BBQ and Grilling megathread

[DoubleF]

Using charcoal is so much slower, but it's so rewarding! I don't regret the little table top charcoal grill at all.


On a different note, my BBQ is hooked up to a gas line and there is a lever to turn on and off the gas. My little guy can access the lever and potentially play with it. He doesn't play with it because I've taught him not to, but my in laws are acting like I'm letting him play with knives by leaving it exposed.

Any ideas how I can restrict his access to it without making it a major PITA for me?

[guzzy]

Originally Posted by chedder

I tried to do a pulled pork on the traeger with a pork loin yesterday. Turned out ok but I think that cut is too lean. Looks like people use shoulder.

Pork loin is usually perfect when it hits 165 F and then let it rest. A couple hours at most. Above that they dry out. Like you said way to lean.

They are nice when you give them rum/citrus/sugar glaze for about two hours at 225F

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Using charcoal is so much slower, but it's so rewarding! I don't regret the little table top charcoal grill at all.


On a different note, my BBQ is hooked up to a gas line and there is a lever to turn on and off the gas. My little guy can access the lever and potentially play with it. He doesn't play with it because I've taught him not to, but my in laws are acting like I'm letting him play with knives by leaving it exposed.

Any ideas how I can restrict his access to it without making it a major PITA for me?

Put him up for adoption?

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Using charcoal is so much slower, but it's so rewarding! I don't regret the little table top charcoal grill at all.


On a different note, my BBQ is hooked up to a gas line and there is a lever to turn on and off the gas. My little guy can access the lever and potentially play with it. He doesn't play with it because I've taught him not to, but my in laws are acting like I'm letting him play with knives by leaving it exposed.

Any ideas how I can restrict his access to it without making it a major PITA for me?

Depends on the lever. Some you can remove the screw holding the handle on to the valve body and thus, remove the handle when not in use. Then you just slip the handle over the nut when you want to turn it on and hide it away. (ie dont rescrew on the handle for each use)

That said, he'd have to turn on the supply valve and then also the BBQ to get up to any issues....

[bc-chris]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Using charcoal is so much slower, but it's so rewarding! I don't regret the little table top charcoal grill at all.


On a different note, my BBQ is hooked up to a gas line and there is a lever to turn on and off the gas. My little guy can access the lever and potentially play with it. He doesn't play with it because I've taught him not to, but my in laws are acting like I'm letting him play with knives by leaving it exposed.

Any ideas how I can restrict his access to it without making it a major PITA for me?

make your in laws watch him - it's a total win - win....
he won't play with the lever and even more importantly (that's how you 'sell it') your in laws will have peace of mind!

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Put him up for adoption?

The inlaws I'd like to put up for adoption sometimes. Overall, they're not too bad. There's easily far worse for inlaws.

I'm fine with my son. He doesn't play with the lever. I've taught him well enough to not do that.

Originally Posted by Ducay

Depends on the lever. Some you can remove the screw holding the handle on to the valve body and thus, remove the handle when not in use. Then you just slip the handle over the nut when you want to turn it on and hide it away. (ie dont rescrew on the handle for each use)

That said, he'd have to turn on the supply valve and then also the BBQ to get up to any issues....

I'm not sure why, but I've always hesitated to do this because I've always been worried that doing something like this could also cause a leak, but I guess logically speaking, it shouldn't.

This might work, but I'll need to secure the lever nearby to something (railing or whatever) so it doesn't go missing. My son doesn't play with the lever right now because it's secured and nothing happens, but if the lever was loose, I have no doubt he'd run off with it.

I did a cursory glance and it seems like it's a nut holding the lever on, not a screw, but concept seems like it's worth pursuing.

Originally Posted by bc-chris

make your in laws watch him - it's a total win - win....
he won't play with the lever and even more importantly (that's how you 'sell it') your in laws will have peace of mind!

That's the problem though. I do watch him and my wife does too. Plus my son is well trained. They're way too up tight. 5 seconds of crying from my little one and my MIL jumps up and runs to him like she's been tasered and is being chased by bees.

They also spent 30-45 minutes lighting the BBQ while I was at work because they tried to light the damn thing through the hole in the knob panel instead of the hole on the side of the BBQ and so with the gas everywhere, they've suddenly got it in their heads the damn thing without a secured lever is a bomb waiting to go off or something.

They literally keep coming to me with "problems" like they're doing me a favour, but no solutions or solutions that are illogical, is a solution looking for a problem or IMO just straight up stupid (like building bathroom cabinets with doors that don't work because the storage isn't necessary and it saves a few hundred bucks and it still looks fine... which is idiotic in a $40K reno.). My wife says to ignore them, but when they come back 4-5 times with the same comment...

I literally looked my father in law in the eye and said if he has a solution, I'd consider it and I'd already spent a lot of time thinking of a solution to no avail. I will say that this is probably a lesser "sin" because I've considered looking for a solution myself to no avail. The closest I've gotten was getting a wood/milk crate with a cut out to let the NG hose out and put a cinder block on top so the little guy can't easily lift it... but that creates its own issues too.

I've trained my son well and he's obedient when I'm around and he plays in the back yard a lot, but I can't guarantee he doesn't suddenly get excited about levers and knobs when he grows up or gets naughty if others are watching him. I might as well figure out a solution so I am more certain it's not a risk. I think I'll do Ducay's suggestion and see if I can chain the lever to the nearby railing.


On a different note, grilled Enoki mushrooms wrapped in meat on the charcoal grill is so good.

[bc-chris]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

... inlaws ...

what about a 'baby gate play-pen' thing... like this: https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/8-Panel...RD4QX0RIRCZUCM

put something like around the bbq??
my wife bought a couple of these that were used for when our kids were younger - they worked great. i moved one out onto the deck to keep the kids away from the bbq and it has a gate so you still have easy access to the bbq.

i think your inlaws are nuts - ha! ha!

the meat wrapped mushrooms look AMAZING!!!

[Fuzz]

Looks like they do make something that might work for you:


https://www.google.com/search?q=valv...w=1664&bih=779

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

I'm not sure why, but I've always hesitated to do this because I've always been worried that doing something like this could also cause a leak, but I guess logically speaking, it shouldn't.

This might work, but I'll need to secure the lever nearby to something (railing or whatever) so it doesn't go missing. My son doesn't play with the lever right now because it's secured and nothing happens, but if the lever was loose, I have no doubt he'd run off with it.

I did a cursory glance and it seems like it's a nut holding the lever on, not a screw, but concept seems like it's worth pursuing.

ya, the nut or screw should not (and isn't) part of the valve itself and would be a ridiculous point of failure if screws/nuts were part of the pressurized line. (they're not).

I'd just remove it, and use fish line or some long zip-ties daisy chained to keep the handle close by. Friends of mine did this and just wired it into the closet thing below the bbq itself.

[Canadianman]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Using charcoal is so much slower, but it's so rewarding! I don't regret the little table top charcoal grill at all.


On a different note, my BBQ is hooked up to a gas line and there is a lever to turn on and off the gas. My little guy can access the lever and potentially play with it. He doesn't play with it because I've taught him not to, but my in laws are acting like I'm letting him play with knives by leaving it exposed.

Any ideas how I can restrict his access to it without making it a major PITA for me?

tell your in-laws to stop being stupid.

the valve doesn't do anything on its own, unless you also leave your bbq knobs open.

I haven't shut off my gas valve since I moved in.

[DoubleF]

I think I'm going to go with Ducay's idea at first. If my inlaws might freak out about the missing ball valve lever, Fuzz's idea led me towards a ball valve lock which seems promising as well for around $35. The Gate idea from bc-chris can be a backup plan. For $300, it seems overkill in comparison to $3 worth of zip ties/chain or a $35 lock.

I'm going to have my hands full when the second child arrives, so I want something I can set and forget and be totally fool proof.

Ha ha, I didn't mean to make it sound like my inlaws are completely crazy. My inlaws are fine in general, but when they latch onto certain ideas, they're ridiculous and don't think things through. They have this weird mentality that they always know more than I do because they're older, even though I'm teaching them a ton of the things they suddenly decide they know a lot about.

As my neighbor once said (paraphrased), "It's basically knowing enough to be dangerous and not enough to be helpful."

In general, I'm not worried about the value, but I am aware my son is very observant and I have no doubt if he wanted to be naughty, he'd open the valves AND play with the BBQ's knobs as he's seen me do many times, so I'd rather be safe than sorry.


The grilled enoki mushrooms wrapped in meat were indeed awesome! My wife and son loved it (that pic is pork, but I tried thinly sliced chicken to great success as well). A very surprising and delicious, almost seafood like flavour comes out when you grill it with salt (umami?). I'm thinking of running out and grabbing a variety of mushrooms to grill for my inlaws and see what the results are like. Oyster mushrooms specifically seems like a very good bet.

[Ducay]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

I think I'm going to go with Ducay's idea at first. If my inlaws might freak out about the missing ball valve lever, Fuzz's idea led me towards a ball valve lock which seems promising as well for around $35.

My only comment on the valve lock is that things like that tend to not get used as soon as they are an inconvenience. "oh Im just gonna use it tomorrow, why bother with the lock mechanism today" type feel. If its something dead easy, you're more inclined to use it.

Originally Posted by DoubleF

The grilled enoki mushrooms wrapped in meat were indeed awesome! My wife and son loved it (that pic is pork, but I tried thinly sliced chicken to great success as well). A very surprising and delicious, almost seafood like flavour comes out when you grill it with salt (umami?). I'm thinking of running out and grabbing a variety of mushrooms to grill for my inlaws and see what the results are like. Oyster mushrooms specifically seems like a very good bet.

I like the sounds of this, but based on your earlier pic, you gotta let those coals get HOT next time. Looked more like steamed beef than 500 degrees of Kingsford's best! haha

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Ducay

My only comment on the valve lock is that things like that tend to not get used as soon as they are an inconvenience. "oh Im just gonna use it tomorrow, why bother with the lock mechanism today" type feel. If its something dead easy, you're more inclined to use it.

I like the sounds of this, but based on your earlier pic, you gotta let those coals get HOT next time. Looked more like steamed beef than 500 degrees of Kingsford's best! haha

Fair enough. I agree. That's also why I haven't bit the bullet on a specific manner to protect the lever yet. Many of the ideas were too inconvenient to be practical ideas to implement.


I'll keep that in mind. Still learning! I realized I wasn't using enough coals in the chimney starter to get them to and keep them red hot. I had the coals red hot after this round of BBQ by adding more and fanning them so the airflow caused them to turn red.

I'm trying out different coals right now to see if there's a reason to cut a few corners here and there. The above are PC brand and I was also trying out some other hardwood coal from the US. They both suck and it's a huge plume of black and white smoke when they first start lighting.

I remember Kingsford being the defacto when I was a kid and I recall they somewhat smelled of lighter fluid... plus doing the briquette pyramid with lighter fluid. Are they still like that? I wasn't sure if that was a good thing to have them seemingly presoaked in flammable liquids which is why I tried the other brands. But based on what I've noted so far, I think I might not bother with other brands and go straight to Kingsford next time I need another bag of fuel. It seems to light faster if memory serves and easily gets red hot.

[Swayze11]

Originally Posted by Robbob

Thanks a lot for input, really appreciate it.

I heard about these guys listening to Fan960, for those in the Calgary area.

https://backyardmeats.ca/

Quickly looked at them and it looks intriguing. Anyone try them?

I havent tried those guys specifically but I have tried these guys:
https://brisketcase.com/product-cate...-grocery/meat/

My experience with them has been great so far. They are based out of Nanton.

16 racks of pork ribs for $115 is what we usually get. Lots of stuff goes on sale too.

[Torture]

Did a pizza on the BBQ for the first time last night because who wants to run their oven at 500 in this heat. Turned out very well!

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by Torture

Did a pizza on the BBQ for the first time last night because who wants to run their oven at 500 in this heat. Turned out very well!

Did you put pineapple on it?

[malcolmk14]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

Did you put pineapple on it?

What kind of person would eat a pizza without pineapple?

[gasman]

Am I the only one who just leaves the natural gas valve/propane tank open all the time?

[red sky]

Nope. I do it as well.

[malcolmk14]

I definitely close it every time but I don't know why. Maybe it was drilled into me as a kid to always close the valve.