GRILLING & CHILLING
Randy Shore presents an expert guide to summer backyard cookers
People are building kitchens outside because it is so easy now.
If you want the sear, smoke and sizzle of humankind’s first and best cooking method, you’re going to need a backyard grill.
How close you come to the smoke-kissed flavours enjoyed by our prehistoric ancestors will depend on your level of financial commitment and whether you choose gas, charcoal or whole wood as your main heat source.
The technologies range from burning wood in a metal dish to high-tech, Wi-Fi-connected marvels. Prices range from about $29 for a cheap portable to $2,900 for an infrared model with multiple heat sources and searing temperatures up to 1,800 F. From there, money is your only limitation.
Gas grills with two to six elements for heat control are the meat and potatoes of the residential marketplace.
Well-known chefs — Michael Smith and Andrew Richardson in Canada, along with Dan Barber and Sean Brock in the U.S. — have embraced live-fire cookery, many of them influenced by Argentina’s three-Michelin star chef Francis Mallmann.
“The flavour that live fire imparts to food is absolutely unique,” said Richardson, chef at CinCin Ristorante in Vancouver. “Customers ask if we have some secret seasoning or spice rub, but we don’t. It’s the different kinds of wood and the heat.”
Other grilling enthusiasts are opting for a more refined experience.
Outdoor kitchens have become a fixture on Food Network programs featuring Jamie Oliver and Bobby Flay, which helps to drive their popularity. “There has been a huge surge in sales of outdoor kitchens,” said Nash Shivji, owner of The BBQ Shop. “People are building kitchens outside because it is so easy now with components that bolt together.”
Adds barbecue champion and Grilling with House of Q author Brian Misko: “It’s becoming a lot more common for backyard cooks to have multiple devices, starting with a grill, but maybe including a smoker. There are a lot of toys out there and they all bring something to the table.”