My first memories of bbq


 
JohnTak

JohnTak

TVWBB Pro
I’m old now but when I was a kid my uncle had a charcoal blazer. Back in the 1960s most steaks were pan fried, he must have been ahead of his time. He was proud of his bbq and didn’t allow ketchup on his steak😂. Later as an adult I remember you could buy 2 steaks a hibachi bbq and charcoal for less than $20. I bought a few poor quality bbqs in my life time. Weber made reasonable good quality grills, so I bought one and got hooked!

I have an E6 now and consider it to be my best ever cooker! So versatile and fuel frugal!
 
old is in your mind. you're just experienced and wise. at least that's what i tell myself to feel young (only 52) but feeling the sports injuries from my youth each day when i wake up.

would love to learn about more hibachi recipes. The E6 can do it all.
 
When I first started cooking on charcoal over 40 years ago I was skeptical that charcoal was all marketing and not going to spend extra on charcoal. I bought the cheapest available until I started to notice things like hard to light, not much heat and weird smells and flavors. I noticed one cheap generic brand had no heat and when the fire went out I had a pile of gravel! Another brand had white spots of some kind of ignitor mixed in and would actually flare and give off weird smell. Finally I settled on KBB the most popular and available everywhere and used it for years. When Kirkland came out I bought it and used it but noticed it seemed better, burned hotter and longer but smelled different.

Now there are so many choices of charcoal, mostly really good and some pretty expensive. I started the What's Your Favorite Charcoal thread to find out what everyone else thought and used to help me narrow a huge amount of choices. Everyone has their opinion and there is no right answer.

Thanks for the help and keep those smokers and grills going.
 
Growing up my Dad was in retail so we moved a lot, but no matter where we moved to the very first purchase was always a hibachi, bag of charcoal, lighter fluid, steaks, and baking potatoes.

Hibachi similar to this:
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There was nothing better than those steak dinners. Late 80's my Dad started buying propane grills, but grilling was always a staple in my family. My early adult years were filled with cheapo propane grills until I decided to get back to charcoal and bought my first Kettle in 2010. Since then I've owned, off and on, something in the range of 20 different Weber grills of all varieties. I've sold some, given some away, and currently own 9 Weber grills and am utilizing one or more about 5 nights a week. Still to this day every time I fire up my charcoal in a chimney I think back to those days as a young kid and how much I loved having my Dad grilling dinner over charcoal.
 
My parents divorced when I was very young,do to circumstances beyond my control I moved back in with my dad in the late 60's anyway he liked Webers, and was good at picking them off the streets on trash days. So we had several and he would take the good parts to bring a Weber back to life. The smell was has always stuck in my mind to this day. He made a chimney out of 3 lb coffee can, used a can opener around the bottom edge to let air in and paper in the bottom to start the coals.
I had my first charcoal turkey, and salmon, halibut and the best ever. I have always treid to be half the cook my dad was, ever inventive. Always looking to cook new things.
And I am just beginning to reach that lower level.
 
I grew up in the 70's and 80's. My dad had a Weber kettle as far back as I can remember. I always looked forward to eating whatever he cooked on that grill. When I got old enough I cleaned the ashes out of that grill and got it ready for the next meal. Great memories. Years later I got a weber gas grill and told him it was way better than the kettle, he didn't believe me. When I bought him one for Xmas one year he never used the kettle again!
 
It was like 1999 we had a family get together in Tacoma WA. And my dad did some cooking , and yes he still had like 5 kettles of different sizes,and colors mostly just black or Red ones I think but the food was still amazing. My wife still thinks he made the best salmon she ever tasted. With the Alder and fir wood smoke. We miss him.
 
Kevin L (NKY) said:
It was like 1999 we had a family get together in Tacoma WA. And my dad did some cooking , and yes he still had like 5 kettles of different sizes,and colors mostly just black or Red ones I think but the food was still amazing. My wife still thinks he made the best salmon she ever tasted. With the Alder and fir wood smoke. We miss him.
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I'm not going to lie, this is making me miss the old weber kettle days. The food definitely tastes better on a charcoal grill. I just don't think I could give up my genesis at this point.
 
Steve Hoch said:
I'm not going to lie, this is making me miss the old weber kettle days. The food definitely tastes better on a charcoal grill. I just don't think I could give up my genesis at this point.
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Do it. I have a Q1200 that I use in a pinch, but charcoal is so much better than using propane.
 
My parents had a charcoal bbq kind of like a barrel cut in half mounted on a cart and the hood was hinged with an electric charcoal starter built in. Dad never used it, mom did and later encouraged me to use it. She made smoked shad on it and it turned out pretty good.
 
The earliest barbecue that I can remember was in the early 60s my dad would dig a hole in the backyard burn down some wood use an old rack he made out of from old refrigerator he would cook his chicken or whatever he brought home that day that was some of the best barbecue I’ve ever had
 
we grew up in a big city and lived in an apartment. we had to resort to illegal barbecuing on the rooftop and used one of these disposable "grills," i use this term loosely. we always had a bucket or two filled with water in case of any emergency.

so my desire to cook over fire was "fueled" at a young age. as soon as i moved out, i bought my first coal burner, Weber Smokey Joe Tuck n Carry. we used that one to cook burgers, dogs and wings on a wood deck on the 4th floor. little did i pay attention to our lease rules that charcoal grills were illegal. when the gf/now wife and I moved to CA, the first thing we did was buy a gasser for our deck, 2nd floor overlooking the pool and hot tub. we were living the life.

i cooked the cr@p out of that HD special in less than 2 seasons and then I upgraded to my first Weber Genesis. no going back since then and the cooking repertoire continues to expand constantly.IBBQ2003_3_Zoom.jpg
 
Well as I said my Dad loved to cook outside as the summers and falls are mild in western Washington. Anyway I started reduce my hours at work in the early 2000s down to about 50 to 60 and I had time to do some BBQ I bought a Weber Genesis S310, and then I found this site, and started to get the charcoal bug as it had been a while and I had a lot to learn. But the knowledge here and the photos , recipes, I bought a performer which lead to a WSM . Then retirement came along and we sold and moved to AZ and I have built up another Weber family .
And beginning a whole new life here and more BBQ dinners every cook things get better and now with more time we can try new things to cook. Love the process,love the smell, and love all the different flavors you can put into your food.
THANK YOU DAD. And thank you all on TVWBB that teach me more and more every cook, and read.
 
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