Last summer, I was invited to compete on the Travel Channel’s American Grilled show. Three other contestants and I arrived at the Memphis shooting location and were presented with these ghastly grills I had never seen before. They were shaped like suitcases. It turns out they were combination grills – gas,charcoal and wood.
We were presented with our first challenge: Grilling up an appetizer from chubs of bologna and red cabbage in 20 minutes. And then the host dropped what was a bombshell to my three competitors and a Godsend to me. “Because it’s such a popular choice among grillers, you must use gas.” A broad grin broke out on my face. I am pretty sure I was the only one.
I am a gasser. I say that without apology or regret.
I started out as strictly a charcoal girl and stayed that way for 20 years. Preferably lump. I was part of a competition BBQ team and gas was not even in our vocabulary. What a snob.
I am committed to my gas grill even during the Polar Vortex. Maybe I should be committed.
And then a publishing house offered me a cookbook deal, a grilling book aimed at women. And it occurred to me that just like the host on American Grilled, I had to consider my audience and most of them use gas grills. So I went to Lowe’s and bought one. It happened to be a Char-Broil because that’s what the salesman recommended over every other brand.
Of course, I had the usual concerns the first time I fired it up. Am I going to blow up? Get lit on fire? Pass out from undetected propane vapors? I even devised a sure fire way to remember I’d turned off the propane. I left the door open after I lit the grill and didn’t close it until the session was over.
I vowed that I would only use that grill for cookbook recipes and faithfully return to my charcoal at every opportunity. But that’s not how it turned out.
I discovered that I liked the idea of instant grilling instead of lighting the charcoal and waiting 20 minutes for it to turn to ash. I liked the fact that when I was done I could just turn the grill off and it would immediately cool down. As a working girl with a family, I loved that I could grill up supper without any pre-planning.
Does charcoal impart a flavor to food you simply can’t get with a gas grill? Of course it does. But let me tell you something. When I’m cooking a low and slow pork butt I have to ask myself this: Do I want to use a foil packet with wood chips on my gas grill, set it and forget it or do I want to tend a fire for 10-12 hours? In the old days, I happily chose charcoal. But I am very happy now to put the pork butt on, close the lid, have an adult beverage and watch The Food Network.
It’s okay for grilling to be easy. Really it is.
