It's Good to be Back: Or, the Grill and the Vine

What with one thing and another, It's been a long time since I grilled burgers.


At least that vine hadn't started climbing the grill's legs. (July 14, 2012)

I grilled lunch Saturday and Sunday: actually, my contribution was the hamburger patties. It's been hot, and it's nice to have one 'heat' process out of the kitchen.

I also enjoy getting out and grilling. Now that two major home-improvement projects are (almost) completed, and I've got a better grip on a health issue or two, I expect to be out more often.

Vaguely-related posts:

• "Summer: Getting Used to the Heat"
  (July 27, 2011)
• "Memorial Day Weekend"
  Through One Dad's Eye (May 28, 2011)
• "Grilling and Spring Thaw"
  (April 3, 2011)
• "Grilling in Winter: Usually"
  (December 11, 2010)
• "The Grill is Dead, Long Live the Grill!"
  (July 3, 2010)

The Grill is Dead, Long Live the Grill!

The flame on my grill faded a week ago today, and wouldn't light at all on Sunday. I took part of the grill apart and confirmed that no propane was coming through - at all.

Later, I had an informative talk with a young man named Marcus at Fleet Supply here in Sauk Centre. I learned a few things about grills, LP tanks, and troubleshooting. And, that quite a lot of air had gotten into the tank I had brought in to be filled.

Returning home, I attached the tank - and still had no gas coming through the system. I'd demonstrated, though, that the tank itself was okay. The problem was somewhere in the two feet of tubing and equipment between the tank and the grill's manifold.

Given time, I'd probably have isolated the problem and corrected it. Quite likely by replacing the regulator.

But I don't bend as well as I'd like to, and I still don't have a completely adequate sense of touch in the thumb and first two fingers of my right hand - a legacy of carpal tunnel syndrome several years back.

More to the point, I run several blogs and have been doing a bit of work for a production company this week. Troubleshooting that grill would have been an interesting set of tasks - but it would also have taken me quite a bit of time. Which is something I didn't have a lot of.

Besides, this was a great excuse to buy a new grill.



The new one is a Char Broil, like its predecessor. Eventually I may get a higher-end unit: but this is fine for now.

My new grill has four flame areas in the fire box - double the number of the old one - and a side burner. There are lots more things to break down on this one.

Including an "electronic ignition." Right now, it works fine: producing sparks at a great rate. I've no idea how long it'll stay functional. I've found a few things I can try in a troubleshooting guide on the Char Broil website, though: which I'll try to remember.

Today I used the new grill for the first time - and over-did the burgers by a bit. Which I often do, anyway. This grill definitely burns hotter than the old one did.

About the old grill? I'm keeping it around. If I don't find out what kept it from working, I'm pretty sure that my son-in-law can. In which case, I'll have two working grills - for those rare occasions when I get ambitious and try something besides burgers. Or, in case I want to grill lots of burgers at once.

Something New Coming

Last year, 2009, this household was in crisis mode, financially. The head-on highway collision, wedding, death, and too-close-for-comfort almost-fatality didn't do much to relieve the stress. ("2009: This Year Was Not Boring," Through One Dad's Eye (December 31, 2009))

Well, that was then, this is now. The freeze on non-vital expenditures is off. And, happily, we didn't need to use our reserves.

What, In the Name of Sanity, Does This have to Do with Grilling?!

For most of the two decades we've been living in this house, we've been going to do something about the corner of the back yard where I grill. This year, we're able to do something about it. Pure thoughts, clean living, avoiding debt, and marrying a woman who knows how to manage a household all helped. The last two points, anyway.

As soon as the weather permits, plus about a week, I should be grilling on something other than occasionally-damp sod.

Since this is Minnesota, that could be anywhere from later this month to some time in May.

Sunday, Ice, Snow, and a Suddenly Sinking Cane

I grilled burgers for lunch this afternoon, with #1 daughter to keep me company. It's warmer - not far below freezing - so the snow and ice is melting in spots. #1 daughter found a slick spot, but I think I have her beat: My cane abruptly sank in an extra couple of inches at one point.

That was an interesting experience - particularly since I was holding a plate of frozen burger patties at the time.

I think I'm definitely back in the grill-each-weekend routine now: and loving it.

Grilling, Snow and Schedules

It felt good, getting back to weekend grilling, on Sunday.

There's nothing keeping me from doing the same, next weekend, barring illness, weather, or - - - I checked the forecast. There's a good chance of snow Friday.

Maybe it'll be light, so the grill won't need to be excavated again.

Oh, wait.

That's right. There's a family event coming up.

Well, I'm looking forward to grilling, the next weekend.

Back Outside, Grilling!

Today, for the first time in - quite a long while, I got out and grilled burgers. (My last outdoor grilling session was December 13, I think)

Nearly incinerated them, but they were pretty good. By my standards, anyway.


Sunlight, snow, and a grill. It was bright out there. (January 31, 2010)


Burgers in their pre-done state. (January 31, 2010)

A tip of the hat to my son, who shoveled out around the grill and back stoop: and #1 daughter, who chipped off some more ice. And took a divot out of one step. Oh, well: the wood's about ready for replacement, anyway.

Another Day, Another Burger

Several of them, actually. Not much to report, except that when today's burgers were done, they were more done than yesterday's.

Our #1 daughter, our son, and our neighbor were out at one point or another during the process. I suppose it would unseemly to blame them for distracting me.

Nice, simple burgers are nice, but I'm looking forward to trying something exotic, like last Monday's shish kebabs. "Exotic" being a relative term, of course.

Grilling, Labor Day Weekend, and Family

Our second daughter was here part of Friday and Saturday, and kept me company while grilling yesterday. Unlike previous daughter-supervised grilling episodes, yesterday the burgers came out crispy. But not extra-crispy.

# two daughter went back to college yesterday afternoon, leaving me to my own devices today. Our #1 daughter was with me while I grilled, but her presence doesn't have the supervisory qualities of #2's.

And the burgers came out more optimally than yesterday's.

Is it possible? Can it be that I have within me the capacity for better grilling?

Looks like!

A Rare Event: Weekday Grilling

"Well done!" I thought, when my wife asked me to grill burgers for the evening meal today. I'd dropped the suggestion recently, in hopes that her taste for grilled foods, and the relative ease with which such meals are prepared, would overcome her habitual 7-day cycle meal planning.

The triggering event today was scheduling. Our eldest daughter has a job, and is looking for an apartment in the town where the job is. She and my wife are away now, checking out one of the possibilities.

Standing at the familiar grill, shaded by the garage rather than basking in a noonday sun, was a strange, yet pleasant experience.

And, by producing burgers of a quality equal to those grilled under the supervision of our second-oldest daughter, I have demonstrated that I, too, possess the power of char-less grilling!

Success!