Now we’re cookin’

Today, we bought a new grill! I’ve owned a gas grill since my birthday in 2007 (see the story here) and since that time, I’ve learned a lot about cooking outside. Well, maybe not a lot, but enough to get a good dinner without disappointment anyway. And while I was very happy to have it, that grill did have a few flaws.

The gas grill seemed to have the burners way too close to the grates which made it nearly impossible to get a nice sear on a medium-rare steak. Things either cooked too slowly and dried out, or I battled flare-ups and had charred food — there was never a lot of control. Burt, I managed and for the most part, food came off that grill fine.

Meanwhile, Jessica and I have had the pleasure of eating from the grill at her parents’ place, but theirs is charcoal. For those of you who don’t know, let me tell you: charcoal fired food tastes so much better than propane. Hank Hill has it wrong, folks. After a few evening spent around their charcoal grill, I decided that we must have one.

Like many, cash has been a little tight, so we didn’t exactly have the spare cash to throw on a new grill. But from time-to-time, while at Wal-Mart or Lowes shopping for other purposes, we’d take a quick gander at the grill displays just to see if there was anything available for us. We never planned on making a purchase — just wanted to know what was out there. Today, however, our search ended.

A lot of the grills I’ve looked at were quite appealing at first glance, but more careful inspection usually revealed one or two flaws or missing features. My new charcoal grill had to have these features:

• Adjustable dampers and vents to control air entering and smoke leaving
• A mechanical control to allow me to adjust the height of the coals at will without the need for potholders, opening the lid or using tools
• Had to have coated grates to prevent sticking and to allow easier cleanup
• Had to have a front door to allow me to add additional coals if I had to

Those were the minimum specifications and I was not willing to settle on anything that didn’t meet or exceed them. The most common flaw I saw in many grills (even the $300 ones) was how the coals could be raised or lowered. Many grills had the coal tray suspended from hooks on each side, so if you wanted to adjust the height, you had to get potholders or some other tool to unhook and lift each side. This method poses the risk of either tipping the coal trey and spilling them (and getting ash all over your food), or causing a burn. If my father-in-law can adjust his coals with an external lever, then so should I.

Well, today Jessica and I actually made an effort to shop for a grill. We didn’t expect to buy anything, but we were looking. I found it. I found exactly what I was looking for at Lowe’s. The price was a bit more than I was prepared to pay, but it had all of the features I required and I didn’t want to shop anymore. It actually took a bit of coaxing from Jessica to get me to actually buy the damn thing, but I did. I bought one in a box because I love to assemble things and I take great satisfaction in knowing something was done right (see the pictures here).

It took a couple of hours to assemble, but I was in no rush and had plenty of time to do it carefully. And, there’s still plenty of time in the day to break it in with a couple of ribeye steaks!

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