My birthday was last week, which is whatever. I don’t get all that excited about it, but it is nice to have some cake and a birthday dinner prepared by my mom. This year I was a bit more curious about my birthday present than usual. My wife said she came up with the idea a few months ago, and she thought it was a great idea. The day finally came (or actually two days before my actual birthday, just because it was easier), and I opened it up.
It’s a new grill, something I’ve been pining for since last summer at least. My old grill was fine I guess. I mean it cooked the food, but other than that it kind of sucked. It met the minimum requirements of a grill, like having a spot for a fire and racks above it, but that’s about it. It didn’t allow for much temperature control and it was incredibly hard to light charcoal and keep it going in temperatures below 65° or so. Plus it was old, probably coming from the late 1970’s or early 80’s.
A couple years ago, my parents got a kamado style grill, and it’s been fantastic. Maybe a little tricky to get used to, but once you do the results are great. Temperature is very controllable, and since the fire can be smothered when you’re done, it saves charcoal. I’ve been wanting to get one for myself for a while. The only catch is that many of them are very expensive. Like over $1,000 expensive. That’s out of my price range (and probably out of range for a birthday present too), but there are some decent ones available in the sub-$500 range.
The model I got is a Char-Griller Akorn, which seems to be a popular choice for grill enthusiasts on a budget, much like the Ender 3 is a common choice in the 3D printing community. It’s definitely not the best at anything, but the price more than makes up for that.
I’ve used it once so far, on my actual birthday. There’s going to be a bit of a learning curve to the temperature control. I had some trouble keeping a stable 350°-400°, but I’m sure I’ll get it with some practice. It was in the high 40’s or low 50’s that day, but I had no trouble starting the fire or keeping it going, which gives me hope that I might be able grill through the winter. It’s been raining here since then, so I haven’t had another opportunity to use it. Next week looks clear, but cold, so we’ll see how it goes.