I have a craving. And not for more cowbell. Unless the cowbell is attached to just a piece of the cow. Probably a very small piece, since I don’t feel taking out a mortgage to purchase that piece of cow. But that’s a whole other story. I just think it’s past time to get the barbecue cranked up.
I guess technically it would be a grill. If you get into the fine details, barbecue seems to apply more to a long smoking process of any sort of meat, while grilling is what most of us do. Throw in some charcoal or turn on the gas and fry that protein rather quickly. According to some people, barbecue is a far more involved process that can take hours. I’m not looking for any sort of perfection. I just want to char some meat. Or veggies.
Until recently, veggies were not a huge part of my grilling activities, but I’m getting better with them. And I also have discovered fruit on the grill. The range of things that can be charred over an open flame has grown.
There are people who do this all year round. I could probably figure out how to do it, but given wind and various directions, it’s much better to limit my season. So back in the late fall I put a cover on the grill, strapped it down to something solid and abandoned it for the winter. I have been slow to uncover it this spring. There have been a couple days, maybe more, that would have been rather nice to crank it up, but I haven’t quite gotten there yet.
The grill needed to be replaced last year. I went with gas, more for speed and convenience than anything. I am willing to admit that charcoal does give a better flavour, but it is a bit more time consuming. And then there are other options, like various types of smokers. Again, most of those require a time investment in the process. I’m sure the results can be quite good, but I tend to be in more of a hurry to eat. But there are certainly a lot of options available these days as to the types of barbecues and grills.
For the present, I’ll stick with gas. But first I have to uncover the grill. The time has come to fill the air with the scent of burning food.