holes near the base. Not to let the air in as much as to let the CO2 out.

has holes in the sides beneath the level of the coals, which let air in but don’t drop hot coals on the floor and burn down the countryside

This is the way

A bbq like that with a kid really needs vents top and bottom. All the best charcoal bbqs have this - even better if you have vents you can open and close obvs - but in this case I reckon a few holes would help. I’d be incline not to drill them in the bottom but on the side profile below the level of the coals if possible.

I just bought a Weber go anywhere but haven’t used it yet - only arrived today. Has the 2 vents on the top and two on the bottom of each side. Hopefully this should be decent.

I’ve got a bigger Weber 57cm kettle thing for home - the vents on the bottom / top combine to make it nice and easy to keep a steady but low ish temp for indirect cooking or grilling without incinerating stuff like chicken thighs.

Hopefully this should be decent.

IT is, infact its fantastic you can actually cook with it rather then just burn meat.

Pro tip. cut the grill in half taht way you can use the full grill or half if you want to roas something, also it lets the grill pack away in the bottom so you can fill the entire thing for packing away includeing the chimney starter.

I'm tryign a chicken next.

I bought a cheap portable BBQ from Wilko two month ago but I am thinking of adding air vents at the bottom as well.

This one Wilko Portable Camping Grill With Black Lid

Anyone has any idea where to buy air vent parts? I want to do a bit of modification.

Well, I know some of you will have been losing sleep waiting to hear feedback...

Worked a treat, 8 drill holes around the low sides and a few in the bottom and it burnt really well, with the vented lid allowing me to cool things down as needed

Coals are too closer to the grill, but that's another matter...

What about pop rivetting a piece of stainless or chromed mesh over the air holes to prevent embers escaping? Just an idea...

Hopefully this should be decent.

Honestly one of the best things I've bought in years. Got it in Jan for my birthday and has been in use at least weekly ever since. It uses a small amount of fuel, I'd easy to get going and is a proper BBQ. Roasted veg soups have never been so good, chicken skewers, steaks, it does everything well. The mastertouch is gathering dust most of time now as generally there's just 2 of us eating.

The mastertouch is gathering dust most of time now as generally there’s just 2 of us eating.

I love my big Weber with the gbs grill bit in it but it’s defo too big to use for 2 or 3 of us so I usually resort to gas (broilking baron I think it is) unless we have people over. Thinking the go anywhere might be a goer for small bbqs at home where I want something nice and smoky rather than clean gas