What Can I Grill Tonight?

When I was a child, grills were usually the charcoal variety and fairly portable. Now there are deluxe grills built into an outdoor kitchen — not portable at all. As we grillers run the gamut from charcoal to built in models, it’s good to have an idea of what’s out there and what you can do with it.

Regular Charcoal: There are pluses and minuses to this type of grill. As mentioned, it’s portable. Charcoal isn’t always that expensive, and if done right it can produce a credible meal. One neat thing about this sort of grill is that you can add damp wood chips to it to change the flavor of the food.

The bad side is that it’s sometimes hard to get the grill lit, the coals may be too hot — or too cold, and don’t even think about it when there are high winds. They are also usually very light weight and can be knocked over. This is a potential danger to the grill master and whoever is around when it happens. Lighter fluid opens up a whole new list of annoyances and dangers.

Small Gas Grill: These can be attached to your gas meter (preferably by a professional) or you can use propane. They are much sturdier, and they come with two racks. Lava rock chips can be added to help the grill heat evenly.

This was actually a middle step for us. But, the grill was small and if I wanted to cook a larger portion of the meal on it, it was difficult. This was, really, the only bad thing about it.

Deluxe Grill: We like to do something called “dream building.” It helps keep us focused on what we want so we are motivated to keep working towards it. This was one of the dreams I had. I wanted to be able to cook outside. Believe me, in summer here in SoCal, the kitchen can get unbearably hot, and out in the shade is much better.

We have one now. The only thing it lacks is a sink, and for most purposes, the water hose will do just fine. I can, literally, cook almost everything on it. I can’t bake, but who wants to do that when it’s 112 degrees?

Differences between the types of food you can cook:

As we’ve done all three types of grilling, we’ve learned a bit about how foods respond. Charcoal is great for smaller things, such as burgers, hot dogs and shish kabobs, but the lack of temperature control means that larger cuts of meat and some vegetables really can’t be safely cooked on them.

The small gas grill can handle food for a family of four or five. It can be regulated, so you can cook larger items on it safely. We’ve done baked potatoes and corn on it easily, though the potatoes were wrapped in foil and had a head start. It does take a while doing them that way.

The big grill we have now has several features that help. It has an infrared burner for smaller pieces of meat or to cook say a steak medium rare in just a few minutes. As for the grill, I have barbecued large tri tips (sirloin tips for those not on the West Coast) on it.

Which grill you choose depends on a large number of things. Most important is how much grilling you think you’ll be doing. If you’re only going to grill once or twice a year, the charcoal grill is probably all you need. If you plan on grilling more often, you may want to start with a smaller gas grill to see how you like it. Now, if you’ve always wanted an outdoor kitchen, the bigger grills are what you need. Here’s a final tip — buy it at the end of grilling season in your area and you’ll get a deal on it.