grilling with MacGruber

It's mid-June, which in most parts of the country means that sunny days, shorts, and grilling are already routine. In Seattle, it means it might finally be time to put away the raincoat. Just don't tuck it too far back in the closet, because the weather is still spotty at best. This past weekend was the nicest by far that we've had this year, and we were longing to hear the sizzling sound of burgers on the grill. I recently bought some hamburger patties from the Skagit River Ranch—organic, grass fed, and the best tasting beef I think I've ever had. Unfortunately, we are grill-less at the moment, so I had to cook them on the George Foreman—not quite the same.

Several summers ago—after we purchased our first house and were flat broke—we thought we scored a great Char-Broil gas grill for free on Craigslist. We set it out on our back patio and grabbed some bratwurst to inaugurate our first summer in the new house. Patrick fired it up, I threw on the meat, and we stood back admiring the spiffy new grill, which was pretty nice for being free. The illusion was shattered, though, the moment we noticed that flames were coming out of the bottom of the grill and traveling down the propane line toward the tank. We were momentarily frozen. Should we reach down to try to shut off the tank or just run before the whole thing exploded?! Thankfully, Patrick was able to close the valve before the tank could blow us into the neighbor's yard. Thanks, generous Craigslister, for the free deathtrap.

After doing some tinkering, we discovered that only one side of the grill had malfunctioned, and we could still use the right side without having to fear for our lives. Like I mentioned, we were totally broke, so a free, half-broken grill was really all we could afford. We used that grill for four years, until some friends kindly loaned their charcoal grill to us for a few seasons. We have since thrown the Char-Broil bbq into the dump—something that I hate doing, but we were not about to let someone else blow up their backyard. We have also returned our friends' grill to them and I think after six years, we are finally ready to buy a new one.


Although I like the look of this grill, which is only about $1500 over our budget, I think we'll probably end up with a classic Weber charcoal grill.



Let me just remind people of something that is a little pet peeve of mine. If you plan on selling something on Craigslist, listing it for free, or donating it to the thrift store, please use full disclosure. I think this is especially important when it comes to things that hook up to a twenty pound tank of flammable gas.