The Art of the Barbeque

For me gas grilling or using charcoal has not been something I place a lot of emphasis on. I know that the men are all about the grill and the art of grilling. I have been grilling ever since I was in college. I started out using a little hibachi grill in college and I used that for many years as I normally was cooking just for me or a friend or two.

I them decided that I needed at least something that had some legs, so I advanced to the next step up in grills. I had legs now and did not have to worry about grease splatters on the picnic table.

About 8 years ago, I decided that I would crawl even higher up the grilling evolution ladder. I got a smoker/grill all in one and it is the best thing I have purchased. It is a smoker, it is a grill, it does eveything. I love it! Believe it or not I have smoked just about everything on it. I have done more smoking than grilling. It takes SOOOOO long to smoke. It is at least an 8 hour porcess that I normally begin at 7am to maybe have dinner that evening. It is a constant monitoring the wood and temp and throwing on the proper wood to have good smoked flavor. Smoking makes just about any meat melt in your mouth. Smoked turkey is just out of this world! This is my smoker/grill. To date I have gone thru 2 of them.

Weber Smoker

What makes a good barbeque? Always start with a good cut of meat. There really is not a lot of other stuff needed. My staple for beef is Emeril's steak rub. OMG! It is out of this world. Coat the meat in olive oil, sprinkle on a generous amount of the steak rub and BAM! The flavor will BAM you right out of your seat. (Let it sit in the fridge and permeate the meat for about an hour before grilling/smoking) And I do mean BAM!

FYI: he makes a chicken run and several others. I have bought the chicken rub also. You will never eat chicken without his rub again. This weekend I will be smoking using wood and charcoal. Gas grills? Well, I think the first picture says it all. You really are not embracing the true art of barbequeing. It takes a lot of work to work with wood and charcoal. That is true grilling. A gas grill is just cooking the meat almost like being on the kitchen stove. There really is no real art behind it. Unless you really get your hands black from charcoal, you really are not grilling in my shoes. Gas grilling takes all the rusticness out of grilling. It is almost too modern. It is quicker and easier to use. My parents have a gas grill and vow never to touch charcoal again. I use it whenever I go to their house and grill for them. It is just not as fun as tending the fire or the wood to cook/smoke your food.

Give me a charcoal grill or a wood smoker anyday! Plus where does that gas in the gas grill really come from?

What I do is kick them in the pants with a diamond buckled shoe!
~~Aileen Mehle~~