Looking at this 4 pack of drumsticks debating if it’s worth sparking up a chimney to got me wondering: what’s the least amount of food you’re going outside for?
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Since it's only me most of the time, 4 hotdogs/brats minimum. But since I love the smoking and grilling process while enjoying an adult beverage or 3 with some Beach music playing, I'll fire the Kettle or Bronco up once or twice every week regardless! -
Two burgers because I want to get some smoke, then sear. Two brats because brats on the grill. I love the flavor more than the “work”.Comment
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Food for two. Most often it is a meat or seafood, but whenever possible I try to do a vegetable, too. I do those cooks on my Big Green Egg MiniMax with a 13” grate. A Smokey Joe might accomplish the same thing for you.Comment
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That is the main reason I got a pellet smoker. Since it is just me and I am often cooking very small volume the "E-Z Bake Oven" does take a lot of time for small quick cooks...Comment
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Two. A single burger or dog isn’t usually worth the time and the charcoal both. I could do a single burger on the griddle, but it’s a heck of a lot easier to clean a skillet.
When I do two burgers, dogs, steaks, chicken pieces, etc., I’ll either portion off part of the kettle with the S&S and cook over the small area, use the 14” Smokey Joe Jr, or use the BGE where I can shut it down at the end and reuse the lump. (Despite what others say, my experience is that reusing partially burned briquettes is a waste of time; too much energy is lost. Maybe COMPLETELY unburned briqs can be reused, but anything with a little bit of grey isn’t worth my effort.)Comment
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I try to cook food for several days of leftovers, whatever I'm cooking on the Weber or PBC, to make it worthwhile. I will fire up the Blackstone for something like breakfast, but only if my wife is eating as well.
If it's just breakfast for me, I'll throw something together in a pan on the stove. Like Mosca said, it's easier to clean a skillet than the outside griddle.
If I'm doing a steak hot and fast for myself, I use the afterburner method.
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There are 2 of us, but SWMBO likes to eat healthy, so I'm often cookin' 2 different things. I can cook both proteins on the grill or not depending on what's cooking. If I'm just cooking a burger or a dog for myself, I'll fire up the Weber chimney upside down so I don't need to use as much charcoal. That works really well and I can ever rotate the 13" grate to minimize grill marks.
Almost all the meat I cook is over charcoal 'cause I love the smokey flavor.Comment
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Smilner for 4 drumsticks, I might turn on one burner of the gas grill. To be honest, other than grilling, I don't know a good way to cook chicken legs. Note I say "good". Can you cook them in the oven? Sure. I guess if I cooked them inside, I would fry them or use the air fryer.
On the grill, I won't sacrifice a chimney of charcoal for that small a cook. I've fired up charcoal for two steaks and sides. Probably nothing smaller. A pack of hotdogs and nothing else? 1-2 burners on the gas grill for sure, as there is not a long wait. That chimney of charcoal would go a long ways towards smoking something indirect, or doing 2 zone cooking for steak and corn or something bigger.
Small quick cooks are one reason I think having a propane gas grill of some sort is handy. For weeknight cooks, it keeps the heat and mess out of the kitchen.
I tend to cook bigger quantities to get my money's worth out of my charcoal, on the kettle, kamado, or now the PBX. Like last night - I bought 4 whole chickens, split them, and hung 8 halves on the new PBX. Did I need 8 half chickens to feed 4 adults and a 3 year old? No. I consider it meal prepping. I sent home two halves with the daughter and kept 2.5 chickens here to take us through the weekend.Comment
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Yup, foil the vent. I have the fan adapter on the vent now, and I leave the fan in place all the time unless I'm smoking without it. So I don't mess with the vent area--I just block the rebar holes, leaving the rebars in because they're usually hot, just wrapping foil around the rebars. Works just fine.
K.
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Two people, two items. Burgers, brats, hot dogs, etc.
This is precisely why I have nine outdoor cookers. Options!Comment
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This is why I have not grilled a hamburger in the past 4 years. A lot of stuff: buns, onions, tomato, cheese, meat etc for one or possibly 2 hamburgers. My exhaust fan is in the microwave above the stove and it's worthless! So I'm careful what I cook inside. I want a griddle and a pizza oven but still for just one person, I'm not sure if it is worth the effort.
However, a steak, Tri Tip, pork butt, ribs, chuckie, wings, meats on the roti, lamb, chicken quarters, thighs etc on either the Weber Kettle or OKJ Bronco, no problem.Last edited by Purc; June 12, 2026, 01:28 PM.Comment
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Bill, I’m in the same boat as you, 1 person and a worthless microwave exhaust vent. When doing burgers I’ll throw on at least 2 burger patties and sometimes a few hot dogs also on the grill for future meals to make it worthwhile. But, if not, get you a portable single burner butane stove. I’ve got one and love it! I’ll do blackened burgers, chops, ribeyes or fish on CI out in the garage on a TV tray…..keeps all the smoke out of the house. -
Even if you don’t blacken stuff on the CI you can do a great burger out in the garage or back yard with no smoke in the house. I have one similar to this……
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The pizza oven would be worth the cost. Lisa likes pan pizza so hers gets done inside, while mine goes in the pizza oven. The improved quality makes hauling it out and firing it up worth it for just one 12" pizza.
It sound like you and PJ need to get a place together...
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Smilner, I don't use my smoker for anything less than a rack of ribs or say a pork butt. But I'll use the gas grill for as little as one hot dog. Sometimes ya just gotta have that charred meat.
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Just one rib.
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For me it isn't so much the amount of food (as I am either cooking for one or two), but the time the food takes to cook.
For an extreme example, I loved tuna cooked over a wood fire, but I am not firing up my grills for something that cooks in ninety seconds. Another would be hot dogs.....can't beat the char of a grill, but a dog is done in 45 seconds in the microwave.
Still, and related to what others have said, my pellet grill has gotten me cooking outdoors far more than I would without it. Yes, it is "just" a wood-fired convection oven, but if I am just cooking a piece of salmon for lunch, I'll easily do it on the pellet grill.
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Hulagn1971 Weird that I've never tried that with how much I use my air fryer! I will give it a try! -
Hulagn1971 I haven’t tried it either, and I love my air fryer. -
That is why I tend towards the gas grill for quick cooks. I am not going to spend 30 minutes waiting on charcoal for something like a few hot dogs that are done in 5. But I don't mind preheating the gas grill for 5-10 and tossing them on.
I use the air fryer inside a LOT for things though, but will need to try a hotdog there too...
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Most often I'm only cooking for the two of us, but I enjoy the charcoal taste/experience enough I fire up the grill. When I'm doing a lunch, for instance, just for me I'll use either the gasser side burner which is an IR unit intended for searing, or the Big Horn IR grill (like a salamander but with plenty of height adjustment). Both are motivated by time and cleanup outcomes when compared to the charcoal cookers.Comment
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