Man and Meat

Men feel manly when at the grill cooking meat to perfection to feed the family, especially if he hunted, killed, and skinned it himself. At least I do. It must be in our genes. It sounds barbaric because it is and always has been. It’s how men have provided for their families for hundreds and thousands of years, before meat could be found wrapped in plastic on sterile refrigerated shelves.

Grilling meat on a modern contraption is a skill that can be learned. No one taught me how to do it. I had to figure it out by myself through trial and error, over time, like the first caveman after discovering fire. Did he first make the mistake of throwing the entire animal into the fire, guts, fur, and all? I’m sure it took some figuring out. I started out with charcoal briquettes and lighter fluid. I thought the flames cooked the meat so I’d put the steak on right away and was always surprised when it tasted like lighter fluid. So make sure you let the lighter fluid burn off and let the coals get hot and turn gray before putting your meat on the grill. It’s the heat that cooks the meat, not the direct flame. I also decided to trim the fat for supposed health reasons prior to grilling. This is not a good idea as the fat provides flavor. If you must trim it off, do it after its cooked.

Many years later I graduated to a vertical water smoker. I love the smell of wood smoke, smoked meat, and the challenge of getting and keeping the temperature just right on an 8 pound pork shoulder for 12 hours. There’s a lot of work that goes into it. The first couple times I had to put it in the oven to finish cooking. On the third try, I used a large lump charcoal that burned hot enough to cook it thoroughly. I’ve found though, with kids around, (yes, those ingrates whose taste buds have not yet developed) that no matter how good the meat is, how much flavor is rubbed, brushed, or sprayed on, or how long it took to smoke, they will still ask you to pass the ketchup.