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Grills
Steady Grilling. For straight-out grilling, I like my Weber gas grill. I have a three-burner rectangular one with a hinged cover. There is a smaller grill above the main one, and yet another, basket-like grill in the lid itself, so that I can cook up to three kinds of food at once (e.g., main meats on the main grill, hot dogs or grilled vegetables on the raised one, and corn on the cob or other kinds of foods on the top one). Webers are quick-starters; I light the front burner with the push of a button and then simply turn on the gas to the other burners in sequence. The biggest surprise for me, having used plain charcoal grills for so long, was the nature of the "indirect" cooking method Weber recommends. I was highly skeptical about this business where you turn off the center grill, turn down the other two, and keep the lid closed. But it works. Follow the directions and you should be as pleased as I am. Gas grilling has the advantage of steady heat but I find that the meats tend to dry out a bit more than with wood or charcoal. One trick to keeping the meat moist without changing its flavor significantly: Packaged, dried minced onions. Sprinkle a few on the food when you place it on the grill. The minced pieces tend to fall or burn off when you turn the meat yet it imparts moisture to the food.
Slow Cooking. Grilling is fine, and even the Weber has advantages over straight-flame grilling or broiling, but there are some meats that just demand (and rightly so) a slower cooking process. But most of us can't afford a big barbeque pit, either in terms of money or just as often in terms of space. I've found the Old Smokey to be a good compromise between straight grilling and real barbequeing. There are many different kinds of slow cookers but I think the Old Smokey is the best one, far superior to the much more famous Little Green Egg. I suggest you avoid smokers with a water pan. It proves to be more trouble than it's worth in terms of keeping the meat tender, and the manufacturers' advertisements that you can use the drippings that fall into the water pan to make gravy are patently untrue. Well, unless you like gravy that tastes like seared metal.
Having said the foregoing, I'll now confess that I haven't been able to find an Old Smokey this summer. You know marketers of "seasonal" products; if it's midsummer, then obviously they need to be stocking goods for fall! Sometimes I think they forget that, here in Texas, "summer" is every month except August. Anyway, my search to replace my failing Old Smokey came up a bust, so I settled for something else--and I'm rather pleased that I did. I heartily recommend the Brinkman smoker. Made of stainless steel sturdy enough to do the job but light enough to carry without difficulty, the standard size is eighteen inches in diameter and almost three feet high. The main canister section has fittings for the fire pan, a water pan (for keeping foods moister as they smoke), and two grills (all these additions are included with the smoker), and it also has a door in the side to make it easier to check the coals and wood chips without getting a lot of smoke in your face. The domed fit-on lid has a temperature gauge that is really more ornamental than truly useful ("warm," "okay," and "hot" aren't terribly precise measurements) but it fits deeply enough within the well of the smoker's top that you don't lose too much smoke and you certainly don't have a danger of slippage. I used it a few nights ago to smoke pork chops. Nothing fancy, I just started the fire (see below) and when it was ready, put the chops on the lower grill and dropped some wet mesquite chips on the coals. 45 minutes later I had wonderfully savory chops. A "real" barbeque pit is still a goal of mine but until I can afford one of those cast-iron beasts--and can find fifty or sixty serfs to haul it into position--I'm going with the Brinkman.
Lighting the Fire. Whether you use a gas grill or a coal-fired unit, before you can cook, you have to get it hot. Here are a few suggestions for making sure you can heat things up when you want to:
First, with gas grills, unless you have a direct line to your house's gas supply, you need to remember to keep the propane tank filled. I found out the hard way what happens when you don't do that, one evening a few weeks ago. I turned on the gas, started up the burners, put the food on . . . and when I came out ten minutes later to flip the meat I noticed that the Weber was barely warm to the touch. Uh-oh, no more propane. Two lessons I offer from my own mistakes. One: Don't rely on that "E/F" lever thing on the bottom of your grill. I set mine exactly as the instructions said and when the bottle went dead the gauge said I was still half-full. I've since made more adjustments and hopefully it works now, but I don't trust it. And so, Two: Keep a spare bottle around. The bottle is a one-time investment and the cost to refill two tanks is only marginally more expensive than the cost to refill one.
Second, with charcoal grills, I've found a really easy way to get the coals going. Provost showed me this device and I didn't believe it would work, but it did--and it worked for me when I bought one to go with the Brinkman. It comes under a variety of trade names. Basically, it's a large metal can with a handle. One end of the can is completely open; the other has a grate across it about two or three inches inside. You take two sheets of newspaper, crumple them not too tightly, and fill the smaller section of the can with them. Then you fill the larger compartment with your charcoal (so that now you have a full can with newspaper under the grate and charcoal on top of the grate). Light the newspaper and let the thing sit for about ten minutes. Then turn it upside down and pour your coals into the fire pan. I know, it sounds ridiculous, but this thing works, without lighter fluid, without having to blow on the coals, without any mess. It's a great little device and you can get one for as little as ten dollars.
I welcome your suggestions about outdoor cooking and outdoor cooking equipment.