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Jason Pawlak

Me and my Internet


Husband, Dad, Navy Officer, Coder, and Tinkerer. I have many interests and am always looking to learn something new. This site is a launching point to the many areas of the Internet that represent me.


Man++ | New Grill

grill_cooked

Stamp my “Man Card” … I now know how to cook on a charcoal grill!

A few months back, my seven-year-old cheapo gas grill with rust and half disintegrated burgers stuck under the grate started shooting flames from the hose that leads to the propane tank. I put it out in the driveway with a sign that read “Free shoots flames from gas hose” but it was gone minutes later.

Honestly I didn’t really miss it all too much.  I’m not a big time chef and my pickiness for food is practically non-existent.  But when Wife started laying the hints pretty thick about her dislike for cooking burgers on the George Foreman (man those things are TERRIBLE to clean) I knew it was time to go shopping.  And Mother’s Day weekend, beginning of summer and helping Wife out with cooking was the perfect crossroads / alignment of stars.

grill_prepared

I researched quite a bit online, looking for a nice, cheap, portable option.  I figured we have less than a year left here in Texas, so maybe something small, table-top, just enough to get the job done.  Well … 2 out of 3 ain’t bad.  I found cheap and fairly nice but not so much on the portable side.  And yes, along the research road, I figured that since I had no idea how to cook on a charcoal grill, now would be the perfect time to give it a shot and see where it goes.  And major bonus points for getting to be more hands on with fire!

Off to Walmart we went.  Picked up the grill, a charcoal chimney, and some briquettes.  Brought it home, ready to cook some burgers!  Whoops … some assembly required.

One hour passes

Ready to cook!

grill_chimney

Overall I’ve been very pleased with the ease of use and tastiness of food it has delivered.  Prior to this grill all I had ever cooked was burgers and dogs on a grill.  But in the few weeks we’ve had her, we’ve been dining with the classic burgers and dogs, but also chicken, shish-ka-bobs, assorted vegetables, and tonight homemade burgers with corn on the cob is on the menu.

grill_cooking

YouTube has been my friend throughout this new endeavor.  All sorts of great videos covering everything from how to light the grill to how to prepare food, to how to cook food to cleaning up afterwards.  How amazing is technology!  So much content to learn from, just a few key presses away!

And yes, now I can be the Dad at the park, grilling for the family picnic … life is good!

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