Community Chat

[MyGirlsMom]

We use gas but I would prefer charcoal. 

[JustJazzmom]

We have a gas grill powered by natural gas not propane.

[chickenbutt]

IMO, charcoal is the only way to go.

For me, gas grill = food that tastes like gas. 

[tansy]

I'd prefer charcoal but gas is much more convenient. By default I am the master griller.

[MyGirlsMom]

LOL Chickenbutt! 

For me it's really no flavor.  

[JustJazzmom]

Love my Weber Genesis A Silver grill. In the 15 yrs. we've owned it, I've replaced the grills once and the flavor bars once. I am meticulous about cleaning everything before its off for the winter.

[JustJazzmom]

So what is being prepared on the grill for the Holiday? We are doing a steak here and I am in the midst of preparing a spicy Texas BBQ sauce for it now.

[chickenbutt]

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MyGirlsMom wrote:

LOL Chickenbutt! 

For me it's really no flavor.  

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Well, that's probably a little bit better than the food tasting like gas.    

My senses are extremely sensitive so I taste the gas.  I learned after about the second time of being invited to a bbq where they use those gas grills to eat before I go.    

[MyGirlsMom]

(if you have the time or inclination)

New York Times:

Gas vs. Charcoal? Try Grilling Your Steak Over Lava

New York Times food writers have advocated cooking directly on hot coals this Fourth of July, but the truly adventurous may want to consider another approach: lava-grilled steak.

The Syracuse University professors Bob Wysocki and Jeff Karson, the leaders of this minimalist technique, say the key is to start with thin-cut steaks, the more marbled the better.

You then find the nearest retrofitted bronze furnace. (Very likely, that is the one the professors have built for themselves in Syracuse as part of the university’s Lava Project. When not cooking dinner with it, Mr. Wysocki, an artist, and Mr. Karson, a geologist, create lava for scientific research and sculptures.)

Here’s their recipe:

1. Preheat the furnace to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit.
   (“It takes a good 24 hours to heat the furnace up,” Mr. Wysocki said.)
2. Add 800 pounds of Wisconsin basaltic gravel in 75-pound batches.
3. Cook for 24 hours.
4. While the lava is cooking, prepare a trough and set your grill over it.
5. Once the lava is thick and smooth, pour it through your trough.
6. If you’re using one-inch or thicker steaks, allow the lava’s rising heat to cook them for one minute per side and then pull them off the grill.
7. Enjoy.

Variations:

• If you’re using 1/2" to 3/4" cuts, sear them for 30 seconds per side and then “rest the steak as soon as you char it, so you trap in all of the fat and juices,” Mr. Wysocki said.
• For an “unctuous” medium rare steak, Mr. Wysocki recommends waiting about five minutes until the lava “cools down” to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit (from 2,000 degrees). Then return the steak to the grill for three to four minutes a side.
• Alternatively, wait until the molten lava hardens into what looks like dirty glass and you can drop the steaks directly on it.

Flames and smoke will dance around the steaks as they sizzle, but the professors say the steaks are safe to eat because their basic basaltic ingredients don't release any volatile compounds when melted.

You might take inspiration from NPR's Adam Cole, who made a delightful video about the Syracuse caldron, and follow with a dessert of lava-toasted marshmallow.
—EMILY HAGER

[kdgn]

I don't BBQ but we have a charcoal grill and an electric smoker where the wood chips can be a variety of "flavors". Hickory, oak, maple, mesquite. For most things I prefer the smoker.