Our Sites

Fire up the grill

I can talk sports all day. If I have a beer while I do that, it"s a great day. If I"m cooking some meat over an open flame, it"s a great day.



It"s amazing how little time I set aside to just sit outside with a buddy, grilling up some chicken and ribs, enjoying a tasty microbrew, and listening to the Chicago Cubs game. I"m pretty certain a therapist wouldn"t consider that quality family time, and that might be the reason why it doesn"t occur.


Nonetheless, I"m thinking about grilling today. My wife and two kids are heading off with the in-laws on a weeklong vacation to Colorado. I"m staying at home doing some painting, trimming some bushes, catching up with some buddies, and grilling some meat.



I"m most excited about the last task. You see, I"ve been ignorning my Weber Genesis Silver C gas grill too much this summer.



I got her about five summers ago at the Weber factory outlet sale at its facility in Huntley, Ill. The company no longer has the sale, but it was a load of fun standing in line with people talking about what they were looking for in a grill and what they intended to cook on it when they got it home.



I ended up with a model with a black, powder-coated finish. I went with stainless steel grates and flavorizer bars, which protect the burners from dripping grease. They"ve held up incredibly well over the years and likely will last me another five years. Meanwhile, the rest of the construction is sturdy as can be. I love that hunk of metal.



I"ve got the Weber pot-belly charcoal grill as well. It was handed down to me after my wife"s great-aunt died. It"s about 15 years old, but still is the best smoking device around. I"ve got to grow more comfortable around charcoal, but I"m getting there. A few more summers, and I might be able to consider myself a novice.



Where"s this going? I"m thinking about metal accessories for grilling. I meet fab shop owners who always seem to be thinking about developing their own product lines. Here are some ideas:

  • Some sort of bird holder. We"ve all heard of beer-can chicken. Well, pulling a can of red-hot beer out of a chicken"s butt can be a scalding experience for the naïve and unprotected griller. Some companies have developed more sophisticated designs that are much more user-friendly. I"ve got a no-stick tray, which has a cone for sitting the chicken upright; it"s great. In fact, a turkey-holding device is now available.

  • Steel accessories. Check out this brush with stainless steel scrubbing power. I got it last year, and it works pretty well. Imagine a set of stainless steel tools to accompany a new stainless steel grill. Sure, there might be heat conductivity issues, but I"ll let some engineers worry about that.

  • Food-cooking devices. I had a rib organizer that looked like this. It was great for smoking ribs and, actually, handling chicken leg quarters, but it rusted over after only a couple of summers. I also have a pan with holes to roast vegetables over the open flame, but it bends in a weird shape when it gets too hot, flipping my asparagus to its fiery death. Couldn"t someone fabricate devices made out of better materials?


Those are some thoughts. Perhaps they won"t inspire a fabricator into a new business, but with Father"s Day this weekend, I hope they might do some good as a gift-giving guide. (I didn"t realize Father"s Day was this Sunday. My dad is getting a phone call. Doh.)



For those of you that truly love grilling, Weber is looking for a fabrication supervisor for its Palatine, Ill., facility. Personally, I"d love to get to know someone there and take advantage of his or her employee discount.