Why do you cook with fire?


 
S

Steve Petrone

TVWBB Diamond Member
Why do you cook with fire. It tastes good. It's simple. It's relaxing.
So what happens when we do 'production' cooking-for gifts or for an event? That's a life changer. Suddenly there is the need for more control. There are deadlines. There is an increased volume of meat needed....
That gets us away from 'cooking with fire' to technology enhanced cooking. Multiple devices: thermometers that are on wifi, bluetooth, phones...Blowers and worse. I know charcoal is not cooking with wood in the pure sense but pellets seem a step too far.
Do you want to be concerned about software updates before starting a cook?
I am currently doing all my outdoor cooking on a three burner natural gas Genesis. My only thermometers are the built in one (no I have not verified its accuracy or have I needed to) and an instant read thermometer. I do miss charcoal but do to a variety of events I'm down to the gasser plumbed to the house supply. Unfortunately, my smoked pulled pork has met everyones expectations. So I'm cooking very simply. Every time I visit here, I feel the need for charcoal. Perhaps this fall I'll complicate life and return to Labor Day and 4th of July charcoal sales and spreading ashes across the yard. I'm not sure I'll break down and get that very useful remote monitored thermometer.
 
While I do suffer from stage three “gizmosis” I find myself using very few electronic devices when cooking on the grills. Like you Steve, I do (sort of) use the hood thermometer on the gasser but, I have nothing on any of my other coal units unless I’m using the WSM, that is almost always used in conjunction with my two probe remote. Not Wi-Fi just direct line of sight self contained, Maverick TP-08.
I fully agree, there is some primal “Need” to play with fire when cooking, especially for a group of family and friends. I do several family parties a year at which it’s all on me for the feasting, now and then I will have someone make a salad or something. I will admit when I had the last BIG oneI asked a very competent friend to smoke a pair of butts while I did the brisket, salmon, macaroni and cheese, baked beans and appetizers but, that was an exceptional party.
For me, the simple act of watching people enjoy a feast is very fulfilling! The cleanup? Not so much.
 
I cook with fire because it’s soothing, relaxing and my food tastes great. No electronics to make a fire. And when doing any grilling, on lump coal, JD.

Gassers are convenient. But lump coal gets you to another level. After reading all these issues with pellet grills, I don’t see myself buying or using one.

I love my S6 WSK. I’ll probably die with it.
 
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^^^Mmmm…Picanha!^^^
Can’t get that kind of char and taste on a gas grill. About the only thing that gets cooked on my gasser are hotdogs or reheating pizza for a quick lunch. I’ll always have one but if I had to make a choice the gas grill would go.
I’m not a gizmo guy, just have a Thermoworks Smoke and an instant read thermometer.
 
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On my wsm I keep a bit of an eye on the build in thermometer.
On my hillbilly kettle, I just go for what I think is right. Sometimes I use the lid, quite often, I don't

I do check the internal temp when I do whole chickens, but thats about it.

I used to use temperature probes etc but decided they were not necessary for the wsm

And lump charcoal

I like playing with fire ;)
 
Brett-EDH said:
I cook with fire because it’s soothing, relaxing and my food tastes great. No electronics to make a fire. And when doing any grilling, on lump coal, JD.

Gassers are convenient. But lump coal gets you to another level. After reading all these issues with pellet grills, I don’t see myself buying or using one.

I love my S6 WSK. I’ll probably die with it.
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100% agree. I would add that the griddle insert I bought for the Genesis gets a lot of use. Not uncommon to use both for a meal.
 
Love the wood flavors, especially when cooking over an open fire, but the old kettle and even the pellet grill with a smoke tube to get some decent love on the meat work for me. It also allows me to spend time outside doing something other than honey-dos. I have a large natural gas grill but only keep it for the side burner and huge rotisserie, though I haven't used either for a couple of years. Maybe time to find it a new home. Occasionally I'll cook some protein inside but, even during the Winter, that's pretty rare.
 
Actually, kinda tired of the whole "knocking people who use pellets, or gas or electric or insert type of het/fuel here". There are reasons we all choose the type of units we use. For me? 1 charcoal grill, 2 gassers and 2 pellets. I don't use the coal burner much because it's inconvenient at best and dangerous at worst for my surroundings. So it's a rarely used treat (mostly reserved for things like tuna steak). Rest of the time now, (about 75% is on one of the 2 pellet cookers), I get wood cooking without the mess, the inconvenience and or danger of a wood burner. Otherwise it's gas.
These choices don't make (me or anyone else who's made these choices) "inferior or lazy" as has been implied so wrongly by a few people. They're CHOICES and we make choices based on our needs and the conditions we work under. How many people here use a power drill as opposed to a hand auger? Yep lazy as charged. Get it? Choices are just that CHOICES. In the end we all want the same thing. A hole drilled in a 2x4 or some good food.
Don't understand why some choose to knock on those who make whatever choices fit their needs. We have a "vocational hobby" grilling/roasting/smoking meats, fish, veggies and so on. We (or at least I) do it to make myself happy and even more so to make those I care for and love even happier.
So bottom line instead of ridiculing choices made in fuel type or methods how about we celebrate our wonderful hobby no matter what means to an end we take?
 
LMichaels said:
Actually, kinda tired of the whole "knocking people who use pellets, or gas or electric or insert type of het/fuel here". There are reasons we all choose the type of units we use. For me? 1 charcoal grill, 2 gassers and 2 pellets. I don't use the coal burner much because it's inconvenient at best and dangerous at worst for my surroundings. So it's a rarely used treat (mostly reserved for things like tuna steak). Rest of the time now, (about 75% is on one of the 2 pellet cookers), I get wood cooking without the mess, the inconvenience and or danger of a wood burner. Otherwise it's gas.
These choices don't make (me or anyone else who's made these choices) "inferior or lazy" as has been implied so wrongly by a few people. They're CHOICES and we make choices based on our needs and the conditions we work under. How many people here use a power drill as opposed to a hand auger? Yep lazy as charged. Get it? Choices are just that CHOICES. In the end we all want the same thing. A hole drilled in a 2x4 or some good food.
Don't understand why some choose to knock on those who make whatever choices fit their needs. We have a "vocational hobby" grilling/roasting/smoking meats, fish, veggies and so on. We (or at least I) do it to make myself happy and even more so to make those I care for and love even happier.
So bottom line instead of ridiculing choices made in fuel type or methods how about we celebrate our wonderful hobby no matter what means to an end we take?
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in my kindest of words, i think you're reading way too deep into this. no one cares who has which grill and which fuel source they prefer.
 
Larry, with all due respect, you speak very clearly about EVERYTHING, you used to carry on about pellet cookers….then you got one! We all trash talk things from time to time but, YOU being “kinda tired”? I love your posts pal but, that One is a bit on the funny side.
I do agree with you but the opening line made me smile! There is plenty of road, we can all travel and not have any crashes, here especially.
 
Timothy F. Lewis said:
Larry, with all due respect, you speak very clearly about EVERYTHING, you used to carry on about pellet cookers….then you got one! We all trash talk things from time to time but, YOU being “kinda tired”? I love your posts pal but, that One is a bit on the funny side.
I do agree with you but the opening line made me smile! There is plenty of road, we can all travel and not have any crashes, here especially.
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reminds me; we're all on a journey with the same destination. but we'll take different paths to get there.
 
In all fairness I always kept an open mind, did not ridicule their use or users. I truthfully just "did not get them", had a hard time wrapping my head around how they worked (a little fire pot heating up one giant oven when a gas grill uses huge amounts of fuel to heat up in many cases a smaller space, or my perception of possible fragility (which also so far has proven untrue). And I was very open about my skepticism even after purchasing the Member's Mark no even opening it for 2 weeks after bringing it home figuring I would simply load it back up and return it. But, and this is a huge but. I kept an open mind.
 
Brett-EDH said:
reminds me; we're all on a journey with the same destination. but we'll take different paths to get there.
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Exactly! It's the only point I was trying to make. As I just finished off a wonderful supper tonight of my brisket from this past weekend 😋
 
LMichaels said:
In all fairness I always kept an open mind, did not ridicule their use or users. I truthfully just "did not get them", had a hard time wrapping my head around how they worked (a little fire pot heating up one giant oven when a gas grill uses huge amounts of fuel to heat up in many cases a smaller space, or my perception of possible fragility (which also so far has proven untrue). And I was very open about my skepticism even after purchasing the Member's Mark no even opening it for 2 weeks after bringing it home figuring I would simply load it back up and return it. But, and this is a huge but. I kept an open mind.
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convection oven fueled by wood pellets as the heat source. smoke is the byproduct. that's about how they work.
 
I'm for whatever makes you happy. I've used all the gadgets, or none of the gadgets, and I don't fault anyone for using gas, electric, pellets, whatever floats your boat. I've got a stickburner, a wsm, a kettle, a genesis, and a blackstone. I've never cooked on a pellet grill. If money were no object or if it fit a niche I needed I'd get one. I can put the signals/billows on my WSM and get a similar experience. The main thing I've found I'm missing is an easy way to smoke sausage and bacon at low temps. I can do it with the WSM but it's a bit of a pain, so I've looked at electrics with a cold smoke generator on occasion but never pulled the trigger.

But cooking with real wood on a stickburner is my favorite way to go if I have the time.
 
I am considering having a concrete patio installed with the staircase from my deck walking out to it. So, like I did with the MM I may experiment and pick up a small stick burner, but I hate the idea of stacking and storing wood. Bags of pellets or lump is just so much easier. I am thinking to make a large enough patio to be able to erect a small cabana on it as well. Put a TV out there and have enough outdoor space on the pad to safely run either a Komado, stick burner or some such thing.
 
The one thing I see with pellet grills is they generally won't get as low as I'd like them to go. If one could do 150 I'd probably buy one and use it for sausage and bacon, and when I felt lazy on ribs or what not. 180 would probably be ok.

Dealing with wood is probably the biggest issue with stick burning. My pit won't run typical full-sized splits so I have to split them again and cut them in half lengthwise. With properly sized wood, the fire management gets pretty easy with practice. It's not rocket science, but there's nothing convenient about it.
 
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