Smitty gets a gas grill, and gets all sentimental and emotional about his old grill.

Well, I certainly was not expecting to get emotional on my first use of a restored gas grill when I popped the first chunk of meat on it.  There were many choices for the first thing to cook, I even received from suggestions from friends on the Facebook.  I ended up deciding on a garlic and herb pork Tenderloin, which I just love anyway. 

Since this was the very first thing I had ever cooked on any gas grill I was a bit apprehensive.  I did not want to burn the first thing I tried, I also did not want to have it come out undercooked.  I have been cooking on a Weber kettle for so long I just know how much and where to put the charcoal to get the desired results for whatever I happen to be cooking. 

That no doubt came from years and years of cooking on a kettle with charcoal.  I have cooked all manner of things on that old kettle, burgers, dogs, steaks of all kinds, fish of all kinds, vegetables, pork tenderloins, pork loins, pork chops, bacon, veggie burgers, beer butt chicken, I mean pretty much everything.  

I remember very distinctly when I bought my first Weber Kettle, it was January of 1991.  It was actually the first grill of any kind I had purchased.  We had just moved Sandy from Baltimore to Jacksonville and I was being transferred from Norfolk to Bath Maine.  We pulled into Jax with a few items to last until the moving company brought our stuff.

I was able to stay about 7 days before I had to pack up and head to Norfolk and then onto Maine.  On the second to the last day Bride came home with an AMAZING looking rack of ribs and a disposable tin foil one use grill, supposedly to cook them on.  I kept saying no way and she ended up going out on the patio of our apartment and fired up the “grill”.

It did not take me long to wander out with a bucket of water to dump on that pitiful thing, she had not put the ribs on there yet.  I then proceeded to a Kmart that was only a few blocks away, where I found a Weber Kettle for 59 bucks. 

At the time we were young and poor as dirt and had like 100 bucks until my payday and she did not have a job yet.  Regardless, I bought that Weber and cooked those ribs and they were MAGNIFICENT!  We could ill afford that grill at that moment in time but the thought of those ribs on a tin foil grill, well I just could not do it, not for what she paid for the ribs in the first place.

That first kettle was with us for 17 years before one of the aluminum legs finally gave up on me.  It sat outside in the elements, pretty much ignored as far as maintenance and protection went for its whole life.  I remember writing Weber to articulate my disappointment in their product, lasting only 17 years.  My true hope was to convince them to provide me a coupon or a deeply discounted offer for a new one.

That is not what happened at all.  I got a nice letter back singing my praises for my love of their grill, I had spoken in my letter about what a loyal and faithful servant it had been to me over those years.  And then, in the last line of the letter they reminded me that the grill comes with a 15 year guarantee and that was it, no break on it replacement was to be had.

I was undeterred, I went out and bought another, identical to the first with the exception of improved air vents on the bottom.  Instead of three separate vents operated independently there was now one handle that controlled all three vents simultaneously, I feature I grew to appreciate.   

It was not long after buying this one when I switched over to a cast iron replacement cooking surface.  The wires ones that come stock would only last a year or two before needing replaced and initially I just wanted a longer wearing part.  Little did I realize how much better the cast iron would be to cook on.  more consistent heat, easier to clean and never wear out – I was happy.

Back to today, as I was turning on the gas for the new grill I started contemplating, I wondered how many pounds of charcoal had I purchased and used over the years in my Weber kettles?  How big would the pile of Kingsford briquets would that be?  I am a Kingsford dude exclusively for the charcoal.  How big would the pile of ashes be?  How much money had I spent on all that charcoal?  I determined the answer to all three of those questions was a shit ton and half.

Then I started thinking about all the things I had cooked over the years.  How many hamburgers, how many steaks, how many pieces of fish and how many beer butt chickens.  The only one I knew for sure was beer but chickens, it was 2.  How many slices of cheese for the burgers, how much relish for the dogs, and how much marinade for the steaks? 

I am sure I have ruined many things on those kettles over the years, although none come to mind immediately.  How many things did I over cook?  How many were undercooked?  And how many times did I empty the ash holder that hung precariously below the three vent holes?  SO MANY unanswered questions, in some ways I wished I had kept track, that’s the engineer in me, I think.  In other ways, I am glad I didn’t.

I then started thinking about how many of my friends and family have eaten things I cooked on those kettles.  I suspect over time pretty much everyone I know had something off one of both of those grills.  How many good times, how many great times, how many pool parties, how many family gatherings, how many intimate moments with friends.  Too many is the answer to that question.  I have been so blessed with so many great friends in my life and that is a fact.

After our first pork tenderloin Bride says it is probably time to get rid of the charcoal grill.  She says that right out of the blue and with no deference to the service that thing has provided us.  Get rid of it, I just can’t do it.  Maybe someday I will or could, but I don’t see that day any time in our near future.   it will be getting a good thorough cleaning and the cast iron oiled up really well this weekend and tucked away in the corner of the shed for the time being.

I am sure I will build the same relationship with this new to me grill.  It is a 2001 model of the Weber Genesis gold and after refurbishing it has done a fine job so far.  I have cooked one pork tenderloin, eight Hebrew National hot dogs and about a pound and half of thick cut applewood bacon and it all came out fine.  I look forward to cooking for friends on this and building those memories with friends to cherish.   

Might throw some salmon on this weekend, anyone want to be the first guest who gets something I cooked on my new grill?