Mr. Chuck Myguts of Redneckin' wants to know the official status of the use of natural charcoal for grilling, versus gas:

[...] Earlier, I was outside getting the grill ready. Since I don't care for the after-taste you get on your food if you use lighter fluid, I use a cone that you burn paper in the bottom of . Anyway, while I was putting the newspaper in the cone to start the charcoal, a neighbor came out of his house, removed the cover on his grill, turned on the gas, clicked the starter and went back into the house to get the food while the artificial rocks heated up.

Come on, people. That's not barbequing. You may as well stay in the kitchen and use your stove. Or that George Foreman that you got a couple of Christmas's ago and is still in its box in the back of the closet. Don't you have any of the primal instincts around fire? Don't you understand rituals? And you know it doesn't taste as good, no matter that little pan of genuine, hickory or mesquite (get real, mesquite smells like your burning shrubbery) chips and the Real Grilled Taste seasoning mix you use to try to convince yourself it taste just like....

I didn't think to check the by-laws of the Axis of Weevil, but I'm certain that such a fine organization of more or less good ol boy's (and Ladies) wouldn't have anything to do with something that disrespects fine Southern traditions like a gas grill does. [...]

Actually, this question has never come up before, and it bears discussion. First of all, Chuck is quite correct to state the obvious benefits of the ritualized, primal beauty of making and tending a fire begun from the detritus of the forest. There is nothing like coaxing the living god of Pyro out of hunks of little black rocks, then throwing the flesh of a dead animal up on top of a nasty hunk of rusty wires, annointing said flesh with the finest of herbs and spices, and consuming the fruits of your labor in the loving embrace of your family and kin.

HOWEVER, it must also be realized that one of the joys of living in the South includes doing stupid things with flammable gases. We must understand that for some, the food is secondary to the thrill of closing the cover, opening the burner valves wide open, going around to the side of the house and turning on the auxiliary gascock, running back with a box of kitchen matches and trying to reach under and light the burners though the vent hole in the bottom before the level of gas inside reaches a high enough concentration to blow the cover off. There is the hesitation, then the satisfying wwwWHUmmmmph when the gas catches. Ahhh, just right. Of course, sometimes you hesitate a bit too long and there's an equally satisfying but much more potentially dangerous WWWHOOOOOMPHT that does manage to lift the lid a bit. No matter, because after it's going good, there's the fun of spraying Pam on the grille and the resulting mini-flamethrower effect.

What to say then? I think we can say that for really cooking food and spiritual uplift, there is NO substitute for grilling over charcoal. For those interested more in stupid hydrocarbon tricks, a gas grille fills the bill. (As a further disclaimer, we all understand that we're talking fancy grilling here, and that neither method is even close to that small, hot fire on a clear, late fall day out in the woods, with a pot full of coffee and a skillet full of quail.)
posted by Terry at 8:45:00 AM