A wise man, Harry Callahan, once said “a man’s got to know his limitations.” Not only men (and women) but equipment as well. A few months before our wedding, our very good friends, Georgie and Ed, gave us a BBQ grill as a gift. They understood that the soon-to-be newlyweds loved to cook but really only cared about the functionality of things.

Our trusty old friend

That grill survived 12 years of solid 4 season use, 5 moves and at least 3 rebuilds of its innards. Although it still functions at that most basic of levels, lately we’ve been realizing another $40 rebuild wouldn’t solve the deterioration of the shell.

inside v4.0

We decided to replace the old stalwart with a new but still very basic grill. There are many Labor Day sales going on and everyone has grills on sale. Rather than drive 30 minutes to visit one of the big box stores, we headed into Newberg and checked out the local hardware store. The selection was very limited and more than a bit beyond our agreed-to price range.

JP loves the stovepipe vents

Next we stopped at Bi-Mart, a local NW chain carrying a bit of everything. Although the selection was again limited, we quickly found a grill we would be happy with and was well within our budget, the Char-Griller Grillin’ Pro Model 3001. What a great name!

Bright and shiny!

The build instructions were thorough and clear (yes, I read and followed them). The first smoke test was a roaring success. All three main burners on high topped the temperature out near 700F…this will be a great pizza maker!

We cranked it up to 11

The fresh carne asada from a local carneceria would go on in a few minutes but Janet had to get a picture of the first occupants of our new grill, veggies!

The first guests

Thanks again to Georgie and Ed for our first, and possibly, longest lasting wedding present. We’ll be finding it a new home soon. But for now, it’s grillin’ time!

What time is it? Grillin’ time!

Enjoy the food,

Jay