Outdoor chefs have all types of grills, smokers available to them

For millions of Americans, cooking outdoors is a hobby, not a chore that simply feeds a family. Over the past 70 years, we have evolved from a culture in which women did all of the cooking in small, hot kitchens, to a culture in which both men and women enjoy preparing delicious meals in expansive indoor kitchens and outdoor cooking spaces.

Preparing meals outdoors on gas or pellet grills or in smokers yields delicious results in a more festive atmosphere. Instead of slaving over a hot stove in a hotter kitchen, homeowners entertain and enjoy the fresh air and warm weather while they cook over a grill or in a smoker with a drink in one hand and a spatula or tongs in the other.

There is something inherently fun about cooking and eating outdoors.

Gas grills like those made by Weber and Solaire allow one to sear steaks, burgers and other meats. They can also be used with pizza stones to bake pizzas outdoors.

Dan Mayer, owner of Northwest Metalcraft in Arlington Heights, said smokers like the Kamodo Joe are fueled by lump charcoal or flavored wood chunks and can be used to smoke roasts, turkeys and chickens slowly over a low heat.

Finally, pellet grills like those made by Memphis can be used for controlled, indirect cooking. You can set the temperature like an oven, control it with Wi-Fi and even use included probes to monitor the temperature of what you are cooking.

“You can change the flavor of the meat, depending on the fuel you use. I cooked a small pork roast in my pellet grill recently and it was delicious in 50 minutes. Apple wood pellets make pork taste particularly good,” Mayer said.

One of Northwest Metalcraft's most faithful customers, and now its demo cook at special events, is Greg Watson of Arlington Heights. He purchased a customized Solaire grill (infrared on one side and conventional grill on the other) and a smoker from Northwest Metalcraft when he and his wife, Liz, returned to the area in 2005. He has been gradually increasing his outdoor cooking skills ever since. Watson estimates that he cooks outdoors about five days a week.

“Especially in the summer, it is nice not to have to heat up the house with cooking,” Watson said.

The Wisconsin native is an avid hunter, so much of what he cooks is wild game like elk, venison, turkey, duck and grouse he harvests on his hunting trips. Now that he has retired from his career as a federal bank liquidator for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., overseeing bank liquidation operations in six Midwestern states, Watson has more time to pursue his dual hobbies, along with growing tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and herbs in his large garden.

“It is nice to now have the time to prepare a nice meal outdoors and share it with family and friends,” he admitted.

“I use the smoker to slow cook meals like ribs, whole chickens, turkeys and even prime rib. It is generally a weekend thing because it takes time. When I was still working, for instance, I wouldn't have come home and fired up the smoker after work,” Watson said.

He uses his gas grill on a more regular basis to cook elk burgers, venison steaks, venison and pork bratwurst and the like. He even uses the Solaire to cook sides like Tater Tots (in an aluminum pan on the top rack of the grill), corn in the husk (with the silk removed and after being soaked in water for awhile) and sweet onions filled with butter and beef or chicken bullion, then wrapped in aluminum and placed on the top rack for an hour. Flatbread pizza is a favorite with guests who get to add their own toppings and cook in the grill on top of a pizza stone.

“I am constantly adding things for my outdoor cooking, such as the fan I recently bought for my smoker to help keep the fire going, flavored wood chunks, BBQ rubs and so forth. I also enjoy stopping by Northwest Metalcraft to swap recipes and cooking tips with the guys over there,” Watson said.

His freezer is generally packed with wild game from his spring hunting of male turkeys, to fish caught and smoked each summer, to venison and elk brought home in the fall.

“This is truly organic food. I know that every step of the way it has been handled correctly and that everything is clean and sanitary,” he said. “It is rewarding to see that the time I spent sitting in the woods has turned into food for my family and friends. Then, the culmination comes when I cook it on my grill or in my smoker.”

Interestingly, Watson said his father ran a grocery store and meat market in Gays Mills, Wisconsin. Like most men of his generation, the elder Watson was neither a hunter nor an outdoor cook. But he did teach his son his butchering skills.