Grilling style and methods

Labor Day harkens the end of summer, which for far too many marks the end of grilling
season. For me, it means finally getting the crew settled into school, catching the garden
produce slide into winter oblivion, the dawning of another football season, bundles of
weekend kids' soccer games, and so many opportunities to keep firing that grill! Much like Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman – I'm just getting warmed up.

Growing up, grilling always meant Dad piling charcoal, dousing it with lighter fluid, and
starting an enormous fire. My old man doesn't really appreciate the arts, and it showed in his grilling. Don't get me wrong, we were well-fed, but Dad was not exactly a chef – medium well was the first approved temperature; the specter of trichinosis kept pork chops dry. Marinades were nonexistent except for Wishbone brand Italian dressing. He did make a mean double-thick burger with a whole slice of onion placed in the center that I must replicate one of these days. However, my crew is not going for the semi-raw onion slices and the jaw-challenging thickness patties that will invariably result from such replication. I suppose that is the delay in fulfilling this core memory chase.

The Weber kettle is the genesis of American grilling. I had the privilege of working for this all-American company that, at the time of the opening of the Indianapolis restaurant, was
still family-owned. George Stephen was working at Weber Brothers Metal Works, 
manufacturing buoys destined for the Great Lakes. He liked grilling and entertaining on the weekends. He was frustrated with the design of the day, which was a standard open,
square brazier-style grill (think grilling at a campground or beach). He decided to
experiment with some of the materials in the shop and cut one of those buoys in half. The
outcome was additional space and a sphere which encouraged air movement, delivering
even and predictable cooking. He added some unique vents to mirror the shape of the grill, which helped control the intensity of the fire and, consequently, the temperature within the grill.

George started slinging his invention at park and hardware store demos. Eventually, this side business became so big that the Weber Brothers were no longer focused on buoys, and an American legend was born. The Weber kettle dominated the grilling scene for years with many imitators but no real duplicators. Charcoal, while often inconvenient, is still king. The Big Green Egg introduced the world to Komodo grills, which are kettles with a thicker clay base, allowing for easier temperature hold times. They typically use a different style of charcoal that burns white hot, varying from the classic Kingsford briquettes. I know many happy grilling enthusiasts who use these, but the price point (and perhaps Weber loyalty) has kept them out of my cooking area.

I grilled on a Weber Performer for years and still have it carefully covered away. It can be
quite a bit of work putting together the fire and the lid stand, among other parts, which is in dire need of a tune-up. I need a specific sub-primal and an occasion, plus a whole free
afternoon, that will force my hand at rolling it out of storage. It is a great model with the
A kettle built into a work platform, an area to hang tools, and a spot to screw in a camping light propane for a gas assist to light the charcoal. My starter has been malfunctioning for years, but no worries, as my preference is to use a chimney starter instead of the propane – piling the charcoal in a wide perforated tube and lighting some newspaper or junk mail in the short chamber underneath. If using this, get a fireproof glove to stay safe when grabbing the handle and dropping the charcoal into the grill. You can do most anything on this grill, from steaks, chops, and burgers to fish, veggies, and fruit, with the right recipe and the right tools.

I had to make a shift one Thanksgiving, considering a chilly forecast and knowing that one of the limitations of the kettle was maintaining temperature on cold and windy days. We had hosted Thanksgiving dinner with my large extended family for at least 3 years at that point, and the standard of a smoked turkey was firmly set (though perhaps only in my mind). The year before was a challenge, and getting the bird right is too paramount to a successful Thanksgiving to push it. As luck would have it, Costco was holding an event promoting Traeger grills while I was punching through my list. The thing was on a great sale with some freebies included, and as a Costco guy, it could not be passed up. I accidentally purchased Traeger pellets at Hedlund Hardware the morning of Father's Day in a last-ditch effort to find something my Dad didn't already have and would use. These pellets will not work in another style of grill and are really (as I understand) just compressed sawdust particles in the shape of rabbit turds. I had recently been throwing darts in a friend's garage and noticed a Traeger shoved in the corner, and when asked, he bemoaned that it was a kick-down from his father-in-law, which needed a home. I went wild, telling him he was crazy and that using that grill/smoker was an absolute must!

Chad continues to work on all types of concoctions on that same device, to the point that Master's Sunday is not the same without grabbing some smoked salmon over at his place. My oldest brother and I were chatting by the garage, checking on the bird, the first Thanksgiving with my new grill. He sarcastically called out the fact that it was plugged in, and I explained the rundown to take back his sarcasm for the win. You pile pellets into a hopper that sends them to an augured cylinder to a burning fire box, creating heat and smoke. A dial on the outside allows you to adjust the temperature. Mine is old-school, solid-state, while current units are more digital and much more precise. A pellet grill provides the fire-building versatility of charcoal while delivering the ease of gas grilling. Open the lid, start the auger to warm it up, drop the lid, and wait for it to reach your desired temperature. Then, grill away.

A huge time saver to be sure, and something that can handle the long smoking process of a pork butt or brisket without much babysitting while also allowing you to quickly get dinner ready on a busy night without much fuss. It is difficult not to go to the Traeger with all that ease and uncompromised output. The Traeger sits feet from my back door, along with another recent addition to the outdoor kitchen mix that I will have to dive into on another post. I have gotten a bit windy on this breakdown, and much like a Thursday in November, the fire is about to go out.

Todd Ellington, Indianapolis