As the temps here are on the rise and the local predictions have days that could shift to triple digits if the forecast changes, I'm trying to remember dishes I actually like to cook indoors. So, I was wondering (and since everyone loves polls), who still cooks outside in the sweltering heat and who would rather build ice sculptures while tending flames?
OR who only grills in the fairest of weather?
I haven't traced my genealogy far enough to find it yet, but I swear there's Eskimo in my blood.
47
Bring on the heat baby
19.15%
9
I can handle the occasional snotsickle
12.77%
6
My grill is like a show car and is only run on the finest of days
4.26%
2
As Starship says, "Nothing's going to stop us now"
I hate cooking outdoors when it's blazing hot out. I am a really big guy and just do not do well in the heat. I much prefer it when it's colder. Let's just say I have a lot of natural insulation to keep me warm.
Hot days, cold beer, sitting in the shade, grill smoking low and slow.
What is not to love?
Cold days, Hot Toddie, watching the game, monitoring my Traeger over WIFI, smoking low and slow.
What is not to love?
Its blazing hot more than freezing here, but I continue to cook outdoors regardless. Only if the weather is dangerous (hurricanes, ice storms, lightning/hail, etc) do the plans change.
I spent thousands of dollars and many hours of what used to be easy labor building a covered deck for all of my cookers, I'm grilling outside when the mail isn't even going through! However, I like snowy days with no wind the best.
I of course love smoked meats of all kinds, but also like quick cooks like chicken portions, pork tenderloins, steak and fish. Really into cooking of all kinds.
My outdoor kitchen has a Lone Star Grillz Adjustable and it is wonderful. There also is a Pit Boss 5 Burner Ultimate Griddle and a Pit Boss Copperhead pellet grill.
There is an outdoor fire pit that has grilling capability and limited Santa Maria-style grill raising and lowering.
My cooker is on a screened porch, so rain is not an issue. Kind of necessary here in Florida. But I don't handle cold weather well at all. My rule is that I insist on living south of the southern-most "Bridge Ices Before Road" sign. So on the occasional cold day here, I stay inside for cooking and just about everything else. At those times, I tend to grumble about going out to feed the horses and especially making another trip out to put their blankets on them. Cold weather just makes me generally grumpy.
Cooking on a Kamado low and slow means one else everything is set you can go indoors until everything is cooked. I think I would rather brave the cold, but not if things are iced over.
The only thing that stops me is strong wind. As for heat or cold, it really depends on what cooker I am using. I get the best results with a stick burner in cold weather, because I need to keep a hotter fire going, which leads to nice "clean" smoke. If I'm using charcoal in a kettle or WSM, I prefer hotter weather so I don't burn through so much charcoal. I'm not terribly sensitive to temperature, I just dress appropriately and deal with it.
Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
About meReal name: Aaron
Location: Farwell, Michigan- near Clare. (dead center of lower peninsula)
Occupation:
Healthcare- Licensed & Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) at MyMichigan Health, a University of Michigan Health System.
I live in MI as you may know, and while we aren't Canada or Alaska or Texas, we do get temp extremes. I have a pic of cooking cold, and I've cooked in 98 before too. I don't like big heat though. Cold I can deal with.
For this shot I took a pic when it said -18F with the kettle in view, but then it dropped more to -20 so took another pic, this time the kettle is not in view, but I was a-cookin'.
I prefer to smoke stuff in the summer, versus standing over a hot grill or griddle. Once you set it up, you can go back inside, or hop in the pool with a beer.
On National Hotdog day, I chose to "grill" my Nathan's in a cast iron skillet on the stove, and stay inside in the A/C, versus lighting up the big 4 burner gasser just to warm up 8 hot dogs.
Today is a brew day however, and I will be heating up the garage with a 105K and a 65K burner while heating water and boiling the wort. The garage doors will all be open, and a fan will be running, but I will be drenched by the end of the evening. It's a lot worse than grilling in the heat, as its 5 hours of sweating.
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