Thursday, September 20, 2012

Memoirs of an (Electric) Grill

You know how girls have adopted that bent-knee, 80-degree-elbow picture pose? Yeah...I seem to have adopted the right-hand-tongs, left-hand-grill-handle pose.

You know how parents take monthly photographs of their newborn next to a stuffed animal? It's like that and while I'm neither an infant nor slowly getting larger than the propane grill next to me, I feel like the pose hasn’t changed, the smile has never waned, and my excitement to turn skewered meat into a feast has never disappeared.

It's ridiculous.

During the warm summer months and early fall, the grill beckons me like a moth to a flame.

I will be the first to admit that up until last fall, I was skeptical of electric grills. Just hearing the words "electric grill" conjured images of George Foreman's vise-like, metal teeth of meat-death decimating a rib-eye steak to well-done. But due to my county's "concerns" (regulations) of residents torching apartment complexes with charcoal and propane, I was forced to go electric.

And of course, I was clearly mistaken. The electric grill is awesome for that quick, home-from-work, 10 minute instant dinner as also that no-flare-from-dripping-fat, bacon cooking extravaganza you crave. You don't have to worry about flare ups. You can set a dial to get the EXACT temperature you want and as a result, you know EXACTLY how long to cook a piece of protein (or vegetable).

Set the heat setting to 4. 5-minute preheat. 8-minute salmon & zucchini. DONE.

So you can imagine my sadness when my electric grill died last month. At a $35 purchase price, my electric grill has been My GREATEST CRAIGSLIST PURCHASE EVER... (I definitely got my money's worth - I grilled 3x a week for 5 months straight).

But fuck, I'm depressed it's gone. 

And as a result, I've lost somewhat of my luster to cook. Missing the simplicity of grilling has sucked the life out of my cooking routine. It’s a fun, simple way to cook...and best of all it’s great for beginners.  Need more convincing?
  • Impromptu grilling sessions aren’t cut short when you realize you don’t have charcoal or propane
  • There are no flare-ups
  • You can get into a routine on cook times
  • You can grill salmon outside instead of smelling up your house
  • You’ll want to start grilling everything

Hooked? Need recipe ideas? Here are my other posts about grilling: