Building an awesome table for a Big Green Egg seems to be a rite of passage for many Egg owners. Sadly my DIY skills are non-existant. In fact in 2002, and following a shockingly bad attempt to paint a wall, my wife imposed a lifetime ban on me from attempting any type of handiwork. My father-in-law, on the other hand, is a highly skilled DIY enthusiast. So for my recent birthday he gifted us an amazing custom built Minimax table …
The Inspiration
The design of this table is based on one by Gary, who was kind enough to do complete technical drawings of his table (pictured below). I liked the look of this a lot, especially with it being on casters so I could move it around the back garden to where we would be eating.
I asked my father-in-law to change the design a little, specifically having the Egg on top rather than in a hole. This meant I could position the Egg on the top wherever I needed it to be … left, centre or right. The only other addition I requested was some funky lighting. This adds zero functionality to the table, it just looks cool.
With this brief and Gary’s plans, my father-in-law went to work …
The Finished Table
So here it is. And it’s perfect. It’s has a darker stain than Gary’s one, the top isn’t curved and the Minimax sits on a slab of marble. I used a granite stone on the right hand side as a chopping and food prep board, easy to wipe down.
The table is on casters so I can easily move it around the garden/patio to where we are sitting and entertaining guests:
There’s a rail on the front to allow me to hang gloves, tongs and anything else that I need to:
The table has a collapsible shelf at the back, which is useful if I’m serving up food and want to pass it to guests without having them get too close to the heat from the Minimax.
The top shelf is just the right height to store some Egg utensils, with large pieces of equipment on the bottom shelf (the items shown are for the large Egg):
The Minimax sits on a leftover piece of marble that was cut to shape. The marble is free-standing so I can move it left, centre or right depending on the cook I am doing. It spends most of it’s time on the left as I am right handed. To protect the wooden surface the underside of this has self-adhesive furniture floor protection pads attached to the underside of the marble:
I use an inexpensive, heavy duty BBQ cover to protect the table when it’s not in use. This cover is particularly good because it can be placed over the Egg whilst it’s still warm to touch.
The Undertable Lighting
I had seen many tables in the USA with undercounter lighting. Whilst they serve no purpose whatsoever in terms of cooking, they do look cool and also highlight the outside area for hedgehogs at night. The outdoor LED lighting kit was sourced from Amazon. It is waterproof and mains powered with a remote control for funky lighting effects. I use a Masterplug weatherproof electric box to protect the extension cable sockets from the elements.
The picture below shows the weatherproof box in the bottom right hand corner and the remote control for the lighting:
One of our cats likes sitting on the bottom shelf at night, looking out for hedgehogs:
In Conclusion
What a great birthday present! An outstanding table for my Minimax. Now it’s time to cook, in the picture below I was getting set up to cook some St. Louis ribs with Dizzy Pig rubs. And a cool glass of Chardonnay. Thanks for looking!
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