Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Propane and propane accessories

On my last visit to America I had to give up my beloved BBQ grill. I almost cried as they took it away, knowing that in Germany, I'd never find such a fine grill. The Germans still prefer the charcoal ones and I like the convenience of instant outdoor grilling. I am such a BBQ freak, I'd often BBQ in the rain. (Well, it was Seattle...)









Last week I was at a hardware store and saw THE grill. Just like my old one, but aluminum and gorgeous. 4 burners plus side burner. Big, but with wheels. I was shocked to see the price, only 279,99 Euros! (About 350$, I'm guessing.) I immediately wondered if they had forgotten a digit in that price, cuz I'd seen many smaller crappier ones for 800Euros. What's the deal?

I thought about it for about a week (what I learned from my Aunt Mary), and then dragged my man back there to check it out. We interviewed a salesperson and she made me feel better about it saying they've been selling it for a while and have had no returns yet. And there is a 2 year guarantee. And the reason it's cheap is cuz it's not one of the big brands. Brands are normally important to me, but this was honestly the best BBQ I'd seen, exactly what I wanted.

I got my grill yesterday, WOO! Now our dinnertime can include steaks. Yah I'd been married 2 years and my poor husband has never had a steak cuz I feel they should be made on a grill.

I have nothing against charcoal grilling, in fact I like the taste, but I use my grill so often, I need convenience.








I thought it would be a piece of cake to assemble a grill. Wow was I wrong!

I laid out all the parts and started reading the instructions, which were all in pictoral format, no words. It was hard! Some of the screws were so tiny, I'd drop them and never see them again. So many screws, and screwing metal to metal is not easy. After about 3 hours I interrupted my man again (for the 14th time) and said, "I GIVE UP!" and he came out to see what the problem was. It's just a matter of interpreting the pictoral guide correctly.

It was getting late and I realized if I didn't go to the store to get some meat to grill, the stores would close. And since no store is open on Sunday, I'd have to wait 2 full days to try my new grill. So I got us some wurst and some steak and some veggies and then went back to work on the thing.

I interrupted my man (grading tests in his office) another 6 times and he never got mad.

When I was all done with the very last page of instructions, there was a phrase, "Your device is now ready to use!" and I looked down and saw three parts still lying in the box. Uh...I hate it when that happens! My man helped figure out where I'd missed them.





We finally got the thing together and my man said, "OK, turn it on, let's see if we blow up."





Click click click click WHOOSH I love electronic ignition! It works!










I couldn't help myself and put shrimp on and several types of veggies, and some foccacia bread. I wanted to recreate every yummy grilled dinner I'd had. (Except we had no oysters...)










I got a chair and just sat there in the sun, enjoying the smell of grilling. Nothing better!




We made a little spot for it under the eaves of the barn, and I'll have to try to find a cover for it too. For now I'm using a plastic sheet.

Now to find out what kind of steaks are available here, and at what prices. (I sure do miss Costco right now!) Also I have to try to find good hickory BBQ sauce, and I guess I'll have to make my own teriyaki cuz I want to try to make my brother in law's famous grilled teriyaki chicken.

I feel like the quality of my life just shot up, simply cuz I've got a good propane grill again. The first thing I thought of this morning was, "omgosh I have a grill!" and then I said, "What shall we grill tonight?"

13 comments:

Reddunappy said...

Cool!! We grill all the time, we use both propane and charcoal, depending on how much time we have. Hubby has one of those huge BBqs that has propane on one side and charcoal on the other with a smoker box too.
Congrats! I would say enjoy, but I see you are! LOL LOL

Anonymous said...

Enjoy! I know what you mean, I'm Scottish but my husband is American. We moved back to Scotland a year ago after I had lived over there for 10 years and only just had our first grilled steak last week. We bought one of those one-time-only charcoal grills. Basically it smoked like crazy, to the point that it would make the neighbours think something was on fire. We ended up bringing it indoors to finish cooking :-( It still tasted good though, sigh! One of these days we'll have a proper grill again.

AareneX said...

Ahhh, so good. I know you've had the grilled oysters at Renegade Rz, aren't they the best ever?!!!

Jim and Willy are busily re-finishing the wood on our propane grill (we got it used/free, and the wood was a little ratty--thing that some sandpaper and varnish won't fix), and then we'll be back and grilling again this weekend. Can. Not. Wait.

Fletcher said...

Wow. That made me hungry. I love the way you write, B.

Sonya said...

Ack I am soooooooooooooooooo envious!! the grills are so freaking expensive here thats it not even funny. The same huge one I had back home for around 200 is almost a thousand dollars here!
I prefer the smell and taste of charcoal but LOVE the convenience of a gas grill..Im so coming to see you now:) congrats on your wonderful find:)

Anonymous said...

do you put anything on your veggies before you grill them?

Nuzzling Muzzles said...

That is one awesome looking grill despite all the hassle of putting it together. You'll get many years of enjoyment out of it. I love it when my neighbors have outdoor barbecues, because it smells so good.

Crystal said...

I love Hank Hill! I cant imagine not having a "real" BBQ to cook steaks on. enjoy everything you can with it.

lytha said...

Reddunappy - thank you! I have never heard of a bbq like your husband's combo.

Elena, what on earth is a one-time only?

Aarene, I looooooove oysters on the grill, but for me it has always been an Oregon coast family vacation tradition. Down there the oysters are dirt cheap and really big.

Fletch, you read my blog? *flip*

Sonya, Oh, the fish were not enough to entice you, but the grill is? hehehehehehheeh!! I'm in desperate need of Best Foods mayo, please!

wazzoo, i should have. i just used garlic powder, salt and pepper. but i'm just getting inot this again.

NM, i hope we do get years out of it, at that low price!

crystal, i introduced my man to king of the hill and he loves it! when i'm out mowing my lawn, i often think of hank.

Marla said...

This is one of the best posts. I love it! Congrats on your new grill.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Yay a grill! Ours is broken and hubby has no idea why. gah!

I had to giggle when you mentioned there were parts still on the ground. My hubby would have just said, "Oh..those are just extras...the company included in case we lost any." lol!
Can you tell he's not very mechanical or technical?

I loved what your man said, "We finally got the thing together and my man said, "OK, turn it on, let's see if we blow up."


That phrase should totally be on a t-shirt! rofl!

Ok, so now I'm wanting to come visit you and talk you into firing up the grill. I'll bring margarita mix and good green chile salsa and tortills chips!

And brownies...must have brownies!
:-)


Enjoy!

~Lisa

cdncowgirl said...

Mmmm.... love a grill. Almost anything you can cook on a grill tastes better when cooked on one :)

G in Berlin said...

We also picked up a nice gas grill (at Selgros) and that's where we buy our Argentinian meat, that I then cut into thick steaks and grill up and then freeze (the rest- the cuts of meat are huge). We were gone most of the summer, so it's about time to fire the grill up again.