Earliest grilling or meat smoking memory

[RhodeHog]

My dad died 53 years ago today (I was 5 years old) so I never cooked with him. But I remember standing out at the grill with my grandfather, a very tall WWII Marine veteran, watching him flip burgers in his Don Ho Hawaiian shirt, long shorts, and white socks and sandals. His burgers were hand made and incredible. He also made his own burger/steak/BBQ sauce, “Bob’s Bodacious Sauce” but, regretfully, took the recipe to his grave. The first smoke was my late boss who used to smoke turkey breasts for everyone in the office for Thanksgiving gifts. I saw the grills behind his sister’s barn and would love to have them but I know they’d never give them up.

How did you get introduced to the magic?

[Jerod Broussard]

Just about every Sunday we ate BBQ with some boiled crawfish or fried catfish in the mix. At my grandfather's behind our house it was lots of sheep and pork and some beef. The grandfather 20 miles away it was maybe more pork than anything else and plenty pork sausage. Ribeyes smothered in crawfish etouffee is the quite the protein smorgasbord.

[RhodeHog]

Never thought about steak covered with etouffee but now I will have to try it. Love it on its own...never thought about it as a topping. Brilliant idea!

[jfmorris]

As a kid in the early 70's, I have fond memories of my dad grilling burgers, dogs, steaks and BBQ chicken on one of those old crappy flat/round charcoal grills in the backyard, with plenty of lighter fluid to get it going. One of those that had maybe 3 levels to set the cooking grate on, was open, and had ZERO control of the fire because there were no vents and no lid! He burned a lot of stuff to my recollection... but we ate it anyway.

To be honest, even growing up in the south (Georgia), we didn't have much of what I would today call traditional BBQ when I was growing up in the 70's. I think at a few family reunions down around Waycross or Blackshear they may have roasted a pig when I was young, but aside from my dad making some BBQ chicken on a charcoal and later gas grill in the backyard (he got the first generation Weber Genesis), I don't feel I had true BBQ until I was in college and choosing the restaurants to dine in on my own, with my friends. Even then it was often a chain like Sonny's, and we ate what they had an all-you-can-eat special on for the day we were there.

Back to personal experiences - I think the first thing I really paid attention to my dad cooking, and watched him cook, was when he would smoke chicken halves on one of the smokers he was building and giving away as customer gifts back in the early to mid 80's (I was in high school or college by then). I ended up with one of those smokers about 10 years laster (early 90's), and smoked chickens at first, maybe some ribs and butts, and recently gave the same smoker to my nephew who is 32. I don't remember my dad smoking ribs much, but I for sure remember those split chickens, and as an older teenager, I could knock out one or two of them. Our chickens were smaller then too, compared to what they sell in the stores today.

My personal turning point in smoking came when my wife's cousin made ribs for a family reunion in Trussville Alabama (my wife's father's clan), which he did Memphis style with Rendezvous dry rub. I had NEVER had such ribs. I raved about them and asked him about them, and he ran back to his house a few miles away and came back and handed me a couple of unopened bottles of Rendezvous seasoning. Learning to make those ribs on the offset I already had started me down a road to first The Barbecue Bible (Steven Raichlen), and later Amazing Ribs and the Pitmaster Club.

[RhodeHog]

Love the journey! Would be cool to have a grill made by a father or grandfather. BTW, I was in Madison for a business meeting today near Toyota Field. I passed Ted's on the way back home and have seen it several times. How is the BBQ there? Any good recommendations in the HSV/Madison/Athens area? I know the Gibson family tree has places near Athens and, of course, has made the pilgrimage to BBG a couple time in Decatur. Part of my team is there and I need to visit some of the good pits up there.

[jfmorris]

RhodeHog I've not been to Ted's myself, but hear good things about it. Another place out in Madison, which used to be on Hwy 20 but is now up farther north on Hwy 72 is called ChuckWagon BBQ. It's probably the only decent brisket in town, and is closer to Texas style BBQ than most places here in north Alabama. At one point they had a location near me in south Huntsville, but the pandemic caused that location to close.

[jfmorris]

RhodeHog there is a place called Lawler's that is all over the county, and up into Tennessee. They are more of a drive-through with sometimes a small dining room, and make most of their Q in a central location and take it out to all the various locations every morning, but they make pretty decent pulled pork, but that is about the only other "local" place I can think of aside from Big Bob's over in Decatur.

Believe it or not, I tend to eat most of my BBQ at home!

[Michael_in_TX]

My dad grilled just once a year, on Thanksgiving. He'd take a turkey and carve it up and cook the pieces individually over direct heat with some hickory wood chips. I had that every year growing up, until my sister and I went off to college.

It is curious that that was the only thing I ever remember him grilling.

I still have that grill in the garage. It's an aluminum grill, essentially PK-style. I never use it, but I don't think I could ever get rid of it.

[Purc]

I remember my Dad using a charcoal grill and a natural gas grill and he was always dealing with flare ups with a water squirt bottle. A two zone grill meant either On or Off ! I started on a Hibachi grill that would only need about 6 to 15 flaming coals to grill. Never smoked anything but I did burn a lot. Real BBQ was only eaten at the Sportsman's BBQ and hamburger joint in Chattanooga. We went there several times a month. We never thought of smoking anything at home. Besides several Hibachis, I had several gassers, a big box store COS- that I never used correctly, several basic Weber Kettles, Masterbuilt electric smoker and now my MT Weber Kettle and OKJ Bronco. Back then, grilling and smoking was a treat not a passion as it is now.

[Donw]

My dad owned what was called the Minit Market in town which was the grocery store, butcher shop, Pure Oil gas station, and ice plant all rolled into one. He also had hogs in a pen in the woods behind the store. Almost every weekend he did an open pit hog cook next to the store and the parking lot would fill up. Even my earliest memories contain images of the hog pen and the hog smoking on the pit. That and my brother and I in the rear of the grocery store sorting into crates all the returned glass Coke and Pepsi bottles for pickup by the distributors or bagging ice. Child labor laws weren’t really an issue back then.🥵

[RhodeHog]

Child labor laws weren’t really an issue back then.🥵

I used to tell my kids: It builds character

[OC Sandy]

My earliest memory of grilling was sometime before I was 7 years old and it was my father grilling hamburgers over a charcoal grill in the backyard. A few years later my mother would grill for us over a small cast iron hibachi grill using charcoal for fuel. An awareness of "BBQ" didn't come until several years later when my mother would occasionally take us out to dinner at a small chain BBQ restaurant in So. Cal called Love's ("When you're in Love's the whole world's delicious"). I really liked the smokey sweetness of their meats, and beans. So, when I started cooking it was just normal for me to include grilling over charcoal as one of my cooking methods. Gas grills came later. My personal introduction to smoking bbq happened when I was home recovering from surgery, bored to tears. QVC had Masterbuilt CEO, John McLemore hawking his 30" electric smoker. Next thing I knew I ordered one. It was an easy introduction to the idea of smoking homemade bbq, which quickly led to expanding my skills with various other types of smokers to have fun with the art of smoking.

[LA Pork Butt]

New Orleans is not known for BBQ, but there has been some recent interest and stirrings in the area. BBQ was virtually nonexistent when I was growing up in the 50s. I have no idea where my Dad got them, but one day he brought home a rack of sauced ribs. I thought they were wonderful, but I don’t believer he ever brought some home again. He cooked most of the seafood, but there was no grill or BBQ when I grew up. I think that 1st taste of ribs set me on a journey to learn how. Those early years of BBQ with no internet and few how to books was mostly trial and error. It’s been a fun journey with new things yet to be learned.

[RonB]

My parents never had any type of grill. My dad did build a wood fired griddle in the mid 60s. The griddle had a ~ 1/2" lip and a divider that divided it into 2 parts. The only thing he cooked on it was fish. He, (and sometimes me), would catch fish that he would clean and freeze. When he had enough, he'd invite all the neighbors over for a fish fry. He cooked the fish, and the neighbors brought everything else.

I did make a grill the summer I was 13. It was a can the size of a Charles Chip can. I found a grate that would work somewhere, and I scoured the neighborhood for sticks I could use to build the fire. The only thing I cooked was hot dogs. I did that almost every day that summer. By the end of summer, all the neighbors had stick free yards.

[yakima]

Does branding calves count?

[yakima]

Cant even imagine what Auschwitz must have smelled like.

[RichieB]

yakima as a Human and a Jew, I see nothing amusing about your comment.

[yakima]

RichieB, it was not meant to be amusing. For me, it underscores the awful ability of humans to ignore, overlook, or cover up reality.

[surfdog]

I remember my father having some sort of craptastic shallow charcoal grill. I’m not even sure if it had a lid. I also remember him using an electric starter…just a big wire that would essentially overheat and set the charcoal ablaze. That thing was pretty much just used for burgers. Occasionally it might see a hotdog or some chicken parts, but burgers were the go to.

A recall that a neighbour had a built in charcoal grill. It was used pretty much the same as my father’s. I just remember thinking it was cool because it was built in. I don’t remember seeing a cover for that either.

My first foray into grilling came after I moved out. I had a small gas grill because it seemed less of a hassle…and because schlepping ashes & the like through my home seemed like a mess waiting to happen. When I got a townhouse I decided to upgrade my grill. It was still a fairly crappy gasser from Sears…but it worked and I learned the principles of fire/heat management and was able to do 2-zone cooks on it. I had that for a lot of years. Between it becoming a bit tired and me wanting to do more, not to mention simply outgrowing it, I upgraded again. Another gasser, but this time I went all in and got the Weber Summit Platinum D6…a 6-burner beast with all the bells & whistles. (At least for the time.) I still have that one, but have since added several other cookers. Now I can’t imagine not having one…or several.

[RhodeHog]

It all starts with just one

[captainlee]

Dad didn't grill, maybe burgers once a summer on the cheap o charcoal grill. Did a bit in college on an old charcoal grill. Once married we had the small portable grill with the LP tank hanging off the side. First house finally bought a nice grill and got into that heavily. I didn't start smoking until about 12 years ago.

[Steve R.]

I could just copy and paste this for my own comment. Literally the same exact story for me.

[RichieB]

No memories of childhood grilling. My parents were apartment dwellers so until my wife and I bought our 1st home in 78' I never lived in a house. My 1st memory of outdoor cooking and it's vague is on an hibachi.

[captainlee]

My first home was in 78 too.

[Spinaker]

I remember my Dad grilling burgers into hockey pucks. I was determined to figure out why everyone in America loved burgers. I thought they tasted dry and terrible. Then I realized, I need to try to cook them myself. I feel like I owe those burnt hockey pucks for getting me into cooking. LOL.

[Spinaker]

Hahaha, my Dad did that too.

[surfdog]

Reminds me of a British TV show called “Chef.” The main character used a line that I have also used. “I learned to cook in self defense.” LOL

[barelfly]

This would be how my grandfather cooked on the grill….everything was well done My dad says he didn’t care for red meat growing up because of this!

[Jfrosty27]

I didn’t experience true bbq until 2010 when I moved to NC for my career. But will come back to that.

My mom was a terrible cook. My dad didn’t cook at all. I didn’t realize mom was so bad until way later in life. Hey as a kid you eat whatever is put on the table. They had a cheap charcoal grill. One of those round ones that had the big hood on it. They only hauled it out about once a year at most and cooked the crap out of whatever they put on it. Just terrible. So I guess that’s when I first got exposed to grilling. Didn’t think much of it at the time.

I my twenties I began grilling, starting with a little hibachi grill. I figured everybody does it so there must be something to it. I sucked at it initially of course but over time I got pretty good at it. When I got to Charlotte, NC having real bbq was a revelation of course. I saw that none of the locals grilled. They all had smokers. So of course I got one and away I went on my bbq adventure. And here we are. Better late than never right?