Honestly, I’ve been taking advantage of the weather all “winter,” smoking pork shoulders, grilling chicken skewers and even grilling burgers on Super Bowl Sunday, a first in my nearly 15 years in Colorado. Ideally, there would still be snow on the ground and the slopes in the lead up to a healthy, definitely not terrifying, grilling season.
You can easily pivot to gas or pellet grills, but where’s the fun in that? If you didn’t bathe in smoke for hours did you really even barbecue? I want smoke in my pores, sauce underneath my fingernails, and fat and juice up to my elbows. You know, a nice sheen that’s only washed off with a shower.
That’s what the season is about, not fancy grills controlled by smartphones. Get a barrel smoker that will fill the neighborhood with the sweet scents of apple and peach woods; something that’s almost more fire hazard than grill, and light a pyre of charcoal to the sky.
If you can get wood chunks as opposed to chips, do it. They don’t catch as easily, and you can throw them in the chimney with the charcoal to add flavor and cut down on that acrid oversmoked taste that happens when chips ignite. If you only have chips, soaking them before adding to the fire will avoid a brush fire in the middle of your cook, but as your heat and charcoal dissipate
The nice thing about this weather is growing season got a head start, and those early offerings might be showing up sooner than usual. Veggies are criminally delicious over an open flame and require very little prep, doubly so when you have a grill basket. (The basket is clutch, but occasionally, an asparagus stalk or two must be sacrificed to the grill gods.) Sauces and marinades are solid but occasionally unnecessary because a splash of olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and maybe a dash of grilled lemon is often all that’s needed.
As an aside, if you’re like me and planning to get in as much live fire cooking as you can before the inevitable ban, know what you’re doing and use common sense with flames and charcoal.
There are benefits to gas grills – heat up and cool down time, temperature control, not having to light more charcoal – which Durangoans will be forced to use when the hammer comes down. Until then, kiss all your delicacies with charcoal. Wings, steaks, onions, asparagus, throw all of it over a bed of embers for a dance around the grate. That same process can be used for straight forward grilling on gas, which isn’t barbecue but will do in a pinch.
You can get a little smoke box for wood chips on a gas grill, but it can be tricky to cook on indirect heat when you drop the lid as some grills run too hot for any kind of slow and low approach.
Propane box smokers work well for extended, low cooks, though it’s tough to replicate the bark without a sear somewhere in the process. This is where the gas grill is perfect because you can turn it on and off easily and get a uniform char before or after the smoke.
I personally haven’t used pellet smokers but have observed the ease that they provide, and when I have to pivot from charcoal later this summer (spring?), I’ll try to give my buddy’s a whirl. I have a lot of questions, but I’ll cross that bridge when my charcoal grill risks burning it.
Sean Beckwith is the food editor at the Durango Herald. Reach him at [email protected].
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