Thread: It's Time to Light the Grill!

I know there are alot of cooks here. I also know there are different schools of thought about grilling. Some folks have beautiful gas grills. I am a charcoal man. I have a few Brinkmann smokers which have been doing double duty as grills but last weekend, on Mother's Day, Scarlett surprised me with a brandy new Weber Performer: http://www.weber.com/grills/?glid=4&mid=25

I love it! I know it is sort of a bilateral gift but it is a joy to use.

Recipes? Grills? Fuels? Techniques? I bet this thread can go on and on.

A man after my own heart, charcoal is the only way to go unless you wish to use the coals from a real wood fire(Ilove that too) I just dont understand guys with gas grills(emasculated?) if your going to use gas,grab a frilly apron and go in the house and cook. Its time to hit the farmers market here and snatch up a buffalo brisket, mmmmm.

Nice!. I have an older version of this and use it whenever possible. Weber Grills and Accessories - Grills

I have found these to be very handy.

Weber Grills and Accessories

I am probably going to get this to replace my current Grate
Weber Grills and Accessories

This is a must:
Weber Grills and Accessories

I only use charcoal.... yay.

I have been using the grill all year, every year, at least once a week. Just a plain old weber kettle. Lately I have been looking for something else

I light with a mapp gas torch. In my formative years I used lighter fluid, then a chimney-but i hated the ash from the paper.

Originally Posted by kevint

I only use charcoal.... yay.

I have been using the grill all year, every year, at least once a week. Just a plain old weber kettle. Lately I have been looking for something else

I light with a mapp gas torch. In my formative years I used lighter fluid, then a chimney-but i hated the ash from the paper.

I was at ace hardware and they had some web firestarters that work really well.

I'd like one of George Foreman's, mostly because I admire the guy.

Originally Posted by nun2sharp

A man after my own heart, charcoal is the only way to go unless you wish to use the coals from a real wood fire(Ilove that too)

Real wood coals are good to use. I cleared off a bunch of trees from the back of my lot and built quite the slash pile fire with it. It was all really green pine, so once the pitch got going, the fire sounded like a jet engine. It went the better part of the day, but at the end I had a huge pile of hot embers. I decided not to let that go to waste. I cooked a pretty big barbeque that night. I baked some potatos wraped in foil, and I just shoveled some hot embers into the old webber for the chicken.

I just dont understand guys with gas grills(emasculated?) if your going to use gas,grab a frilly apron and go in the house and cook.

Hey now! Don't knock the gas grill. I like to cook all my meat outside. It keeps the kitchen (and especially the stove top) a lot cleaner. That means I use the grill pretty much every day, rain or shine, windy and calm. Literaly. I'd go broke using charcoal.

I do like to cook over coals now and then, but you can't beat the convenience of the gas grill for everyday use.

[QUOTE=joesixpack;381697]Real wood coals are good to use. I cleared off a bunch of trees from the back of my lot and built quite the slash pile fire with it. It was all really green pine, so once the pitch got going, the fire sounded like a jet engine. It went the better part of the day, but at the end I had a huge pile of hot embers. I decided not to let that go to waste. I cooked a pretty big barbeque that night. I baked some potatos wraped in foil, and I just shoveled some hot embers into the old webber for the chicken.QUOTE]

Sounds like the pile was pretty burned out if all you had was coals (therfore the oil was probably burned off), but the oils in pine can make you sick if you cook with it. Pine is a BIG no no for BQQing.

Still,,, taters and chicken, now you went and got me hungry :-)

Originally Posted by Moe

Sounds like the pile was pretty burned out if all you had was coals (therfore the oil was probably burned off), but the oils in pine can make you sick if you cook with it. Pine is a BIG no no for BQQing.

Still,,, taters and chicken, now you went and got me hungry :-)

I'd never heard that about pine oils. I'll keep an eye on that in the future.

The pile of embers was about 5 feet across and over three feet high in the middle. I could't bear letting it go to waste. Nothing but glowing embers, so I imagine all the oils were burned off. There was nothing left even slightly log shaped, as the fire had been going for about 10 hours.

For those of you who want the best in charcoal grills/smokers i would suggest the big green egg or primo grills. I have seen the green egg in action and it is Sweet, however i like the oval shape of the primo. It is recommended to use natural charcoal with these (as i do anyway) which really adds a nice flavor to anything. The best thing with these grills is that you can close the dampers and snuff out the charcoal to be used at a later time, that and it only takes a hand full to cook.

Steve